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Defendant allegedly participated in killing of Tutsi men, women and children.
“BOSTON – An Ohio man was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Boston for a nearly three-decade scheme to conceal his alleged involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which left more than 800,000 people dead. The defendant was also charged with obstruction of justice and perjury for allegedly offering false testimony in the 2019 Boston trial of convicted Rwandan genocide perpetrator Jean Leonard Teganya.
It is alleged that the defendant participated in the killing of Tutsi men, women and children by striking them on the head with a nail-studded club and then hacking them to death with a machete.
Eric Tabaro Nshimiye, a/k/a Eric Tabaro Nshimiyimana, 52, of Uniontown, Ohio, was indicted on four counts of perjury; one count of obstruction of justice; and one count of engaging in a scheme to conceal material information from federal authorities. Nshimiye was previously arrested and charged by criminal complaint on March 21, 2024. Following an initial appearance in federal court in the Northern District of Ohio, Nshimiye was detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for March 31, 2024. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
A second witness drawing depicts the type of weapon Nshimiye allegedly used to kill, with victims including a 14-year-old boy the Ohio engineer had also helped murder (Department of Homeland Security)
According to the charging documents, Nshimiye was a medical student at the University of Rwanda campus in Butare, Rwanda in the early 1990s. At that time, the country had significant ethnic division: about 85% of its population were Hutus, and about 14% were Tutsis. Both Nshimiye and Teganya were well-known student members of the MRND political party, the ruling Hutu-dominated party that incited the genocide, and the Interahamwe, the notoriously violent youth wing of that movement. According to court documents, in the spring of 1994, after the Hutu president’s plane was shot down over Kigali, the country spiraled into one of the worst ethnic genocides in modern history. Members of the Hutu majority murdered approximately 800,000 Tutsis, including women and children, in a 100-day frenzy.
It is alleged that Nshimiye participated in the killing of Tutsi men, women and children by striking them on the head with a nail-studded club and then hacking them to death with a machete. The charging documents allege specific instances of Nshimiye’s criminal conduct, including his murders of a 14-year-old boy and of a man who sewed doctor’s coats at the university hospital. Witnesses in Rwanda recently identified the locations of the killings and drew pictures of Nshimiye’s weapons. It is further alleged that Nshimiye both participated in and aided and abetted the rape of numerous Tutsi women during the genocide.
According to the charging documents, Nshimiye fled Rwanda in the summer of 1994, after an attacking Tutsi rebel group drove genocidaires into the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nshimiye made his way to Kenya where, in 1995, he allegedly lied to U.S. immigration officials to gain admission to the United States as a refugee. Nshimiye emigrated to Ohio and, in subsequent years, allegedly continued to provide false information about his involvement in the Rwandan genocide to obtain lawful permanent residence and ultimately U.S. citizenship. By allegedly concealing his crimes, Nshimiye has lived and worked in Ohio since 1995.
Witness drawing depicts the type of weapon Nshimiye allegedly used to kill, with victims including a 14-year-old boy the Ohio engineer had also helped murder. Department of Homeland Security photo.
In 2017, the United States charged Teganya with fraudulently seeking asylum in the United States by similarly concealing his membership in the MRND and his involvement in the genocide. When called to testify at trial on Teganya’s behalf in 2019, Nshimiye said that neither he nor Teganya participated in the genocide. Teganya was ultimately convicted of two counts of immigration fraud and three counts of perjury in April 2019. The complaint alleges that Nshimiye assisted Teganya in obstructing justice at Teganya’s trial and falsely testifying about Teganya’s involvement in the MRND. It is also alleged that Nshimiye perjured himself when he denied his own membership in the MRND and Interahamwe.
The charging document also alleges that Nshimiye made false statements to federal agents when he was recently interviewed about his activities before coming to the United States and about the documents he signed to obtain citizenship. In response to questions, Nshimiye allegedly continued to make false statements to conceal his involvement in the genocide.
The charge of falsifying, concealing, and covering up a material fact by trick, scheme or device provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of obstruction of justice provides for a sentence up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Each count of perjury provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes that govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; Shawn S. Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Detroit; Matthew O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Boston Field Office; and Denis C. Riordan, District Director of the Fraud Detection and National Security Division of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. This matter was investigated with the assistance of the United States Interagency Human Rights Violators & War Crimes Center, the Copley, Ohio Police Department and the Summit County, Ohio Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. McNeil and Amanda Beck of the National Security Unit are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”-Massachusetts Department of Justice.
