CONCORD, N.H. – Beatrice Munyenyezi entered the United States in 1998 as a Rwandan refugee with three young daughters who told U.S. Customs officials she took no part in the 1994 Rwanda genocide and instead was a survivor whose relatives were among the 800,000 killed.
Now federal prosecutors want to put her behind bars for 10 years after she was convicted in February of masking her role as “gatekeeper” at one of the notorious roadblocks where Tutsis were singled out for slaughter.
“Legally and morally she is responsible for their deaths, just as surely as if she had wielded the machete that struck the fatal blows,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Aloke Chakravarty wrote in the government’s sentencing memorandum.
Lawyers for Munyenyezi intend to seek a sentence of less than a year, saying it will give her a chance in immigration court to avoid being deported to Rwanda, which they say would amount to a death sentence for the 43-year-old mother who moved to Manchester.
“The government is trying to punish her for crimes that were not proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” defense attorney David Ruoff said. “They’re trying to sentence her as a genocidaire.”
Munyenyezi was convicted of two counts of making false statements to U.S. Customs officials: one when she applied for refugee status to enter the country and another when she applied for citizenship. She was sworn in as a citizen in July 2003 — in the same federal courthouse where she will be sentenced Wednesday.
In addition to disavowing any role in the genocide, Munyenyezi also swore that she was not affiliated with any political party in Rwanda.
Jury forewoman Lori Booth said after delivering the verdicts in February that the panel did not feel Munyenyezi was a villain but believed she did check identifications at a roadblock designed to ferret out Tutsis for slaughter and was a member or associate of an extremist Hutu political party in which her husband and mother were both leaders.
U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe stripped Munyenyezi of her citizenship after the verdicts were returned.
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