Rwandan man accused of war crimes arrested near U.S.-Canada border

A Rwandan man who the Canadian government has accused of war crimes was arrested when he crossed into the United States illegally this week, law enforcement officials said.

Jean Leonard Teganya, 42, was arrested Sunday morning in northern Maine after nearby residents reported a “suspicious person” walking near the U.S.-Canada border, the U.S. Border Patrol said in a statement.

Border Patrol officials said a database search showed a warrant for Teganya’s arrest in Canada.

A spokesman with the Canadian border agency said U.S. officials notified them of Teganya’s capture, and verified his identity with fingerprints. The agency declined to release any other information about the crimes he’s accused of committing.

According to an archived Web page listing the Canada Border Services Agency’s “most wanted” fugitives, Teganya “violated human or international rights” under Canada’s war crimes law.

A document from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada states that a court found that Teganya was “complicit” in war crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide. Teganya, an intern at a hospital at the time, was aware of the abuses committed there, the document says.

Immigration enforcement officials now have him in custody, “pending removal proceedings,” the agency said.

It was not yet clear where Teganya could be deported.

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