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Press Releases
British charity employs doctor accused of crimes against humanity
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A doctor accused of crimes against humanity has been working for a British
charity and advising the government about refugees.
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Dr Vincent Bajinya has been charged with numerous murders and with helping to
organise the genocide in Rwanda.
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But a 大象传媒 investigation has discovered that he works at Praxis, a London-based
charity which helps refugees from places like Rwanda.
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He has also served on the Refugee Nurses Task Force, which was set up in 2003
to advise the British Government.
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Dr Bajinya, who changed his surname to Brown two years ago, tells presenter
Fergal Keane that he is innocent.
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He says: "I don't have any connection with the
genocide. I was not a politician and I didn't even know that the Rwandan
government is accusing me. I had nothing to do with the massacres in Rwanda."
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But an international arrest warrant issued by the Rwandan government says that
Dr Bajinya was a political extremist who helped to plan the 1994 genocide.
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He is accused of supervising the killers in the Nyarugenge district of Kigali
and of ordering the murder of 15 of his neighbours.
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The alleged victims include
an old man, a child and a mother with her three-month-old baby.
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The warrant also accuses him of supervising roadblocks where an unknown number
of victims were stopped and killed.
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National Prosecutor Emmanuel Rukangira says that Dr Bajinya should face trial
for crimes against humanity: "We consider Bajinya as a senior suspect of the
genocide, as somebody who incited the killing of very many people."
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He is hoping the British Government will extradite Dr Bajinya, even though
there is no extradition treaty between the two countries.
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The 大象传媒 investigation, which was shown on Inside Out (大象传媒 One South) and on 大象传媒 One's Ten O'Clock
News last night features interviews with three eye witnesses who accuse Dr
Bajinya of murder.
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Janvier Mabuye says he heard Dr Bajinya ordering the killers to finish off a
taxi driver who had already been attacked with machetes.
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Janvier says: "Bajinya told them look this is not how you kill a person, you're
just playing with him. He might survive if you just leave him the way he is. At
that point he called a young man and another neighbour and they came and killed
him off.
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"That is one of the images that always lasts each time I remember the genocide.
It's one of the images of Bajinya that remains in my mind."
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Dr Bajinya has now been suspended by Praxis. The charity's director, Vaughan
Jones, said it would be a tragedy for his organisation if the allegations were
true.
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Mr Jones says: "I had no suspicions and when I saw the allegations I was very
shocked. If they are true then I would feel betrayed, because we work with
people who have come from difficult situations and need proper support.
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"We are aware that there are all kinds of allegations and counter allegations
in the community and sorting out the victim from the perpetrator is extremely
hard."
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The Home Office, which granted Dr Bajinya asylum in this country, does not
comment on individual cases.
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But it says that the absence of an extradition
treaty is not an absolute barrier to extradition.
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The Home Office says: "We wouldn't wish anyone suspected of genocide to enjoy
impunity here. Where there are allegations the government will establish the
facts and assess the evidence before taking any action.
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"In principle, where any individual is responsible for genocide the government
would want to look at stripping them of their immigration status and removing
them from the UK."
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The genocide in Rwanda lasted just 100 days, but claimed the lives of
around 800,000 people.
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Most of the victims were from the minority Tutsi
population, which was attacked by Hutu extremists.
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Notes to Editors
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Inside Out was broadcast last night (6 November 2006) at 7.30pm on 大象传媒 One South
region.
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JR
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