Ohio Man Arrested for Decades-Long Scheme to Conceal His Involvement in the Rwandan Genocide

BOSTON – An Ohio man has been charged in Boston, Mass. 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 is also charged with obstruction of justice and with perjury for allegedly offering false testimony in the 2019 Boston trial of his former classmate and now-convicted Rwandan genocide perpetrator Jean Leonard Teganya. The defendant allegedly 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, has been charged in a criminal complaint with falsifying, concealing and covering up a material fact by trick, scheme or device; obstruction of justice; and perjury. Nshimiye was arrested this morning in Ohio and was detained following an initial appearance in federal court in Northern District of Ohio. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date. 

“For nearly 30 years, Mr. Nshimiye allegedly hid the truth about crimes he committed during the Rwandan genocide in order to seek refuge in the United States, and reap the benefits of U.S. citizenship. Our refuge and asylum laws exist to protect true victims of persecution -- not the perpetrators. The United States will not be a safe haven for suspected human rights violators and war criminals,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “Our office and our law enforcement partners are dedicated to locating and prosecuting those who commit human rights violations abroad and then evade our immigration laws. We will not cease in our pursuit of identifying and bringing to justice those individuals who have participated in unthinkable war crimes and human rights abuses.”

“Nshimiye is accused of lying to conceal his participation in one of the greatest human tragedies of all time. The charging documents make specific allegations about the murder and rape of ethnic Tutsis committed during his time as a medical student in Rwanda. The government alleges his testimony in the defense of a convicted genocidaire was a calculated attempt to conceal the horrific crimes committed during the genocide, further distancing himself from his participation in these horrific events, and avoiding consequences of his actions,” said Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England. “Homeland Security Investigations and the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center agents spend years investigating cases of alleged human rights violators and war criminals, interviewing survivors, and working alongside historians, in an effort to uncover the true history of perpetrators and hold them accountable for their actions. We are tireless in our pursuit of those who seek to use the United States as a haven from justice.”

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.

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. The charge 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 U.S. Attorney Levy; HSI SAC Krol; 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 complaint are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.