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Africa · 21 September 2026 to 22 September 2026 · 5 headlines · South China Morning Post, Al Jazeera, BBC News

First UK prosecution for Rwanda genocide

UK prosecutors brought the first-ever British charges over the 1994 Rwandan genocide, against Dr Vincent Brown, 65 - formerly known as Vincent Bajinya - a London-based doctor charged with one count of conduct ancillary to genocide and six counts of aiding crimes against humanity. The Crown Prosecution Service's Frank Ferguson said Brown 'is alleged to have directed and incited acts of murder and genocide carried out by others' against the Tutsi population; he is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court. The charges follow a seven-year Metropolitan Police War Crimes Team investigation launched in 2019 at Rwanda's request, focused on the Rugenge district of Kigali. Brown was first arrested in 2006, and a UK court refused his extradition to Rwanda (along with four other men) in 2017; he had reportedly entered the UK as an asylum seeker in 1998 and later changed his name upon gaining British citizenship in 2004. An estimated 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus, were killed over 100 days of the 1994 genocide. 'This case demonstrates the UK is not a safe haven for individuals suspected of committing international crimes,' said Commander Helen Flanagan, head of the Met's counter-terrorism policing, adding that investigations into several other Rwandan genocide suspects living in Britain remain ongoing.

As it ran

22 September 2026

21 September 2026