The National Crime Agency (NCA), the newly founded police body dubbed “Britain’s FBI”, stands accused of failing to act on an arrest warrant for a former Rwandan general wanted for crimes against humanity while he was in London receiving medical treatment.

 

 National Crime Agency accused of missing chance for ‘Pinochet-style’ arrest when general was in London for medical treatment

Lawyers acting for the victims of atrocities and war crimes alleged to have been committed by Charles Kayonga during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide served a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) on the NCA via a Spanish judge in January, after receiving information that he was in the capital to receive treatment for cancer.

The NCA, which took over from the heavily criticised Serious and Organised Crime Agency six months ago, is under attack because Mr Kayonga was then apparently able to leave the country despite the address where he was allegedly staying in London being passed to the British authorities.

Lawyers say they want an explanation from the NCA for why the chance for a “Pinochet-style” arrest, similar to the capture of the former Chilean dictator in 1998, had seemingly been missed. It was announced two weeks ago that Mr Kayonga is to become Rwanda’s new ambassador to China.

Daniel Machover, of the law firm Hickman and Rose, said: “The NCA would seem to have been content to use operational reasons as a smokescreen for delay, during which time it has become apparent that Mr Kayonga has returned to Rwanda ahead of taking up his new role as a diplomat.”

Mr Kayonga, a former lieutenant general, is a close ally of the Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who led the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which brought the genocide of about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus to an end in 1994, saving tens of thousands of lives.

Mr Kagame, who has remained in power in the central African state since, has in the past been lauded by figures including former Prime Minister Tony Blair and senior Conservatives. But he has more recently been criticised for authoritarianism and faces allegations that state-sanctioned assassination squads have been sent to silence opponents abroad.

Prosecutors in Spain and France have alleged that atrocities were carried out by the RPF as it battled for control of Rwanda, including the murder of a Spanish priest and three Rwandan priests in the north of country in April 1994 as well as massacres committed in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo as RPF forces chased Hutu rebels out of Rwandan territory.

Jordi Palou Loverdos, the Spanish lawyer acting on behalf of 30 victims of alleged RPF crimes, including Tutsis, Hutus and foreign nationals, told The Independent: “After many years of working to bring about truth and justice, my clients and all the other victims of international crimes in the region will not give up, even if Charles Kayonga is able to take up the role of Rwandan ambassador to China. There would seem to be a reluctance to at the international level to conduct any inquiry into the crimes of the RPF.”

The general is understood to have arrived in Britain in December to undergo treatment for throat cancer at a private hospital while staying with relatives in the Bromley area of south-east London. Mr Loverdos said the information was supplied independently by several confidential sources both within Rwanda and abroad.

A copy of the EAW, which is valid throughout the EU and requires the receiving state to detain an individual pending extradition either to face trial or serve a prison term for a conviction, was issued on 9 January and lodged with the NCA, which acts as the receiving point for all such warrants. The Independent understands the information supplied to the NCA via a Spanish judge included a full statement of the case against Mr Kayonga as well as the address at which he was supposedly staying and the names of relatives in the UK.

British lawyers said they had expected the NCA, which is required to “certify” or check the validity of each warrant before then passing it on to the relevant police force, to acknowledge the document and provide assurances that Mr Kayonga would not be able to leave the country.

Mr Machover said: “Instead we heard absolutely nothing. The NCA refused to engage and provide any information on the progress of the case. Clearly Mr Kayonga is now outside this jurisdiction.”

The NCA last night declined to comment on the case, saying it was for the Spanish authorities to provide all information on the EAW. Neither the Rwandan foreign ministry nor its High Commission in London responded to a request to comment on the claims faced by Mr Kayonga.

Most wanted: Charles Kayonga

Charles Kayonga, 51, is among senior Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) figures named by Spanish and French judges investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including massacres of Hutu groups in neighbouring Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo.

While allegedly a member of the Network Commando, a specialist unit with the RPF, he is also accused of taking part in a plot to bring down the plane of then Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana in April 1994. The destruction of the plane as it arrived in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, was the spark which led to the genocide.

French investigators alleged the crash was the work of the RPF, led by Mr Kagame.

 Some of the news that pointed the finger on Gen Kayonga’s presence in london.

Behind The Presidential Curtains: Gen Kayonga seeks treatment for Throat Cancer

By: Noble Marara

Behind The Presidential Curtains has learned that General Charles Kayonga is under throat cancer treatment in the United Kingdom, after we published an article, which indicated the alarming concerns of the disappearance of Gen Charles Kayonga from the public.   We then commenced investigations immediately to locate where exactly this man was being held. The sources held at the moment indicate that after Charles Kayonga was relieved off his duties as CDS (chief of Defence Staff).

Gen Charles Kayonga looking worried after diagnosis

He spent the first few days under house arrest; he was later diagnosed of throat cancer after feeling unwell for some time. Gen Charles Kayonga requested to meet the President Paul Kagame with the intention to seek permission to go have treatment abroad, President Kagame ignored him for over a month.  The sources we hold stated that Gen Kayonga cried for days due to the aggressiveness of his diagnosis and the pain he was experiencing. Even though it was reported that there was an attempt to kill Gen Kayonga, arranged by Gen Jack Nziza, Gen Kayonga survived after the information leaked and the issue was resolved by President Kagame himself after speaking to both Generals.  It is reported that later President Paul Kagame allowed Gen Kayonga to go abroad for treatment. Behind the presidential curtains received information that Gen Charles Kayonga was receiving Chemotherapy in a private Hospital in London, this meant that it was necessary for our writers to find out exactly what happened to our former comrade. However, even though we managed to understand all of the above, it meant a challenge in tracing the location. Later last week we managed to locate where Gen Charles Kayonga was being nursed.

 It is reported that Gen Charles Kayonga stays at his mother in laws house above on address-Forster House, Whitefoot Lane, Bromley BR1 5SD London.

 

As reported, Gen Charles Kayonga spends most days on the above address, taking more than six types of medications

Home visits are normally done by General Nurses; also, Gen Kayonga attends the Hospital once a week. When we contacted one of the family members, who preferred anonymity, we were asked how we found that out due to the fact that Gen Kayonga was very anxious and hiding in the room whenever there was a loud sound or bang.

Gen Charles Kayonga remains at the above address which belongs to Marble Rwivanga. Mrs. Rwivanga is the mother in law to Gen Charles Kayonga, however even though he remains at the address Kayonga stays with the two young girls who are his sisters in law, Mrs Rwivanga is married to another man originally from Nigeria. It was reported that on the day the paparazzi arrived taking pictures of the House, Marble Rwivanga advised Gen Kayonga to spend the night in Littlehampton near Brighton at her new marriage home.

It is reported that Gen Kayonga has been unwell physically and psychologically, and so we advised our cameraman to stop interfering with that residence as we are concerned that this might cause more stress to a patient.

Sympathetically during this Christmas, we call upon friend’s, families and comrades to pray for Gen Charles Kayonga and others who are experiencing this similar condition. however also we take this opportunity to always support each other during hard times, which Behind the Presidential Curtains have been trying to do even though Gen Charles Kayonga declined to meet us due to his security sensitivity.

1.      Gen Charles Kayonga is remembered in many ways, such as facilitating and assisting on the shooting of the plane carrying President Juvenal Habyalimana, President Ntaryamira of Burundi and many others

2.      Gen Charles Kayonga with Col Karamba chased the refuges out of CND during genocide just to be killed by interahamwe in front of the CND gate

3.      Gen Charles Kayonga with Paul Kagame are  the men who supported the idea of returning Inyumba Aloysia back home from Hospital when she was a throat cancer patient in Holland; they both believed that Inyumba was wasting Government money without signs of recovery from her aggressive throat cancer. Even when the family and friends borrowed money from Beka bank, after Gen Jack Nziza together with Gen Charles Kayonga found out, those loans were blocked. As they all believed that it was an embarrassment to the RPF political party, borrowing money when RPF had failed to sponsor their hero.

4.      Gen Charles Kayonga ordered the killing of Rutaisire through Maj Rwivanga a son to Marble Rwivanga and a brother in law to Gen Charles Kayonga. It is reported that Rutaisire was a cousin to Rwivanga, even though he was chosen to kill his cousin it is still haunting him and it has divided the family. Rutaisire was suspected of speaking to positive forces.

5.      Gen Charles Kayonga is the man who spoke to the soldiers who tested positive of HIV, while selecting the ones to send on African Union duty in Sudan. Surprisingly in his words ‘’ Nyinyi wajinga mbo zenu muna cukua high put’’ meaning that you stupid, you carry your private parts on high put like guns ready to shoot?”

6.      Gen Charles Kayonga is mainly remembered for calling young soldiers crocodiles, in the end we all believed that it was normal to be called a crocodile: until now if someone called me crocodile I would probably respond positively, even though it has been so many years.

Gen Charles Kayonga served in various positions in the RPA/RDF army and was diagnosed with an aggressive throat cancer and we all hope he gets well soon.

As suggested by Cancer research UK, Throat cancer is not a precise medical term so doctors generally don’t use it. There are different structures and areas within the throat and they have different names.

The medical name for the throat is the pharynx. The easiest way to think of this is as a passage that makes sure food and drink go in one direction (down the food pipe) and air in the other (up and down the windpipe). There are 3 main parts to the pharynx.  They are the

·     Nasopharynx, which connects the back of the nose to the back of the mouth

·     Oropharynx, which is at the back of the mouth and contains the soft palate, base of the tongue and back wall of the throat (posterior pharyngeal wall)

·     Hypopharynx which connects the oropharynx and nasopharynx to the start of the food pipe (oesophagus) and the windpipe (trachea) via the voice box (larynx)

The hypo pharynx is sometimes called the laryngopharynx.

Many patients and relatives also use throat cancer to mean cancer of the

·     Thyroid gland, which is at the front of the base of the neck

·     The voice box (larynx)

·     The food pipe (esophagus)

·     The windpipe (trachea)

It is important to know the exact name of the cancer to find the right information. Cancers are treated according to where they started and the type of cell they started from. The treatment for mouth cancer will not be the same as treatment for cancer of the voice box. If you are not sure of the name of your cancer, you can ask your doctor or nurse to write it down for you.

Cancers that start in the head and neck area (for example, the tongue, the nose or the ear) are often grouped together under a general heading of head and neck cancer. Most head and neck cancers are squamous cell cancers. Squamous cell head and neck cancers don’t usually spread to other body organs. But they can spread to lymph nodes (also called lymph glands) in the neck. Sometimes, the first sign of cancer that a person notices is an enlarged lymph node in the neck.

We have information about cancers of the

·     Mouth and oropharynx

·     Voice box (larynx)

·     Food pipe (oesophagus or gullet)

·     Thyroid gland

Cancer of the trachea really comes under lung cancer. The trachea branches into 2 smaller tubes called the main bronchi. It is more usual for lung cancer to start here, so it is sometimes called cancer of the bronchus or bronchial cancer.

Many people say it helps to talk to other people who know what they are going through. If you are seeing a specialist in head and neck cancer, ask them if they can put you in touch with any other patients. That way, they may be nearby. However, with rare cancers, it is hard to find people with the same condition. The Mouth Cancer Foundation website has an online support group that offers practical advice and support for people affected by cancers of the head and neck. Their website also provides information about throat cancers.

You can also look at Cancer Chat – Cancer Research UK’s online forum. It is a place for anyone affected by cancer to share experiences, stories and information with other people who know what you are going through.

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-help/about-cancer/cancer-questions/information-on-throat-cancer

We very much need to support Gen Charles Kayonga whenever possible.