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TEHRAN, Apr 09 - British police said Tuesday they were reviewing allegations against five men accused by Rwanda of involvement in the country's 1994 genocide.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Two days after the world commemorated the 25-year anniversary of the gruesome ethnic massacre, the Metropolitan Police's War Crimes Unit said it had "received a request from Rwandan authorities in January 2018 to investigate five individuals.
"Documentation relevant to this request has been passed to the War Crimes Unit and the unit is currently assessing this material," it said.
Some 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus, were beaten, shot, or hacked to death with machetes in 100 days of slaughter.
Citing human rights concerns, a British court in 2017 denied a Rwandan extradition request for the five men: Vincent Brown, Charles Munyaneza, Emmanuel Nteziryayo, Celestin Ugirashebuja and Celestin Mutabaruka.
It said they could not be extradited for fear of not facing a fair trial.
They are accused by Rwanda of genocide, complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity, conspiracy to murder, forming a criminal gang and inciting disorder.
All five have reportedly denied the allegations against them and involvement in the genocide.
Speaking in parliament, Britain's Security Minister Ben Wallace said the investigations into the men could take up to five years.
"The government is not shielding any war criminals, nor should it and we would not. We are doing our best," he told MPs.
"The counter-terrorism police, I have raised the issue with them. They say that for the investigations they are involved in the timescale is not 10 years, more like three to five years.
"This government, as previous governments, has been committed to bringing people to trial.
Source: AFP
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