More than three decades after the 1994 genocide, a man who has lived in Britain for years is now facing criminal charges over allegations that he helped direct and incite killings in Rwanda.
Dr Vincent Brown, formerly known as Vincent Bajinya, 65, has become the first person to be charged in the United Kingdom over offences linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The Crown Prosecution Service said the charges followed a seven-year investigation by the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Team, launched in 2019 after a request from the Rwandan government.
Brown faces one charge of conduct ancillary to genocide and six charges of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity. Prosecutors allege that the offences occurred in Kigali between April 6 and 13, 1994, during the first week of the genocide.
At the time, prosecutors say Brown headed the Department of Family Health within Rwanda’s National Office of Population. In court, they alleged that he was a leader or supervisor of physical violence carried out by others and linked him to the deaths of six people, including a young mother and her baby, three members of the same household and a taxi driver.
Brown appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 22, 2026, where he confirmed his name, date of birth and address but did not enter a plea. He denies involvement in the killings and has maintained that the allegations are false. His lawyer said Brown welcomed the case as an opportunity to clear his name.
The case also revives a legal battle that has followed Brown for years. He entered Britain in the late 1990s and later became a British citizen after changing his name from Bajinya to Brown. He was previously arrested in 2006, while a British court ultimately refused his extradition to Rwanda in 2017.
The latest development is that Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring granted Brown conditional bail requiring £25,000 in security, and transferred the case to the Central Criminal Court, commonly known as the Old Bailey. His next scheduled hearing is October 9, 2026. Reuters reported that prosecutors indicated they intended to challenge the bail decision, while other reports say Brown was granted the conditional bail.
British authorities have also confirmed that the Brown case is not the only investigation. Police say six other individuals remain under investigation over suspected offences connected to the Rwandan genocide, including two people arrested in 2024 and 2026.
The 1994 genocide lasted about 100 days and resulted in the deaths of more than 800,000 people, predominantly Tutsi and also moderate Hutu victims, according to international and British sources. The Brown proceedings mark the first time the UK has brought charges specifically relating to the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Brown remains legally presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
