A United States federal court in Boston has begun hearing the case of a Rwandan-American accused of covering up his role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Prosecutors say Eric Nshimiye, a 55-year-old father of four and a U.S. citizen, took part in a nationwide outbreak of genocidal violence against ethnic minority Tutsis by majority Hutu extremists in April 1994. More than 800,000 people were killed over about 100 days, in what has been called a genocide by the United Nations.
Hutus who took part in the violence “heeded calls by the government to terminate their neighbors,” Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Looney told the court on Tuesday, including Nshimiye in the group.
“He himself attacked Tutsis, and handed Tutsis over to be killed and raped,” Looney said.
During his 2019 testimony, Nshimiye denied being part of the genocide, and said he was not part of the pro-Hutu National Revolutionary Movement for Development and the Interahamwe, the paramilitary group blamed for most of the killings during the genocide.
Nshimiye faces charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for those denials. If convicted, the Trump administration could try to revoke Nshimiye’s citizenship.
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