Home · World · Nov 10 archive
Rwandan Genocide Suspect Deported from US to Face Trial
Confirmed
In Short: A Rwandan man suspected of participating in the 1994 genocide has been deported from the United States and will face trial in Rwanda, according to local authorities.
US hands over another genocide suspect. The New Times Rwanda
A Rwandan man suspected of participating in the 1994 genocide has been deported from the United States and will face trial in Rwanda, according to local authorities. Jean Léonard Teganya, 55, was indicted in 2014 for his alleged involvement in genocidal crimes in several areas in the district of Huye, in Rwanda’s south.
Teganya was found guilty in 2019 by a federal jury in Boston of committing immigration fraud and perjury after seeking asylum in the U.S. He denied playing a part in the genocide, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Teganya, who was studying medicine at the National University of Rwanda in Butare during the genocide, was removed by ICE Boston to Kigali on Sunday. He arrived in Rwanda on Monday and faces charges related to genocide and crimes against humanity.
Yolande Mukakasana, a spokesperson for the prosecution, emphasized that genocide crimes and crimes against humanity are never time-barred. 'Perpetrators will be hunted, arrested, deported, and prosecuted,' she said.
Survivors of the genocide expressed hope for justice, with one survivor welcoming the decision to send Teganya home to face justice. 'As survivors, we remain hopeful that justice will be done no matter how much time has passed,' said a survivor.
The deportation of Teganya follows the recent convictions of Eric Tabaro Nshimiye in Boston on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice for lying about his role in the genocide.
The Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre in Kigali houses memorials to those who died during the genocide, including piles of clothes and family photographs of victims.
Rwanda continues to pursue justice for those involved in the genocide, with the country's National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) indicting Teganya in 2014 over his alleged involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity in the former Butare prefecture.
In a separate development, Vincent Brown, 65, was charged in the UK with genocide complicity and six crimes against humanity, underscoring the global efforts to prosecute those accused of such crimes.
What this adds
The NPPA indicted Teganya in 2014 over his alleged involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity in the former Butare prefecture.
What's confirmed
- KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — A Rwandan man suspected of participating in the country’s 1994 genocide has been deported from the United States and will stand trial for his alleged crimes, according to local authorities.
- In 2019, a federal jury in Boston found that Teganya had committed immigration fraud and perjury after seeking asylum in the U.S. One survivor of the genocide told The Associated Press in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, that she welcomed the decision to send Teganya home to face justice.
- At the time, Teganya denied playing a part in the genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by extremist Hutus.
- Jean Léonard Teganya, who arrived in the East African nation on Monday, faces charges related to genocide, said Justin Nkusi, a spokesperson for the prosecution.
- Jean Léonard Teganya arrived in the East African nation on Monday, and Rwandan prosecutors said they will put him on trial for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity.
- FILE - Family photographs of some of those who died hang in a display in the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre in Kigali, Rwanda, on April 5, 2014.
What's still developing
- Left: Volunteers dig for human bones of the victims of the Rwandan Genocide as they are discovered in the household of Jean Baptiste Hishamunda in Huye district, Ngoma sector, southwest of Rwanda January 23, 2024.
- READ MORE: Rwanda says 7 deportees arrived from the U.S.
- FILE - Piles of clothes belonging to some of those who were slaughtered as they sought refuge inside the church cover the pews as a memorial to the thousands who were killed during the 1994 genocide in and around the Catholic church in Nyamata, Rwanda on April 4, 2019.
- The BBC said inquiries continue into other alleged genocide offences in Rwanda, and it described the charges as genocide under the 2001 International Criminal Court Act with prosecutors alleging a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population with knowledge of the attack.
- South African white genocide does not exist, new ambassador to US tells BBC Is there a genocide of white South Africans as Trump claims?
- Last year, Trump accused South Africa of white genocide in a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House US President Donald Trump has notified Congress of his intention to remove South Africa and Rwanda from a preferential trade programme, from 1 January 2027.
- The 85-year-old, who is currently a judge on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a case in which Myanmar also stands accused of genocide, has spent her career defending international law.