WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents last week confirmed the departure of a Rwandan man suspected of human rights abuses in his home country, who had been residing in Buffalo, New York. Peter Kalimu, aka Pierre Kalimu, aka Fidele Twizere, was denaturalized and ordered removed from the U.S. following charges alleging his involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. He departed the U.S., Oct. 21.

“HSI special agents will not cease in our pursuit of identifying and bringing to justice those individuals who have participated in unthinkable war crimes and human rights abuses,” said Executive Associate Director Steve Francis of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “In coordination with the HSI-led HRVWCC, D.C., our special agents and prosecutors continue to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable and denied safe haven in the United States.”

The case was investigated by HSI Buffalo and the HSI-led Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC). Valuable consultation and support were provided by ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) Human Rights Law Division and the Buffalo Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

According to court documents Kalimu was living in Rwanda in 1994, when violent conflict erupted between the country’s two major ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis. During the conflict, often referred to as the Rwandan genocide, members of the majority Hutu population persecuted the minority Tutsis, committing mass murder and looting their property, among other crimes. An estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed during the three-month genocide. The complaint against Kalimu alleged that he participated in two attacks on Tutsi families in his neighborhood during the genocide, and that he looted property from Tutsi families whose houses he then destroyed. Kalimu denied these allegations.

According to the civil denaturalization complaint, while living in Rwanda, Kalimu went by the name Fidèle Twizere. After he left Rwanda, he used a different name – Pierre Kalimu – and provided only that name, and a new date of birth, on his U.S. immigration forms. Throughout the process of applying for permanent residence and U.S. citizenship, Kalimu never disclosed to the U.S. government his previous identity as Fidèle Twizere or his prior use of a different date of birth. The complaint further alleged that Kalimu’s misrepresentations about his identity precluded U.S. government officials from investigating him and determining that he was not qualified to obtain immigration and naturalization benefits.

Kalimu admitted that he was ineligible for citizenship because he engaged in welfare fraud in New York State in 2003-2004, one of the allegations in the civil denaturalization complaint, and agreed to denaturalization. The Department of Justice obtained an order from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, effective Sept. 1, 2021, revoking Kalimu’s naturalized U.S. citizenship by consent, and the court entered judgment in favor of the United States on Sept. 30, 2021.

In a separate prosecution, in 2018, Kalimu pleaded guilty to, and was convicted of, one felony count of making materially false statements about his true name to federal investigators of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

On Oct. 12, a U.S. immigration judge in Buffalo, ordered Kalimu’s removal for making materially false statements to procure immigration and naturalization benefits. Kalimu agreed to the entry of the order against him. The case was handled by the Buffalo Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

“In seeking to escape his past in Rwanda, Kalimu obscured his true identity and repeatedly lied to immigration officers in order to become a U.S. citizen,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

This matter was litigated by the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) Enforcement Section; and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

Since 2003, ICE has arrested more than 468 individuals for human rights-related violations of the law under various criminal and/or immigration statutes. During that same period, ICE obtained deportation orders and/or physically removed from the United States 1,070 known or suspected human rights violators. Additionally, ICE has facilitated the departure of an additional 174 such individuals from the United States.

Currently, HSI has more than 170 active investigations into suspected human rights violators and is pursuing more than 1,700 leads and removal cases involving suspected human rights violators from 95 different countries. Since 2003, the HRVWCC has issued more than 77,000 lookouts for individuals from more than 110 countries and stopped over 340 human rights violators and war crimes suspects from entering the U.S.

Members of the public who have information about foreign nationals suspected of engaging in human rights abuses or war crimes are urged to contact the HSI tip line at 1-866-DHS-2423 (1-866-347-2423) or its online tip form at www.ice.gov/tips. Callers may remain anonymous. To learn more about the assistance available to victims in these cases, the public should contact ICE's confidential victim-witness toll-free number at 1-866-872-4973.

HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

(Bloomberg) -- While world leaders and business executives gather for high-profile climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, environmental activist Mustafa Gerima will be walking village to village in northwestern Uganda to raise awareness about the disappearing shea tree.

That wasn’t how he planned it. Months ago, Gerima, a former biology teacher, applied for support from Greta Thunberg’s group, Fridays for Future, to attend the United Nations-sponsored COP26 talks. Telling the story of the shea tree, he argued, could help show the world how poor countries are being hit hardest by the impacts of climate change. Two days before the talks begin, he still hadn’t been granted access to a Covid vaccine or funds for travel and accommodation.

According to an email from Fridays for Future that Gerima received, only five candidates from the global south were selected due to the “small number” of passes given to them by the UN’s climate agency. 

“I really had that blazing desire to attend COP26,” Gerima, 48, said in a phone interview from his home district of Yumbe last week. “There is little time left. I just don’t see any headway. This is how the world works.”

The situation underscores a problem that’s threatening to blow apart any hopes of a meaningful deal at the Glasgow talks. The negotiations are guided by a simple principle: Developed countries that got rich by polluting agreed to provide financial support so poorer nations can decarbonize and adapt to a warming planet.

As a start, rich countries promised to mobilize $100 billion of finance per year by 2020. They’ve fallen far short, with the latest plan showing the target will be met only in 2023. That failure has become the biggest source of resentment among developing nations and a reason to distrust further promises. 

A lack of representation for developing countries and small island states has been an issue from the start. The first COP that Tara Shine, an Irish climate scientist, attended in 2003 had only one delegate from Mali. With a number of overlapping agenda items, it becomes all but impossible for such countries to make themselves heard.

The problem is even more pronounced this year due to the pandemic and inequality of vaccine distribution. After some environmental groups called for the talks to be postponed until more people can ­attend, the U.K. ­offered to cover hotel quarantine fees and provide shots. It’s unclear how many applicants got access to that help — and how many people like Gerima have been left out.

“Ensuring that the voices of those most affected by climate change are heard is a priority,” a COP spokesperson said.  “We are working tirelessly with all our partners, including the Scottish Government and the UN, to ensure an inclusive, accessible and safe summit in Glasgow.” 

A lack of participants from developing countries could mean crucial issues are overlooked, says Shine, a former member of the UNFCCC’s Group of Experts, which is charged with helping those nations. For example, activists are pushing for more discussions about loss-and-damage funds, which would help countries cope with the extreme weather that’s already baked in at 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming.

“They constantly keep the pressure on the negotiators and the leaders who come to be as ambitious as possible. It’s really critical for the very essence of what a COP is,” Shine said.

The costs to attend can be astronomical. For Gerima, a round-trip flight to Glasgow would cost almost $1,500, while apartments in the city are going for $698 per night on average on Airbnb Inc. He wouldn’t have to quarantine, but would have to spend time obtaining a visa. 

Still, he hasn’t given up hope that his message may still be heard. “It’s an ecological war that needs to be fought,” said Gerima. “My message can still reach there, but my physical presence would have had a bigger impact.” - John Ainger, Bloomberg News