The APPG on the Great Lakes Region of Africa (APPG) today welcomed Justice Secretary Jack Straw's statement outlining the government' s intention to strengthen UK legislation for the inclusion of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes as an extra-territorial offence within our law.

The APPG, along with the Aegis Trust and other parliamentary colleagues, has actively lobbied successive ministers for change to legislation in this area. Eric Joyce MP, Chair of the APPG, along with other parliamentarians met with the Home Secretary when four Rwandans suspected of involvement in the 1994 genocide were taken in UK custody.

Today Mr. Joyce said "This is a very important development and the government deserves credit. The Rwandan genocide was a historical low point in the post-war era and it is important those involved be bought to justice."

The government will introduce changes to the Coronors and Justice Bill in the House of Lords bringing these amendments into UK law. In his statement the Justice Secretary said "we should seek to cover the categories of crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity from 1 January 1991." He continued to say "we propose no change to the categories of people covered by the legislation, which should remain UK nationals and residents...however we are exploring the possibilitiy of providing more certainty as to who may (or may not) be considered to be a UK resident." As the law stands, only UK residents and not all those present in the country can be tried for these crimes in our courts.

This statement was made as a press release on 7 July 2009, for more information contact Chris Levick This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For a joint statement from Aegis Trust, Justice and Redress click here.