Ohio Man Convicted of Lying Under Oath About Role in 1994 Rwandan Genocide at Boston Trial of Another Suspect

A federal jury in Boston has convicted an Ohio man of lying under oath about his role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide when he testified for another genocide suspect at a 2019 federal trial, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

Eric Tabaro Nshimiye, also known as Eric Tabaro Nshimiyimana, 54, of Uniontown, Ohio, was found guilty Tuesday of four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, according to the department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. Senior U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV set sentencing for Jan. 26, 2027. Nshimiye was arrested and charged in March 2024.

How the Rwandan Genocide Perjury Case Began

The conviction grows out of a separate case. In 2017, the United States charged Jean Leonard Teganya with fraudulently seeking asylum by concealing his membership in the MRND, the ruling Hutu-dominated party at the time, and his involvement in the genocide, the department said. Nshimiye testified for Teganya at his 2019 trial in Boston and said that neither man had taken part in the genocide or belonged to the MRND, according to the releases. Teganya was convicted in April 2019 of two counts of immigration fraud and three counts of perjury.

Prosecutors said Nshimiye's testimony at that trial, including his denial of his own MRND membership, was false, and those statements are the basis for this week's verdict.

What the Jury Heard

According to the evidence presented at trial, as summarized by the department, Nshimiye was a medical student at the University of Rwanda in Butare in the early 1990s and took part in attacks on Tutsi men and women, including by striking people on the head with a club. Victims testified that he directly participated in the genocide, the department said. One witness, who was 17 at the time, testified to seeing Nshimiye club to death a tailor who worked at the university hospital, and other witnesses described him taking part in roadblocks where Tutsis were separated out to be killed, according to the releases.

Prosecutors said both Nshimiye and Teganya were well-known student members of the MRND, which the department said "played a critical role in the genocide." About 800,000 Tutsis were killed in roughly 100 days in 1994, according to the releases.

The department said Nshimiye fled Rwanda in the summer of 1994 for Kenya, was admitted to the United States as a refugee in 1995 without disclosing his participation, and later gave false information to obtain lawful permanent residence and U.S. citizenship. He has lived and worked in Ohio since 1995. The releases do not say whether the government will seek to revoke his citizenship.

"For nearly three decades, this defendant concealed his involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the heinous acts of violence he committed, including clubbing people to death," Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division said.

"The United States protects victims not violent criminals," said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley.

Each perjury count carries up to five years in prison, and the obstruction count carries up to 10 years, according to the department. A judge will determine any sentence.

Homeland Security Investigations in Boston investigated, with help from its Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center. Trial Attorney Alexandra Skinnion of the Criminal Division's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Looney prosecuted the case. The releases do not include a statement from Nshimiye or his lawyer.

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, "Ohio Man Convicted for Lying About His Involvement in the Rwandan Genocide," Oct. 28, 2026 (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-convicted-lying-about-his-involvement-rwandan-genocide); U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, release of the same title, Oct. 28, 2026 (https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/ohio-man-convicted-lying-about-his-involvement-rwandan-genocide); Cover photo: John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse, Boston (4300streetcar, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons).