HARRISBURG, Pa. — Federal authorities have charged a Rwandan man they accused of repeatedly lying about his involvement in killings and rapes during the country’s 1994 genocide to seek asylum and citizenship in the United States.
Eric Nshimiye of Ohio was arrested Thursday on charges including falsifying information, obstruction of justice and perjury, authorities said.
The obstruction and perjury charges stem from his testimony in the 2019 trial of his former medical school classmate, who was convicted of concealing his involvement in at least seven murders and five rapes during the genocide. It is estimated that 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered by Hutu extremists.
“For nearly three decades, Mr. Nshimiye allegedly hid the truth about the crimes he committed during the Rwandan genocide in order to seek refuge in the United States and reap the benefits of American citizenship,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy from Massachusetts in a speech. rack.
In addition to lying about his involvement in murders and rapes, Nshimiye also lied about his former classmate’s involvement in the genocide, authorities said.
Nshimiye was detained Thursday after an initial appearance in federal court in Ohio and authorities said he will appear at a later date in federal court in Boston, where the charges were filed.
Court records showed there was no attorney for Nshimiye and a phone number for him or his family was not immediately available Thursday.
Nshimiye was a medical student at the University of Rwanda’s Butare campus in the early 1990s. Authorities accuse him of killing Tutsi men, women and children using a spiked club and a machete.
His victims included a 14-year-old boy and a man who sewed doctor’s coats at University Hospital, authorities said.
Witnesses in Rwanda identified the locations of the killings and made drawings of Nshimiye’s weapons, authorities said. Nshimiye also took part in the rapes of numerous Tutsi women during the genocide, authorities said.
Nshimiye fled Tutsi rebels and made his way to Kenya, where he lied to U.S. immigration officials in 1995 to gain refugee status in the United States, authorities said.
Nshimiye has lived and worked in Ohio since 1995 and eventually acquired U.S. citizenship, authorities said.