Focus: Rwandan genocide suspect in Britain

But Jallow added that the tribunal would make available to the British courts all the evidence that it believes implicates the Rwandan in massacres.

“Given that there is this evidence against him, the British government should consider whether the British courts have jurisdiction over him to prosecute him in the UK because men like him should not be allowed to go scot free,” said Jallow.

In December, the tribunal sentenced an associate of Munyaneza, Aloys Simba, a retired lieutenant-colonel and former member of parliament, to 25 years in prison for genocide and crimes against humanity. Evidence was given during the hearing that Munyaneza had “acted in concert” with Simba.

Munyaneza thought he had left Rwanda far behind until he was found last Thursday. He has been living a quiet life in Bedford with his wife and four children, and working as a cleaner. His neighbours in the Putnoe district of the city had no idea about his past.

He had entered Britain in 1999 and sought asylum as a refugee. In 2002 the Home Office approved his refugee status and granted him unlimited leave to stay.

However, The Sunday Times has established that Munyaneza is living here under a false identity. He calls himself Charles Muneza.

He used a false name in South Africa, where he lived after leaving Rwanda. Then someone told the authorities and he was forced to leave. From South Africa he came to Britain. His wife Floride and their children joined him later.

Yesterday the respected human rights organisation African Rights also urged Britain to act against Munyaneza. A harrowing report it is issuing this week chronicles Munyaneza’s part in the genocide.

The report consists of 40 testimonies from officials and militiamen who worked alongside him, survivors and local residents. It urges Britain to rescind Munyaneza’s refugee status, stating “his acts clearly meet the international standard of genocide and crimes against humanity”.

Genocide survivors, whose testimonies are dominated by Munyaneza’s role in their suffering, were shocked to learn that he had been allowed to shelter as a refugee for so long.

One survivor, Claver Munyakayanza, described how people “tumbled like grasshoppers” as they were attacked by militiamen acting on his orders.

“I try to blot it all out,” said Munyakayanza, “but the one thing that keeps coming back to my mind is the face of Munyaneza. I keep seeing that picture of him, leading the militiamen”.

Drocelle Kantetere, 36, lost her parents and six siblings. “Munyaneza was one of the pillars of the genocide,” she said. “The fact that he has not been arrested trivialises the catastrophic effects of the genocide in our region.”

As many as 1m Rwandans, mostly from the Tutsi minority, were slaughtered over a 100- day period in 1994. The killings were largely carried out by Hutu militia called the Interahamwe and by Hutu civilians who were armed with machetes and incited to murder their Tutsi neighbours by Hutu extremists in positions of authority.

Starting in April 1994, some of the biggest massacres took place in Gikongoro, the country’s poorest province, where Munyaneza was a bourgmestre or local mayor.

Armed and wearing military uniform, Munyaneza was seen criss-crossing the countryside in a van with a microphone and loudspeaker exhorting the majority Hutu population to rise up and kill the Tutsis, and not to spare even the children. He ordered the establishment of roadblocks to catch fleeing Tutsis.

“You have to be very alert. The inyenzi (cockroaches) must not elude you,” he told the Hutu manning the roadblocks. “You must also reinforce your night patrols. We already know who our enemy is. You know who it is yourselves. It is the Tutsis.”

On April 21, some 50,000 Tutsis were slaughtered at Murambi secondary school on the edge of Gikongoro town. Survivors of this and other massacres fled to the parish of Cyanika.

Munyaneza played a central role in rounding them up for slaughter under the pretence that if they regrouped at the parish they would be safe, eyewitnesses told African Rights.

Kantetere was brought to the parish by Munyaneza. She had tried to shelter at his home with her family — they had known each other before the genocide and she hoped that he would protect them.

“We found Munyaneza and his wife Floride at home. But they looked at us as if they didn’t know us,” she said.

Others were hoping for protection from the mayor. A family of 12 prostrated themselves outside his house. Munyaneza ignored them and went to his car, which was crammed with Tutsis under guard. One of the militiamen said: “Hurry up, we have other inyenzi to collect.” They drove to Cyanika, which was “bursting” with terrified refugees.

Kantetere said Munyaneza kept bringing in refugees. When the shooting began she huddled in a room with other women and their children to shut out the “music of death” coming from grenades and guns.

Her two brothers, Aphrodis and Emmanuel, tried to sneak out of the parish but were caught by one of Munyaneza’s men, called Venuste Kwizera. He alerted Munyaneza who was looking for escaping Tutsis.

“My two brothers had not even gone beyond the bushes that surround the church. The militia hunted them down straightaway. Munyaneza had them put in a car and they were shot by his policemen in a forest close to Cyanika.”

Asked to explain his role in the genocide, Munyaneza yesterday said “sorry” and refused to comment. He also declined to explain why he was living in Britain under a false name. “It is not your business,” he said and walked indoors. Later he refused to speak on the telephone.

Had Munyaneza been traced to Britain earlier, the UN tribunal would have sought his extradition to Arusha, in Tanzania, where it is based, as it did in the case of Colonel Tharcisse Muvunyi, another alleged Rwandan war criminal found by The Sunday Times in Britain in 1998. He is now on trial for genocide.

Yesterday Rakiya Omaar, head of African Rights, said: “In the interests of justice, we very much hope that Britain will give Munyaneza the opportunity to answer these charges in a court of law. A number of western countries have now prosecuted Rwandese genocide suspects, particularly Belgium, as well as Switzerland and, most recently, Canada. We hope Britain will be the next country to follow suit.”

In Rwanda, the survivors of the massacres will be watching to see what happens. Among them will be Kantetere who is alone in the world after losing her family.

“Munyaneza is the one who has everything now, but I have no one left in my family. I accuse Munyaneza of forcing me to be so alone, to try and get by in a world that I find empty of meaning,” she said.