Ex-Rwandan official appears at UK trial over 1994 genocide

Prosecutors allege Vincent Brown incited and directed acts of violence during the early days of the Rwandan genocide.

Hundreds of human skulls are on display at a memorial to the 1994 Rwandan genocide [File: Joe McNally/Getty Images]

A former Rwandan official has appeared in a court in the United Kingdom after being charged with ordering six killings during the first week of the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

Vincent Brown, a 65-year-old doctor formerly known as Vincent Bajinya, is the first ⁠person to be charged in Britain over the genocide, in which more than 800,000 people, most from the Tutsi ethnic minority , were killed in over 100 days of nationwide massacres. He denied any wrongdoing.

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On Tuesday, Brown spoke in court to confirm his name, date of birth and address. He did not enter a plea.

Brown faces one charge of conduct ancillary to genocide in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, in April 1994 during the first week of the genocide. The doctor is accused of ordering six killings in four days, including of a young mother and her baby son.

Prosecutor Jane Stansfield said Brown was head of the Department of Family Health within ⁠Rwanda’s National Office of Population when the genocide began.

Originally from Kigali, Brown is believed to have entered the UK as an asylum seeker in 1998 and lived in London, where he once worked for a charity assisting refugee nurses and midwives seeking work in Britain.

Brown officially changed his last name from Bajinya when granted UK citizenship in 2004 and was first arrested in 2006. His extradition to Rwanda along with four other men was finally refused by a British court in 2017.

The Rwandan government had asked the Metropolitan Police to investigate the men for involvement in killings in the Rugenge district of Kigali that are the focus of Brown’s current trial.

The charges arose after a complex seven-year UK investigation that began in September 2019.

Brown’s lawyer Sam ⁠Blom-Cooper said his client welcomed an opportunity to clear his name. “These are appalling crimes, terrible murders that were committed back in 1994,” he said. “But this, finally, does represent the beginning of the end for Dr Brown.”

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring granted Brown bail on condition that his family pay 25,000 pounds ($33,000) security. Due to the seriousness of the allegations, he transferred the case to the Central Criminal Court, also known as the Old Bailey, where Brown is due to appear on October 9.

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said the trial will set an important precedent against impunity even for decades-old allegations.

“This case demonstrates the UK is not a safe haven for individuals suspected of committing international crimes,” she said.

检方指控文森特·布朗在卢旺达种族灭绝初期煽动和指挥暴力行为。

在纪念1994年卢旺达种族灭绝的纪念馆里，数百个人类头骨正在展出。[图片：Joe McNally/Getty Images]

一名卢旺达前官员在英国法庭出庭受审，他被指控在 1994 年卢旺达种族灭绝的第一周下令杀害了六人。

现年65岁的文森特·布朗（原名文森特·巴金亚）是一名医生，他是英国首位因种族灭绝而被起诉的人。在这场持续100多天的全国性屠杀中，超过80万人丧生，其中大部分是图西族人。他否认自己有任何不当行为。

列表 1/3：荷兰法院判处卢旺达男子终身监禁，罪名是参与种族灭绝

列表 2/3 胡图族和图西族：分裂背后的历史

英国检察官对卢旺达种族灭绝案提起首例指控，名单共3份。

周二，布朗出庭确认了自己的姓名、出生日期和住址。他没有认罪。

布朗面临一项指控，罪名是他在1994年4月卢旺达首都基加利种族灭绝的第一周内，参与了种族灭绝的辅助行为。这位医生被控在四天内下令杀害六人，其中包括一名年轻母亲和她的幼子。

检察官简·斯坦斯菲尔德表示，种族灭绝开始时，布朗是卢旺达国家人口办公室家庭健康部门的负责人。

布朗原籍基加利，据信于 1998 年以寻求庇护者的身份进入英国，并居住在伦敦。他曾为一家慈善机构工作，帮助在英国寻求工作的难民护士和助产士。

布朗于 2004 年获得英国公民身份时正式将姓氏从巴金亚改为布朗，并于 2006 年首次被捕。2017 年，英国法院最终拒绝将他和其他四名男子引渡到卢旺达。

卢旺达政府要求伦敦警察厅调查这些人是否参与了基加利鲁根格区发生的杀戮事件，这些事件也是布朗目前受审的焦点。

这些指控源于英国一项始于 2019 年 9 月、历时七年的复杂调查。

布朗的律师萨姆·布洛姆-库珀表示，他的当事人欢迎有机会洗清罪名。“这些都是令人发指的罪行，是1994年发生的骇人听闻的谋杀案，”他说。“但这最终标志着布朗博士的末日即将到来。”

首席地方法官保罗·戈德斯普林准予布朗保释，条件是其家人缴纳2.5万英镑（约合3.3万美元）的保证金。鉴于指控的严重性，他将此案移交至中央刑事法院（又称老贝利法院），布朗将于10月9日出庭受审。

伦敦反恐警察负责人海伦·弗拉纳根指挥官表示，此次审判将树立一个重要的先例，反对即使是几十年前的指控也能逍遥法外。

“这个案例表明，英国并非涉嫌犯有国际罪行的个人的安全避风港，”她说。