The United States on Monday, November 9, deported Jean-Léonard Teganya, a Rwandan man accused of participating in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Teganya, 55, had been convicted of immigration fraud and perjury in 2019. He was handed over to Rwandan authorities at Kigali International Airport on Monday evening and subsequently arrested.
The National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) said Teganya had been indicted in 2014 over his alleged involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Butare, Huye District.
Teganya was born in 1971 in Gatumba Sector, Ngororero District, in the Western Province. At the time of the Genocide in 1994, he lived in Huye District, where he was pursuing medical studies at the Faculty of Medicine of the former National University of Rwanda. He was also an intern at the University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB).
NPPA Spokesperson Faustin Nkusi said that Teganya is the eighth Genocide fugitive to be deported to Rwanda since 2007, adding that more indictments involving suspected fugitives remain pending.
Nkusi also clarified that Teganya had not previously been convicted by Gacaca courts.
The NPPA commended US judicial authorities for their cooperation in the deportation, as well as their continued collaboration in mutual legal assistance and international efforts to combat impunity and ensure accountability for genocide crimes.