US federal trial begins in Boston for Rwandan-American accused in genocide case

A federal trial has begun in Boston for Eric Nshimiye, a Rwandan-American accused of lying about his role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Prosecutors say the 55-year-old US citizen took part in genocidal violence against ethnic Tutsis during the mass killings that swept the country in April 1994. The case opened in a United States federal court in Massachusetts, where Nshimiye is facing charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

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According to prosecutors, investigators from the Department of Homeland Security arrested Nshimiye at his home in Ohio in 2024 after alleging that he lied during an interview about his time in Rwanda. They also say he gave false testimony in a previous Boston trial in 2019, when he appeared on behalf of a friend accused of involvement in the genocide. In court, Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Looney said Nshimiye was part of a group that responded to calls to kill neighbours, and alleged that he personally attacked Tutsis and handed others over to be killed and raped.

The prosecution says Nshimiye was a medical student in the town of Butare at the time of the genocide. It alleges he was involved in killings and rape during the violence, which left more than 800,000 people dead over about 100 days, according to the United Nations description of the genocide. Nshimiye denies the allegations and says the evidence against him relies on unreliable eyewitnesses.

He has said he was in Kigali on holiday when violence broke out and that he later left Rwanda as a refugee before eventually becoming a US citizen in 2009. The case carries significance beyond the courtroom because it touches on long-running efforts to pursue accountability for the 1994 genocide, including cases brought years later in foreign courts. It also raises the possibility that a conviction could lead the Trump administration to seek revocation of Nshimiye's citizenship.

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That would make the trial relevant not only to the allegations about events in Rwanda, but also to how US authorities handle suspected human rights abuses linked to naturalised citizens. The 1994 genocide remains one of the most extensively documented mass atrocities of the late 20th century, and prosecutions connected to it have continued for decades in several countries. In this case, prosecutors are trying to show that Nshimiye concealed his past when questioned by US authorities and when he testified in Boston in 2019.

The defence, meanwhile, is expected to challenge the reliability of the witnesses and the account of his conduct in Rwanda. What remains unclear is how the court will assess the competing accounts of Nshimiye's actions in 1994 and his later statements to investigators and in court. The trial is at an early stage, and no verdict has been reached.

The next developments will likely focus on witness testimony, the strength of the documentary evidence, and whether prosecutors can prove the alleged lies and obstruction beyond reasonable doubt.

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