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A man who immigrated to the U.S. from Rwanda has been indicted for allegedly hiding his genocidal past to gain citizenship.
An Ohio federal grand jury indicted 65-year-old Vincent Nzigiyimfura last Friday for hiding his role in the infamous 1994 Rwandan genocide in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Per Mid Michigan Now:
In 2014, Nzigiyimfura applied to become a U.S. citizen by making false statements and omitting material facts, according to the jury. He allegedly claimed he never persecuted anybody or committed any crimes, statements that contradicted his past as a leader of the genocide in some areas of Rwanda. The jury added that Nzigiyimfura reaffirmed those claims in an interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Nzigiyimfura led the genocide, in the southern Rwandan area of Gihisi and southern-central town of Nyanza, of ethnic Tutsis, the jury found. He allegedly provided weapons, transportation and incentives to members of the Hutu majority population, directing them to search for and apprehend Tutsis to be killed. The jury noted that Nzigiyimfura also set up roadblocks to detain and kill Tutsis and tricked those in hiding to believe the killings had stopped. The murders hadn’t, though, and the Tutsis were rounded up and executed, according to the jury.
Matthew Galeotti, head of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, said in a press release that the evidence suggests Nzigiyimfura “directed and encouraged murders during the genocide.”
“The United States is not a safe haven for human rights violators. Those, like the defendant, who commit immigration fraud to hide their violent pasts will be charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.
Acting U.S. Attorney Kelly Norris for the Southern District of Ohio said that the indictment alleges Nzigiyimfura “facilitated the killings of Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide and then lied about it on immigration applications in the United States.”
“This egregious conduct will not be tolerated,” said Norris.
As – News also reported in February, a Rwandan man living in New York was charged by federal authorities for allegedly concealing his role in the 1994 genocide to gain U.S. citizenship.
“Faustin Nsabumukunzi, 65, was charged with hiding from US authorities his role as a local leader in Rwanda when the genocide began in 1994,” reported CNN. “An estimated 800,000 Tutsis were killed during the three-month-long genocide. The indictment of the Bridgehampton man was unsealed in Central Islip on Long Island.”
“At an initial court appearance, Nsabumukunzi pleaded not guilty to visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud and was released on $250,000 bail. The bail package requires home detention and GPS monitoring, but he will be allowed to continue working as a gardener,” it added.
Nsabumukunzi’s lawyer, Evan Sugar, denied the charges and referred to his client as a “law-abiding beekeeper and gardener who has lived on Long Island for more than two decades,” adding that he was “a victim of the Rwandan genocide who lost scores of family members and friends to the violence.”
