US trial begins for Rwandan-American accused of role in genocide

Published On 13 Oct 202613 Oct 2026.

Key points

• More than 800, 000 individuals were killed over concerning 100 days, in what has been called a genocide by the United Nations.
• His family notes the events of 1994 are more complex than the simple narrative of Hutus killing Tutsis.
• Prosecutors say Nshimiye, a medical student at the time of the genocide in the town of Butare, himself took part in the killing and rape of Tutsis.
• Defence lawyers informed the court on Tuesday that Nshimiye was not part of the Hutus who participated in the genocide.
• "He himself attacked Tutsis, and handed Tutsis over to be killed and raped, " Looney remarked.

Boston, Massachusetts, United States – 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 US 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 individuals were killed over concerning 100 days, in what has been called a genocide by the United Nations.

Investigators from the US Department of Homeland Security arrested Nshimiye at his home in Ohio in 2024, alleging he had lied to them in an interview regarding his time in Rwanda during the genocide. They additionally allege he committed perjury in a previous trial in 2019 in Boston when he testified on behalf of a friend who was additionally accused of perpetrating the genocide. Prosecutors say Nshimiye, a medical student at the time of the genocide in the town of Butare, himself took part in the killing and rape of Tutsis.

Hutus who took part in the violence "heeded calls by the government to terminate their neighbours, " Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Looney informed the court on Tuesday, including Nshimiye in the group.

During his 2019 testimony, Nshimiye denied being part of the genocide, and remarked 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.

Nshimiye, who is an ethnic Hutu, notes he had gone to the capital, Kigali, on holiday before violence broke out. He notes he never produced it back to Butare since of the chaos engulfing the country in April 1994, and instead left the country as a refugee, eventually coming to the US and becoming a citizen in 2009.

At the opening of his case on Tuesday, Nshimiye, dressed in a dark blue suit, was calm and occasionally turned to smile at family and friends who came to backing him. Since his arrest, authorities have kept Nshimiye without bail in a Boston-area federal jail.

Prosecutors plan to put more than a dozen witnesses on the stand, most flown in from Rwanda. This person say they recall seeing Nshimiye participate in pro-Hutu political events before the genocide, and some who say they afterwards saw him participate in genocidal violence in Butare.

His family notes the events of 1994 are more complex than the simple narrative of Hutus killing Tutsis. Simply being an ethnic Hutu, Epa Bizimana, Nshimiye's nephew, informed Al Jazeera, should not be enough to convince a jury someone took part 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, " remarked Bizimana, who was 10 years old when he fled Rwanda with his family in 1994.

Defence lawyers informed the court on Tuesday that Nshimiye was not part of the Hutus who participated in the genocide. They say the entire case against him is built on the accounts of eyewitnesses, some of whom were only able to identify him after repeatedly being shown his photo, and some of whom have a history of giving different testimony in trials of alleged genocidaires over the years.

Kurt Kerns, one of the defence attorneys, informed the court that the prosecution's case was based on evidence "that only reared its ugly head after Eric came to testify as a character witness, and 25 years after the genocide."

Kerns remarked Nshimiye had never been implicated in domestic and international tribunals after the genocide, including the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda as well as an informal transitional justice system inside Rwanda, called gacaca. It tried more than a million residents for their role in the atrocity.

Taken together, the developments around US trial begins for Rwandan-American accused of role in genocide point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.