US convicts Rwandan man who hid genocide role for decades

A Rwandan man has been convicted in the US of lying under oath about his involvement in the 1994 genocide during the trial of a former university classmate.

A federal jury in Boston found Eric Nshimiye, 54, guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice charges stemming from his testimony in the 2019 immigration fraud trial of Jean Leonard Teganya, who was also accused of participating in the atrocities.

Nshimiye fled Rwanda for Kenya in 1994 and was admitted to the US as a refugee the following year.

About 800,000 people, mostly from Rwanda’s minority Tutsi community, were killed by ethnic Hutu extremists during the 100-day genocide.

Prosecutors said Nshimiye concealed his involvement in the genocide to secure entry into the country.

Evidence presented at his trial showed that, while a student at the University of Rwanda in Butare, he took part in attacks of the Tutsi people, including by striking them on the head with a club.

He faces up to five years in prison for each of the four perjury counts and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for obstruction of justice.

He is due to be sentenced on 26 January 2027.

“For nearly three decades, this defendant concealed his involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the heinous acts of violence he committed, including clubbing people to death,” US justice department prosecutor Tysen Duva said.

“Then he lied to immigration officials in order to become a US citizen, and he lied to a federal jury to protect himself and a fellow perpetrator of the Rwandan genocide,” Duva said.

Nshimiye’s lawyer, Kurt Kerns, said in a statement that they were “obviously ⁠disappointed with the verdict” and would pursue “all avenues of relief”.

During his opening statement at the trial in October, Kerns argued that the charges were based on “fabricated accusations”, saying Nshimiye was not in Butare when the violence began.

He also said Nshimaye was charged only after testifying as a character witness for Teganya, his former university classmate.

Teganya was sentenced to eight years in jail in 2019 for what prosecutors described as “the most serious form of immigration fraud”, after lying about his involvement in the genocide.

He was also accused of participating in at least seven murders and five rapes, but denied being involved in the genocide.