A former Rwandan refugee, now a US Citizen, Beatrice Munyenyezi, 40, who lives in  Manchester, New Hampshire was indicted on Thursday June 24, 2010,  on two counts of procuring citizenship unlawfully.  Federal prosecutors, led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Auerhahn, accused  Ms. Munyenyezi of crimes in 1994 Rwandan  tragedy.

Ms. Beatrice Munyenyezi happens to be the wife of Arsene Shalom Ntahobari and the daughter-in-law of Pauline Nyiramasuuko. Both Shalon and Nyiramasuuko are detained  by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwandan (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania where they are accused of the same crimes as Ms. Munyenyezi.

The prosecutors accuse Ms. Munyenyezi of lying when applying for US Citizenship. According to sources close to the defense, the allegations of lies appear preposterous, as  they prosecutors argue that she should have said she committed the crimes, which she obviously does not agree with. AfroAmerica Network has also obtained information  from the defense that Ms. Beatrice Munyenyezi could not in any way  humanly have been in a situation to commit crimes.

The case may also constitute a conflict of interest for the Prosecution. The Assistant US Attorney prosecuting the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Auerhahn, is the same who represented the US Immigration  in asylum application of Beatrice Munyenyezi’s sister, Prudence Kantengwa.

In Ms. Prudence Kantengwa’s case,  US Prosecutor Ms. Mary C. Kelly and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Auerhahn argued that Ms. Kantengwa  lied on her visa application at the US Embassy in Nairobi and on her  asylum application once in the US and withheld information that her late husband had worked for the Rwandan Government before 1994.   In Ms. Kantengwa’s case US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) traveled to Kigali, Rwanda, to investigate her suspected involvement in  inciting and assisting in the 1994 civil war crimes.  In December 2008, ICE’s investigation resulted in a 15-count indictment in the District of Massachusetts against Kantengwa for visa fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1546), perjury (18 U.S.C. § 1621), and obstruction (18 U.S.C. § 1505)(STATEMENT OF JOHN MORTON , ASSISTANT SECRETARY   U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY REGARDING “NO SAFE HAVEN: ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS, PART II”

BEFORE THE UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE LAW on Tuesday, October 6, 2009)

In Ms Kantengwa’s case, the discovery process conducted by Prosecutor Mr. Auerhahn which usually takes no more than 3 months, took more than a year, and is still going on apparently because the Prosecutors have refused to share with the defense and the court the information they have.  The fear from the Defense is that the Prosecutors may hold information that contradicted their allegations, and are waiting for fake witnesses from Rwanda.  In fact, it has been now an open secret that the Rwandan Government fabricates testimonies and train profession witnesses to recount in court events that never occurred in order to implicate innocent Rwandan refugees in 1994 massacres.

Meanwhile, Ms Eliza C. Klein, United States Immigration Judge, cleared Ms. Prudence Kantengwa of all the charges. The prosecutors appealed the ruling but the US Immigrations Review Board  confirmed  Judge Eliza C. Klein’s ruling and ordered that Ms.  Prudence Kantengwa be granted asylum.

Assistant  US  Attorney Mr. Auerhahn has in the past been accused  of unethical behavior. In February 210 Lisa Tobin, Andrew Phelps, and Jesse Costa of National Public Radio (NPR) in Boston,  90.9 fm WBUR - Boston, produced a series of stories featuring Mr. Auerhahn and alleging that he engaged in misconduct while prosecuting  an accused organized crimes mobster named Vincent Ferrara (see NPR series here - Special Evidence - Part I , II, III). When the story broke out about the alleged misconduct  by Mr. Auerhahn and the fact that  in 2003, Judge Mark Wolf had found that Auerhahn had intentionally withheld the facts from the court,  according to NPR, Auerhahn  became he subject of local disciplinary proceedings that could have led to disbarment or the suspension of his license.

Now, it appears troubling that Mr. Auerhahn, is among the lead prosecutors of the two sisters accused of  similar  crimes, that may have never happened,  as confirmed in the ruling of  United States Immigration Judge Eliza C. Klein and the Review Board in Prudence Kantengwa’s case.

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