Nzigiyimfura, also known as Vincent Mfura, 65, of Dayton, is alleged to have participated in the genocide that took place between April and July 1994. It involved members of Rwanda’s majority Hutu population killing an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 of the county’s minority Tutsi ethnic group, and moderate Hutus, court records show.
For his part, Nzigiyimfura, a Rwandan businessman and butcher, allegedly served as a leader and organizer of the genocide in and around Gihisi and Nyanza by providing weapons, transportation, and material inducements to other Hutus, directing them to search for and capture people to be killed based on their status as Tutsis, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs.
“(Nzigiyimfura) allegedly set up roadblocks to detain and kill Tutsis, using his personal vehicle to transport materials to build the roadblocks,” the press release says.
According to the indictment, Nzigiyimfura devised a scheme to trick Tutsis in hiding to believe that the killings had stopped only to have them rounded up and murdered.
When the genocide ended in 1994, Nzigiyimfura allegedly fled Rwanda, later living in Malawi from 2008 to 2009.
Nzigiyimfura is further accused of submitting materially misleading applications for an immigrant visa and alien registration for entry into the U.S., including by falsely claiming and affirming under penalty of perjury that he had never previously engaged in genocide.
“Additionally, according to the indictment, Nzigiyimfura submitted an affidavit in which he misleadingly claimed he ‘left Rwanda in 1994 due to the Genocide,’ when in fact, he fled the country because of his participation in the persecution and massacre of Tutsis,” the press release states.
Nzigiyimfura was granted an immigrant visa to enter the U.S. in 2009.
Around 2014, Nzigiyimfura submitted an application to naturalize as a U.S. citizen. These documents again included false statements and omitted material facts by Nzigiyimfura. This application has not been granted.
This case has been investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Cincinnati field office with assistance from the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center.
HRVWCC furthers the government’s efforts to identify, locate and prosecute human rights abusers in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation and the use or recruitment of child soldiers.
Members of the public who have information about former human rights violators in the United States are urged to contact U. S. law enforcement through the HSI tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-866-347-2423) or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also email HRV. ICE@ice. dhs. gov or complete its online tip form at www. ice. gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips. asp.
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