Eric Tabaro Nshimiye

Introduction

Eric Tabaro Nshimiye, a/k/a Eric Tabaro Nshimiyimana, is a 54-year-old resident of Uniontown, Ohio, who was convicted on 27 October 2026 by a federal jury in Boston of four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. The convictions arose from sworn testimony he gave during the 2019 Boston trial of Jean Leonard Teganya, a convicted Rwandan genocide perpetrator, when Nshimiye denied under oath that either man had taken part in the 1994 genocide. Prosecutors said the verdict ended a concealment effort spanning nearly three decades, a period during which he entered the United States as a refugee, obtained lawful permanent residence, and ultimately became a citizen through successive lies.

Background Information

According to evidence presented at trial, Nshimiye was a medical student at the University of Rwanda in Butare in the early 1990s, when the country was roughly 90 percent Hutu and about 9 percent Tutsi. He and Teganya were well-known student members of the ruling Hutu-dominated party, the MRND (Mouvement révolutionnaire national pour le développement). Nshimiye fled Rwanda in the summer of 1994 and made his way to Kenya, entering the United States in 1995 as a refugee without disclosing his participation in the genocide. He has lived and worked in Ohio since 1995, and was arrested and charged in March 2024.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted. On 27 October 2026, a federal jury in Boston found Nshimiye guilty of four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice for lying to the jury during the 2019 trial of Jean Leonard Teganya.

The case against Nshimiye rested heavily on evidence presented at trial describing his conduct during the genocide. Prosecutors said that while a medical student at the University of Rwanda in Butare in the early 1990s, he participated in attacking Tutsi men and women, including by striking them on the head with a club. In the spring of 1994, after the Hutu president’s plane was shot down over Kigali, Rwanda spiraled into one of the worst ethnic genocides in modern history, with members of the Hutu majority and their affiliates murdering approximately 800,000 Tutsis, including women and children, in a span of approximately 100 days. Both Nshimiye and Teganya were, according to the evidence, well-known student members of the MRND, which played a critical role in the genocide.

Victims testified during the trial that Nshimiye directly participated in the genocide. One victim, who was a 17-year-old boy at the time, witnessed Nshimiye club to death a tailor who worked at the university hospital. Other witnesses recounted how he participated in roadblocks, separating out Tutsis from Hutus to be killed, and numerous witnesses testified that he was a member of the MRND, frequently attended political rallies, and dressed in the distinctive garb worn by such members. In 2017, the United States charged Teganya with fraudulently seeking asylum by similarly concealing his MRND membership and involvement in the genocide. When called to testify at Teganya’s trial in 2019, Nshimiye said that neither he nor Teganya participated in the genocide. He also perjured himself by denying his own MRND membership, and assisted Teganya in obstructing justice at the trial. Teganya was convicted of two counts of immigration fraud and three counts of perjury in April 2019.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Officials framed the verdict as the collapse of a decades-long deception. “Eric Tabaro Nshimiye lived under a web of lies and deception,” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, adding that “The United States protects victims not violent criminals. This verdict ensures Nshimiye can no longer hide behind his lies.” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said that “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,” and that “he lied to a federal jury to protect himself and a fellow perpetrator of the Rwandan genocide.”

HSI New England Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Grimming called Nshimiye “a wolf in sheep’s clothing, masquerading as a refugee here in the United States,” and credited “the victims who bravely shared their stories, traveling across the world to relive the most horrifying moments of their lives and bring Nshimiye to justice.” The announcement was also made by Angie Salazar of HSI Detroit, Nathan Hebert of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and Denis C. Riordan of USCIS.

Current Status

Nshimiye remains awaiting sentencing, which Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled for 26 January 2027 in Boston. The obstruction of justice charge carries up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, while perjury provides for up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000; sentences follow the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and governing statutes. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Looney of the National Security Unit and Trial Attorney Alexandra Skinnion of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, with investigative assistance from the HSI Human Rights Violators & War Crimes Center, the Copley, Ohio Police Department and the Summit County, Ohio Sheriff’s Office.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The conviction dismantled the life Nshimiye built in the United States on the strength of false statements to immigration officials, statements that won him refugee admission in 1995, lawful permanent residence, and ultimately U.S. citizenship. He now faces decades of potential imprisonment when sentenced in January 2027, on charges carrying a combined maximum of 25 years. Officials said the verdict belongs to the survivors who traveled across the world to testify against him, and Foley said it ensures he “can no longer hide behind his lies.” His three decades living and working in Ohio as a concealed genocide participant have ended in a federal felony record.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts, “Ohio Man Convicted for Lying About His Involvement in the Rwandan Genocide” — source