US Trial Begins for Rwandan-American Accused of Genocide Involvement

Eric Nshimiye, an American citizen, claims the evidence against him consists of unreliable eyewitnesses. A United States federal court in Boston has begun hearing the case of Eric Nshimiye, a Rwandan-American accused of covering up his role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Prosecutors allege that Nshimiye, a 55-year-old father of four and a US citizen, participated 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, an event recognized as genocide by the United Nations. Investigators from the US Department of Homeland Security arrested Nshimiye at his home in Ohio in 2024, alleging he lied during an interview about his time in Rwanda during the genocide. They also claim he committed perjury in a previous trial in 2019 in Boston when he testified on behalf of a friend accused of genocide. Prosecutors assert that Nshimiye, who was a medical student in Butare during the genocide, participated in the killing and rape of Tutsis. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Looney stated in court that Hutus involved in the violence “heeded calls by the government to terminate their neighbours,” including Nshimiye. Looney further claimed, “He himself attacked Tutsis, and handed Tutsis over to be killed and raped.” During his 2019 testimony, Nshimiye denied involvement in the genocide and stated he was not part of the pro-Hutu National Revolutionary Movement for Development or the Interahamwe, the paramilitary group responsible for most killings during the genocide. Nshimiye faces charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for these denials. If convicted, the Trump administration could attempt to revoke his citizenship. Nshimiye, an ethnic Hutu, claims he was in Kigali on holiday before the violence erupted and did not return to Butare due to the chaos, eventually leaving Rwanda as a refugee and becoming a US citizen in 2009. At the trial's opening, Nshimiye appeared calm, dressed in a dark blue suit, and smiled at family and friends present for support. Since his arrest, he has been held without bail in a Boston-area federal jail. Prosecutors plan to call over a dozen witnesses, most flown in from Rwanda, who claim to have seen Nshimiye at pro-Hutu political events before the genocide and participating in violence in Butare. Nshimiye's family argues that the events of 1994 are more complex than a simple narrative of Hutus killing Tutsis. Epa Bizimana, Nshimiye’s nephew, stated that being an ethnic Hutu alone should not convince a jury of participation in the genocide. “The jury is going to learn some things for the first time; Americans are going to learn something for the first time,” said Bizimana, who was 10 years old when he fled Rwanda with his family in 1994. Defence lawyers argued that Nshimiye was not among the Hutus who participated in the genocide, asserting that the case against him relies on eyewitness accounts, some of which were influenced by repeated exposure to his photograph, and others who have previously provided inconsistent testimony in trials of alleged genocidaires. Defence attorney Kurt Kerns stated that the prosecution’s case is based on evidence that emerged only after Nshimiye testified as a character witness, 25 years after the genocide. Kerns noted that Nshimiye had never been implicated in domestic or international tribunals following the genocide, including the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the gacaca system, which tried over a million individuals for their roles in the atrocities.