A person who directed rapes and murders through the 1994 Rwanda genocide lied to U.S. immigration officers about his function within the 100-day bloodbath and began a brand new life as a Lengthy Island beekeeper, federal prosecutors allege.
The feds on Thursday arrested Faustin Nsabumukunzi at his Bridgehampton dwelling, accusing him of constructing false statements in his purposes for a visa, inexperienced card and for U.S. citizenship.
“I know I’m finished,” he advised federal brokers throughout his arrest, in accordance with court docket filings.
The genocide began April 7, 1994, a day after the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi died in a missile assault on their plane, when reasonable Hutu prime minister of Rwanda, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, and her husband had been killed by Rwandan troopers. Within the 100 days that adopted, Hutu extremists slaughtered and raped tons of of 1000’s of minority Tutsi and Hutu moderates.
Nsabumukunzi was a “sector counsilor” in Kibirizi, within the Butare Prefecture in Southern Rwanda, the place he “held a leadership position and oversaw the violence and killing of Tutsis,” in accordance with the feds.
He assured Tutsis at public conferences that they’d be protected initially of the genocide, then went into personal Hutu-only conferences and urged them to start out killing, the feds allege.
He arrange roadblocks, together with one close to his home, to cease Tutsis from fleeing, and directed armed Hutus to kill them, the feds allege. On April 21, 1994, he ordered the slaughter of a gaggle of Tutsis on the grounds of an administrative workplace, hitting a few of them within the head with a membership himself as a part of the violence, the indictment alleges.
On this Could 17, 1994, file photograph, refugees who fled the ethnic massacre in neighboring Rwanda carry water containers again to their huts on the Benaco refugee camp in Tanzania, close to the border with Rwanda. (Karsten Thielker/AP)
He additionally ordered the killers to take away the our bodies from the workplace grounds, referring to their our bodies as “trash” or “garbage,” despatched an armed group to kill Tutsis in different spots the place they had been hiding, the feds allege, and inspired them to rape Tutsi girls.
“Witnesses alleged that the defendant, as a leader, encouraged Hutu men to rape Tutsi women as a genocidal tool,” federal prosecutors wrote.
Nsabumukunzi utilized for refugee standing within the U.S. in 2003, denying his involvement within the genocide, in accordance with the indictment. He was allowed to enter the U.S. as a refugee in 2004, and obtained his Inexperienced Card in 2007. He’s been attempting to develop into a naturalized citizen ever since, repeatedly mendacity underneath oath or penalty of perjury that he took half within the killings, the feds allege.
Since coming to the U.S., he made a reputation for himself as a beekeeper, and was featured in a 2006 New York Instances article and different media accounts, in accordance with legislation enforcement sources.
“Numerous eyewitnesses who observed the defendant’s conduct in Rwanda in 1994 described him as one of the leaders of the genocide in Kibirizi. Many of these witnesses, who were both Hutu and Tutsi, knew the defendant before the genocide and lived with him as neighbors and friends,” federal prosecutors wrote in a letter to U.S. District Decide Joanna Seybert Thursday.
He’s slated to be arraigned Thursday in Central Islip Federal Courtroom on prices of visa fraud, tried illegal procurement of naturalization and tried procurement of naturalization when not entitled.
Prosecutors are asking Seybert to carry Nsabumukunzi with out bail.
The federal crimes carry most 10-year jail phrases and he faces deportation again to Rwanda, the place he may find yourself locked up for all times.
In 2008, a community-based Rwandan court docket tried and convicted him in absentia and gave him a life sentence, prosecutors wrote. In 2014, the Public Prosecutor of Rwanda indicted him for crimes associated to the genocide, and in 2016, Interpol Rwanda issued a “Wanted Person Diffusion Notice” in opposition to him for genocide, the feds wrote.
“As alleged, Nsabumukunzi repeatedly lied to conceal his involvement in the horrific Rwandan genocide while seeking to become a lawful permanent resident and citizen of the United States,” U.S. Legal professional John Durham mentioned Thursday.
“For over two decades, he got away with those lies and lived in the United States with an undeserved clean slate, a luxury that his victims will never have, but thanks to the tenacious efforts of our investigators and prosecutors, the defendant finally will be held accountable for his brutal actions.”
Initially Revealed: April 24, 2025 at 11:36 AM EDT
