07 JULY 2009
UNA-UK Chair hails victory for international justice on war crimes
Prime Minister Gordon Brown today announced planned legislation that will strengthen UK law relating to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Speaking at a press conference with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Brown said the UK would close a loophole that prevents suspects found on UK soil from being prosecuted, extradited or deported. He said 'their time is up. They may have run from the responsibility for these crimes over the law few years, but they can no longer hide in Britain from the justice that should be meted out to them'.
At present, anyone suspected of these crimes cannot be prosecuted if the crimes took place before 2001 or if they are not resident in this country. New legislation would push this back to 1991, which would allow prosecutions relating to the Rwandan genocide and the wars in the former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

In April, four Rwandans living in the UK and suspected of genocide in 1994, won their High Court appeal against extradition. These men could now face trial in British courts, along with 'tens' of other suspected war criminals according to Justice Minister Jack Straw.

UNA-UK had made formal representations to the government on this issue, and supported a campaign by the Aegis Trust and REDRESS. Lord Hannay, UNA-UK's Chair, called the move 'a victory for international justice and another blow to the culture of impunity for breaches of international humanitarian law'.

Speaking in a House of Lords debate on this issue, Lord Hannay commended the government, saying that this 'well know and well advertised' loophole could have led to Britain becoming a haven for war criminals.

He also expressed hope that the new legislation would not apply only to suspects who are formally resident in the UK, but also to those who are 'present' in this country. 'My greatest fear is that an enlarged residence criterion, however carefully it is drafted, would still leave loopholes that might result in further High Court cases, and therefore we would end up in the same situation that we are in now. That would be lamentable.'

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