British High Commissioner to Rwanda, Omar Daair, has expressed regrets in the prolonged process of bringing Genocide fugitives who continue to evade justice in the United Kingdom to book.
Daair expressed the concerns last week while briefing international and local media on the current UK-Rwanda relations.
“On the situation with the Genocide suspects in the UK, that is an ongoing police investigation by the Metropolitan Police which is independent of government, so we as the government can’t influence the process of it,” he said.
“And it is taking time, I know that it is frustrating for Rwandans because they want to see them (fugitives) taken to justice,” he added.
Among the indicted genocide suspects currently hiding in the United Kingdom are Charles Munyaneza, Emmanuel Nteziryay, Vincent Bajinya, Célestin Ugirashebuja, and Célestin Mutabaruka.
“What I can say is that the investigations and the collaboration cooperation between the Police and the UK and the authorities in Rwanda has continued this year and has been quite extensive,”
The UK envoy stated that there have been a couple of visits to Rwanda to continue to gather the evidence necessary.
“And the Police want to take time to do that, to make sure that they have the best evidence possible that if a case is raised they have the strongest case possible.”
“I do regret that it is taking a long time but I do know that it is moving behind the scenes and I hope that we will see further movement soon,” Reacted Daair, adding that, “It is really a concern for the people here (in Rwanda), and we understand that.”
The envoy’s remarks come a year after the UK House of Lords announced the formation of a parliamentary group that was expected to lobby the UK government to bring to justice, the fugitives who are still roaming in the country.