A 65-year-old doctor has appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, becoming the first person in the United Kingdom to face charges related to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Dr Vincent Brown, formerly known as Dr Vincent Bajinya, confirmed his name and address from the dock. He is currently in custody.
Brown was charged following a seven-year British investigation into the killings. He faces one count of conduct ancillary to genocide and six counts of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity.
The charges relate to an alleged slaughter in the Rugenge district of Kigali between 6 and 13 April 1994. Brown is accused of killing, directing, or encouraging the deaths of members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as intending to destroy the group "as a whole or in part."
Prosecutors said the alleged killings were "part of a widespread or systematic attack, directed against a civilian population, with knowledge of the attack." The charges were brought under the 2001 International Criminal Court Act.
The six alleged victims are named as Dominique Mukurarinda, Immaculee Mukankusi, Gerasi Rurangirwa, Leandre Mbogoye, Charlotte Kamaguja, and Olivier Tuyishime. According to the prosecution, three members of the same household were allegedly murdered, along with a taxi driver — who is accused of having been stoned to death — and a mother and her young son.
Brown qualified as a medical doctor in Rwanda in the 1980s and later became head of the country's Department of Family Health in Kigali, where he lived with his wife and young son. In 2006, he worked at Praxis, a London-based charity supporting refugees, including those from Rwanda. He also served on the Refugee Nurses Task Force, established in 2003 to advise the UK government.
The case has been referred to the Old Bailey for a hearing on 9 October. A bail application was to be considered later on Tuesday.
Sam Blom-Cooper, a barrister representing Brown, told the court his client denied all allegations and intended to face a jury to clear what he described as the "stains of these appalling allegations."
"He said the defendant had hoped for, longed for, and prayed for the best part of 20 years, for this day," Blom-Cooper said. "These are appalling crimes, terrible murders committed in 1994 but this is the beginning of the end for Dr Brown."
The 1994 genocide in Rwanda lasted 100 days, during which Hutu extremists carried out a campaign of mass killing against Tutsi civilians and moderate Hutus. Investigations into other alleged genocide-related offences are reported to be continuing.
