A 65-year-old man has been accused of concealing his role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in order to immigrate to the United States and apply for citizenship, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Faustin Nsabumukunzi allegedly held a leadership position during the genocide, in which more than 1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.
“As alleged in the indictment, Nsabumukunzi used his leadership position to oversee the violence and killings of Tutsis in his local area and directed groups of armed Hutus to kill Tutsis,” prosecutors said in a statement following the unsealing of the indictment issued Tuesday.
He is accused of organizing roadblocks to detain and kill Tutsis and of personally participating in killings. Court filings say Nsabumukunzi was convicted in absentia by a Rwandan court for genocide.
U.S. authorities have charged him with immigration fraud, alleging he failed to disclose his alleged role in the atrocities when applying for permanent residency and later for citizenship.
Nsabumukunzi pleaded not guilty and was released on $250,000 bail, a court source said. His bond was reportedly posted by a private equity executive on Long Island who had employed him as a gardener.
The New York Times profiled Nsabumukunzi in a 2006 article that described his journey through refugee camps over a decade before seeking asylum in the U.S. with his family in 2004. The article also detailed his background as a beekeeper and how he met a honey producer in the Hamptons, a wealthy enclave on Long Island.
The article reported that Nsabumukunzi lost 200 relatives in the genocide.
“The depraved conduct of which the defendant is accused represents the worst of humanity,” said Darren McCormack, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New York.
If convicted, Nsabumukunzi faces up to 30 years in prison.
