Asylum Seekers "Led Genocide Death Squads' (UK)

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 12-30-2006 | Amy Iggulden

[blam]

Asylum seekers 'led genocide death squads'

By Amy Iggulden
Last Updated: 1:27am GMT 30/12/2006

Four Rwandan men living in Britain, including one given citizenship, appeared in court yesterday accused of organising the mass slaughter of Tutsis in the 1994 genocide.

The four men are accused of organising the mass slaughter of thousands of Tutsis

Vincent Bajinya, who changed his name to Brown on becoming a citizen last year, Charles Munyaneza, Celestin Ugirashebuja and Emmanuel Nteziryayo face extradition. They were arrested after a deal under which Rwanda becomes a temporary extradition partner with Britain. Rwanda has waived the death penalty to secure their extradition.

In the first case of its kind here, they are accused of orchestrating the killing of "tens of thousands" of Tutsis. They exploited their position as community leaders to set up militias, kill their countrymen and incite mass murder during the 100-day genocide in 1994, City of Westminster magistrates were told.

Up to a million people were killed when Hutu militias attacked Tutsis between April and June 1994. The Rwandan government claims that the four, who have been living throughout Britain for up to seven years, played a key role.

Ugirashebuja was refused asylum last year and Munyaneza had his refugee status cancelled in September because it was obtained by deception, the court heard. Miss Gemma Lindfield, representing Rwanda, said: "They were the organisers and facilitators in the genocide."

advertisementPolice believe the men have links to a group of exiles that continued to spread the ideology of Hutu ethnic supremacy, Miss Lindfield said. Munyaneza had demanded a court translator "who was not Tutsi" and had an anti-Tutsi document when arrested. She said police believe all four had been in contact in England.

Munyaneza, a 48-year-old father of four living in Bedford, and Ugirashebuja, 53, from Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex, used their sweeping power as local mayors – or bourgmestres – to set up killing militias, Miss Lindfield said. Munyaneza, now a cleaner, toured Hutu districts urging them to "wipe out" Tutsis. He also told Tutsis in his Kinyamakara area to shelter in public buildings, knowing they would be massacred.

"More than tens of thousands were killed and as bourgmestre he was very much responsible for the implementation and planning of those killings."

Ugirashebuja held a similar position in Kigoma, close to the capital Kigali. "His role was to make sure that the Tutsis were being killed and to monitor how many were being killed. . . he is responsible for many thousands of Tutsi lives", Miss Lindfield said. Bajinya, a 45-year-old father of two who lives in housing association flats in north London, and Nteziryayo, a 43-year-old father of five living in Manchester, are also accused of mass killing. Bajinya trained as a doctor, worked for a refugee charity in Britain and served on a Government advisory committee. He arrived in 2000, two years after his wife, Rosalie, and their son and daughter, now 15 and 10. Miss Lindfield said that in Rugenge, a district of Kigali, he "organised road blocks and ordered [the] militia to kill people suspected of being Tutsi. . . he also led militias to search houses [where Tutsis were hiding] and kill them".

The allegations against Nteziryayo were not read out because he did not apply for bail. Reports have suggested he has been living on welfare and is another former mayor of a district where many thousands of Tutsis were killed.

The four deny the accusation in a provisional extradition warrant which says they killed Tutsis "with the intent to destroy in whole or in part, that group". Rwandan authorities have 90 days to provide evidence of a case to answer, which will be heard by a district judge. The final extradition decision rests with the Home Secretary

[lonestar67]

It is a great snapshot of how international laws and norms perpetuate genocide.

Britain would deny extradition if the perpetrators were going to get a death sentence for killing tens of thousands of people.

Yes, this conveys the sacredness of life-- NOT.

I am glad these murderers are going to be prosecuted. I hope they do not get released as all too many around the world do.

[ikka]

I wonder how many of the Somalis we are allowing into the USA were involved in shooting at or dragging through the streets our troops in Mogadishu in 1993?

[ARE SOLE]

I always thought the British were not citizens, but instead British subjects?

Regards.