Rwandan genocide: After 32 years on the run, former medical student Jean Léonard Teganya was handed over to Rwandan justice by the United States.

For over 32 years, he evaded prosecution. But Jean Léonard Teganya's flight has finally come to an end.

After three decades on the run, this former medical student, accused of taking part in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, was deported from the United States on November 9, 2026, and then handed over to Rwandan authorities.

Prior to this transfer, Jean Léonard Teganya had been sentenced in the United States to eight years in prison for immigration fraud and perjury. At his trial, the prosecutor accused him of lying about his status as a war criminal to obtain asylum in the United States.

Before going to the United States, Jean Léonard Teganya had found refuge in Canada, where he was also the subject of lengthy legal proceedings related to his alleged role in the genocide against the Tutsi.

After fifteen years of legal battles, he finally left Canada for the United States, where his path was once again caught up with the justice system. Now handed over to Rwandan authorities, Jean Léonard Teganya will have to answer the charges against him.

Murders of seven Tutsi

According to several judicial sources, when the massacres began, Mr. Teganya allegedly led groups of soldiers and young supporters of the regime around a hospital, in order to identify Tutsi patients as well as people who had taken refuge there.

Those identified were then taken behind the building housing the maternity ward, where they were executed. The same sources attribute to him, in particular, involvement in the murders of seven Tutsi people. He is also accused of raping two Tutsi women during this period.

Cheick Omar Ouedraogo