Accused of genocide, a Rwandan professor tells his side of the story.
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“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the startled Munyakazi, 49, replied, refusing to say anything more.
A reporter and the prosecutor visited school authorities with two international arrest warrants and a 21-page indictment. That’s when Goucher suspended the visiting professor with pay.
On Feb. 3, Munyakazi was arrested for overstaying his visa. He was released with a monitoring device and is now awaiting a hearing before an immigration court judge to see if he will be allowed to stay in this country or be forced to leave.
While he waits, he was asked not to step foot on campus.
“The college placing Dr. Munyakazi on suspension is in no way condemning him, or justifying these allegations,” says Kristen Keener, director of media relations for Goucher College. The school was swamped with reporters and camera crews the week after the news broke, she says. But, they are serious allegations, and if someone is accused of killing people, they can’t be on campus with students, adds Keener.
“The tricky thing is, the documentation is coming from a country that’s in upheaval,” Keener adds. “Anybody who’s been outspoken or critical of the government in power could be charged with things that have no basis in truth. That’s where things get really complicated.”
Nearly a million people were killed in the widely reported genocide in Rwanda. Munyakazi says he participated in no way and calls himself a moderate Hutu that wanted peace. “I protected people,” he says, adding that he would never harm a Tutsi. “My wife is Tutsi,” he says.
