A man who directed rapes and murders during the 1994 Rwanda genocide lied to U.S. immigration officials about his role in the 100-day massacre and started a new life as a Long Island beekeeper, federal prosecutors allege.
The feds on Thursday arrested Faustin Nsabumukunzi at his Bridgehampton home, accusing him of making false statements in his applications for a visa, green card and for U.S. citizenship.
“I know I’m finished,” he told federal agents during his arrest, according to court filings.
The genocide started April 7, 1994, a day after the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi died in a missile attack on their aircraft, when moderate Hutu prime minister of Rwanda, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, and her husband were killed by Rwandan soldiers. In the 100 days that followed, Hutu extremists slaughtered and raped hundreds of thousands of minority Tutsi and Hutu moderates.
Nsabumukunzi was a “sector counsilor” in Kibirizi, in the Butare Prefecture in Southern Rwanda, where he “held a leadership position and oversaw the violence and killing of Tutsis,” according to the feds.
He set up roadblocks, including one near his house, to stop Tutsis from fleeing, and directed armed Hutus to kill them, the feds allege. On April 21, 1994, he ordered the slaughter of a group of Tutsis on the grounds of an administrative office, hitting some of them in the head with a club himself as part of the violence, the indictment alleges.
He also ordered the killers to remove the bodies from the office grounds, and sent an armed group to kill Tutsis in other spots where they were hiding, the feds allege, and encouraged them to rape Tutsi women.
Nsabumukunzi applied for refugee status in the U.S. in 2003, denying his involvement in the genocide, according to the indictment. He was allowed to enter the U.S. as a refugee in 2004, and received his Green Card in 2007. He’s been trying to become a naturalized citizen ever since, repeatedly lying under oath or penalty of perjury that he took part in the killings, the feds allege.
Since coming to the U.S., he made a name for himself as a beekeeper, and was featured in a 2006 New York Times article and other media accounts, according to law enforcement sources.
He’s slated to be arraigned Thursday in Central Islip Federal Court on charges of visa fraud, attempted unlawful procurement of naturalization and attempted procurement of naturalization when not entitled.
