A Buffalo resident has been denaturalized by consent and has left the United States under an order of removal after a complaint was filed citing his suspected involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The Western District of New York's Justice Department office announced that court documents say Peter Kalimu was living in Rwanda under the name Fidele Twizere at the time. The complaint alleges he participated in two Hutu attacks on Tutsi families, then looting their property and destroying their homes.
Kalimu denied the allegations. He left Rwanda and on U.S. immigration, permanent residence and citizenship forms, gave his name as Pierre Kalimu and a different date of birth to avoid investigations.
The denaturalization process stemmed from welfare fraud in New York in 2003 and 2004, which made him ineligible for U.S. citizenship.
In 2018, he was convicted of making false statements about his true identity. The legal process culminated with an Oct. 12 order in federal court in Buffalo to remove him from the country, and he departed on Oct. 21.
