Govt urges US to extradite Genocide convict Ngombwa

Rwanda will continue calling on the US government to extradite Gervais Ken Ngombwa, a Genocide convict currently battling charges of fraudulent acquisition of a citizenship in America. Ngombwa, who was naturalised as an American citizen in 2004, was tried in absentia by three separate Gacaca courts and handed sentences varying from 15-year imprisonment to life term. Maranyundo, Kayumba and Nyamata Gacaca courts in Bugesera District all convicted Ngombwa for crimes he committed in their respective jurisdictions. He was last week in the US convicted for having falsified documents to process US citizenship. His paperwork came on the spot after the Rwandan government requested their US counterparts in 2014, informing them of the man’s outstanding warrant of arrest over crimes he had committed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. According to Faustin Nkusi, the National Public Prosecution Authority spokesperson, Ngombwa was convicted of four charges of genocide, extermination, crimes against humanity and murder as a crime against humanity. “We have been in negotiations for some time with the US government and our request to have the person extradited and tried here in Rwanda remain unchanged,” Nkusi said, adding that the US government did not react to their 2014 indictment request possibly because they were still carrying out their own investigations. Since he was convicted in absentia by the now closed Gacaca semi-traditional judicial system, the suspect has the right to seek retrial in a conventional court to be able to defend himself. A former influential businessman in Bugesera, Ngombwa is, among others, accused of having spearheaded bloody attacks on the former Ntarama Catholic Church – which has since been converted into a Genocide memorial site – where more than 5,000 innocent Tutsi were killed. According to various witness accounts, Ngombwa was widely known in Nyamata town and its surroundings where he participated in killings during the Genocide. US media reports, yesterday, stated that the man who has been living in the state of Iowa’s Cedar Rapids island, tricked immigration services in 2004 to gain access into the US and obtain citizenship. The US prosecution last month pushed the court to annul the 56-year-old’s citizenship after he was found guilty of illegally acquiring nationality and called to have his documents, including certificate of naturalization, passports, voter cards and other documents, repossessed. The northern district of Iowa’s Chief Judge, Linda Reade, stated in the court decision last week that conviction of the person’s case was a mandatory denaturalisation, which means that immediately he was supposed to surrender all the acquired documents. In January, Ngombwa was found guilty by the US court on four counts, including unlawfully procuring or attempting to procure naturalisation or citizenship; procuring citizenship to which he was not entitled; conspiracy to unlawfully procure citizenship and making a materially false statement to agents of the Department of Homeland Security. According to Gazette, a US media outlet, Ngombwa misled authorities about the identity of his brother, saying he was a prime minister who ended up in exile, a relationship that would make it difficult for him to return to Rwanda. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

News

Govt urges US to extradite Genocide convict Ngombwa