UK Charges Rwandan Doctor Over 1994 Genocide

A Rwandan doctor arrested in London has been charged with offences linked to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, British authorities said on Monday.

Dr. Vincent Brown, 65, who was previously known as Vincent Bajinya, faces one count of conduct ancillary to genocide and six counts of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity. Prosecutors described him as the first person to be charged in the United Kingdom over participation in the ethnic killings, in which an estimated 800,000 people died.

"The charges relate to allegations that Dr. Brown took part in the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994," said Frank Ferguson, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's counterterror division. "He is alleged to have directed and incited acts of murder and genocide carried out by others."

British law permits prosecutors to pursue certain international offences, including genocide and crimes against humanity, irrespective of where they were allegedly committed.

Brown, who is originally from Kigali, has been living in London, where he once worked for a charity that helps refugee nurses and midwives seeking work in Britain. He is believed to have arrived in the country as an asylum seeker in 1998, and he changed his name after being granted British citizenship in 2004.

Metropolitan Police war crimes investigators opened their inquiry in 2019 at the request of the Rwandan government. Brown is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

Police said they are continuing to investigate several other Rwandan genocide suspects living in Britain. "This case demonstrates the U.K. is not a safe haven for individuals suspected of committing international crimes," said Cmdr. Helen Flanagan, head of counterterror policing.