The US federal judge ruled that Gervais “Ken” Ngombwa, a Rwandan national, participated in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi that left over a million people dead. According to media reports, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Linda Reade on Wednesday ruled that Ngombwa, 56, was a leader of MDR-Power, an extremist political party that encouraged members to exterminate Tutsis in 1994. Ngombwa, who was already facing charges related to immigration fraud, faces more than 10 years based on evidence of genocide involvement, according to the Judge. Last year in May Ngombwa was convicted for having falsified documents to process US citizenship. His paperwork came on the spot after the Rwandan government wrote to 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. Naturalized as an American citizen in 2004, Ngombwa 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. In September last year, during the first part of Ngombwa’s sentencing, prosecutors presented testimony from multiple witnesses, among them agents from the Department of Homeland Security and a London professor who has researched recovery and reconciliation in Rwanda since 2002. Ibuka reacts Commenting on the ruling, Naphtal Ahishakiye, the executive secretary of Ibuka, the umbrella body representing Genocide survivors’ organisations, welcomed the move but added that the convict was given a lighter sentence. “He (Ngombwa) was a famous businessman and was such an influential man given that he was a member of MDR Power, he played a role in mobilizing people during the preparation of the Genocide. He himself masterminded killings in which thousands died in Bugesera,” he said. Ahishakiye said therefore that in light of this, the suspect could have been given a much longer prison sentence. However, Ahishakiye commended the step taken by the USA, saying that at least the man will not have to live freely in the community has he has done for the past two decades.
