The son of
a man accused of lying to immigration officials about his participation in the
1994 Rwandan genocide took the stand Monday to testify about their life as
Burundian refugees in Rwanda and his father’s efforts years later to become a
U.S. citizen.
That testimony came as the defence team for Lazare Kobagaya began
laying out its case. The 84-year-old Topeka, Kansas, man is charged with
unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship in 2006 and with fraud and misuse of an
alien registration card. The indictment also seeks to revoke his citizenship.
Prosecutors have said the case is the first in the U.S. requiring
proof of genocide. An estimated 500,000 to 800,000 people, mostly ethnic
Tutsis, were killed by Hutu militias in Rwanda between April and July 1994.
Jean Claude Kandagaye testified that his father is a Hutu and his
mother is a Tutsi. Kandagaye told jurors that while he was growing up in
Rwanda, his family was discriminated against because they were Burundian
refugees. As refugees, they could not join political parties, attend public
secondary schools or get some jobs and social services.
Kandagaye told jurors that as a refugee his father was not a
leader in the Rwandan village of Birambo where they lived — a key point as the
defence team tries to counter the government’s allegations that Kobagaya was an
influential community leader who led others during the genocide.
Kandagaye, who filled out an immigration form in 2005 for his
father, is considered a key witness as the defence tries to show jurors that the
elderly Kobagaya did not understand English well and depended on others to
translate documents and help him fill out immigration paperwork.
Earlier Monday, prosecutors rested their case after putting on the
stand the immigration official who interviewed Kobagaya during his citizenship
application in April 2006.
Adjudication officer Jeryl Bean testified that Kobagaya responded
“no” when asked whether he had ever persecuted anyone or ever
committed any crimes for which he was not convicted. Kobagaya also denied ever
giving false information to immigration officials or lying to them to gain
entry into the United States, she testified.
Prosecutors used Bean to attack Kobagaya’s claim that he did not
purposefully misrepresent to immigration officials that he was not living in
Rwanda during the 1994 genocide because he was unfamiliar with the English
language and may have misunderstood that question on the immigration forms.
The defence has argued that it was one of his sons, Kandagaye, who
actually filled out the paperwork because Kobagaya did not speak English at the
time.
However, Bean told jurors that Kobagaya spoke English and that no
interpreter or family member was present during the 2006 interview for his
citizenship.
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