CANTON, Ohio — An Ohio man has been charged for lying about his alleged involvement in murders and rapes during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which left more than 800,000 people dead, to obtain U.S. citizenship, federal authorities announced Thursday.

Eric Tabaro Nshimiye, also known as Eric Tabaro Nshimiyimana, was arrested Thursday and faces various federal charges that include obstruction of justice, perjury, and falsifying information, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a news release. Federal prosecutors accused Nshimiye, 52, of living a double life and that he insisted he was a victim during the genocide.

"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," Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy of Massachusetts said in a statement. "The United States will not be a safe haven for suspected human rights violators and war criminals."

In addition to concealing his involvement in the genocide for nearly three decades, prosecutors said Nshimiye gave false testimony in the 2019 Boston trial of his former classmate and now-convicted Rwandan genocide perpetrator Jean Leonard Teganya. Teganya was convicted of two counts of immigration fraud and three counts of perjury in connection with his application for asylum in the United States. 

In 1994, hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were massacred after the Hutu extremist-led government incited a genocide, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Federal prosecutors said the country had "significant ethnic division: about 85% of its population were Hutus, and about 14% were Tutsis."

After then-President Juvénal Habyarimana's plane was shot down, violence broke out across the country and the Hutu majority targeted the minority population — killing about 800,000 Tutsis, including women and children, over 100 days, according to court documents.

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What is Eric Tabaro Nshimiye accused of?

Federal prosecutors said Nshimiye was a medical student at the University of Rwanda in Butare, Rwanda, in the early 1990s. Nshimiye and Teganya were "well-known student members" of the ruling Hutu-dominated party, the MRND political party, and the Interahamwe, a notoriously violent youth wing of that movement, according to court records.

"Tutsi students were killed at the university during the genocide in Butare," according to an affidavit filed in the case. "Because many Tutsis sought refuge on the hospital grounds, and also sought care for their injuries there, the hospital itself became the site of many atrocities."

Court documents alleged that Nshimiye killed 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. Citing specific instances, court documents alleged that Nshimiye killed a 14-year-old boy and a man who sewed doctors' coats at the university hospital.

Witnesses in Rwanda recently identified the locations of the killings and drew pictures of Nshimiye’s weapons, court documents said. In addition to the murders, "Nshimiye both participated in and aided and abetted the rape of numerous Tutsi women during the genocide," court documents added.

Nshimiye is accused of being "among the most vicious University students who were members of the Interahamwe during the genocide," according to court documents.

Nshimiye fled Rwanda, later came to the United States

In the summer of 1994, Nshimiye fled Rwanda after an attacking Tutsi rebel group forced the government into the Democratic Republic of Congo, federal prosecutors said. Nshimiye made his way to Kenya where, in 1995, he was accused of lying to immigration officials to gain admission to the United States as a refugee, court documents said.

Nshimiye then emigrated to Ohio, where he has lived since 1995, court documents add. According to his LinkedIn page, Nshimiye worked as an engineer at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in Akron for 23 years. The company couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

While living in Ohio, he "allegedly continued to provide false information about his involvement in the Rwandan genocide to obtain lawful permanent residence and ultimately U.S. citizenship," federal prosecutors said.

In 2017, federal officials charged Teganya with fraudulently seeking asylum in the United States by concealing his membership in the MRND and his involvement in the genocide. During Teganya's trial, Nshimiye testified that neither he nor Teganya participated in the genocide.

Federal officials began investigating Nshimiye, who allegedly lied to federal agents when he was recently interviewed about his activities arriving in the United States, according to court documents. He was arrested Thursday in Ohio and was detained after an initial court appearance.

Nshimiye will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said. If convicted, Nshimiye could face up to 20 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.

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