Rwandan deported from US to face genocide charges

A Rwandan man, Jean Léonard Teganya, accused of taking part in the 1994 genocide, has been expelled from the United States and is set to be tried for his alleged offenses, according to local officials. Teganya, who entered Rwanda on Monday, is charged with genocide, stated Justin Nkusi, a spokesman for the prosecution. The 55-year-old is currently being questioned by law enforcement before his file is presented to prosecutors, Nkusi added.

Teganya, indicted in 2014 for his alleged participation in genocidal acts in several areas of Rwanda's southern Huye district, is accused of committing some of his crimes at a university campus and a medical school in Huye. The 2014 indictment prompted an investigation into Teganya's presence in the U.S., with Rwanda requesting his deportation.

At the time, Teganya denied involvement in the genocide, in which around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus perished at the hands of extremist Hutus. Teganya left Rwanda in July 1994 and later sought refuge in Canada. The U.S. Justice Department claims he ignored a deportation order from Canada and entered the U.S. in 2014. In 2019, a federal jury in Boston concluded that Teganya had committed immigration fraud and perjury while attempting to seek asylum in the U.S. One genocide survivor told The Associated Press in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, that she supported the decision to send Teganya back to face justice.

"Genocide crimes and crimes against humanity are never time-barred, and perpetrators will be hunted, arrested, deported, and prosecuted," Yolande Mukakasana said. "As survivors, we remain hopeful that justice will be served, regardless of the time that has elapsed."