PICTURED: African refugee who has spent the last 30 years in Ohio as he's charged with raping and murdering in 1990s Rwanda Genocide

A Rwandan-born man has been arrested in Ohio over his alleged involvement in the nation's 1994 genocide. 

Federal prosecutors have accused Eric Nshimiye, 52, of concealing his his involvement in the mass murders, which included him hacking people to death. 

Nshimiye is alleged to have participated in the killings by striking victims on the head with a nail-studded club and then hacking them with a machete.

Prosecutors say that for decades he hid the fact he participated in the massacre by the Hutu regime of an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. 

After settling in Ohio, Nshimiye sought to derail any investigation into his scheme by lying at the immigration fraud trial of a former classmate who prosecutors have accused of also participating in the atrocities.

Federal prosecutors have accused Eric Nshimiye, seen here, of concealing his his involvement in the mass murders

Prosecutors say that for decades he hid the fact he participated in the massacre by the Hutu regime of an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus 

In this file photo taken on April 08, 2019 a woman carrying her child looks at the wall of victims' names as Rwanda marks the 25th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide

Nshimiye was arrested in Ohio, where he has lived since 1995, and detained after an appearance in a federal court in Youngstown. 

Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy of Massachusetts said in a statement: 'Our refuge and asylum laws exist to protect true victims of persecution, not the perpetrators.' 

According to a LinkedIn post, Nshimiye previously spoke with students at the Jackson Academy for Global Studies about his life in Rwanda and how he escaped during the war.

Nshimiye also works as an engineer for Goodyear at their headquarters in Akron, Ohio.  

His arrest came four years after the 2019 trial conviction in Boston of Nshimiye's former classmate Jean Leonard Teganya.

Prosecutors said Teganya committed immigration fraud by concealing his involvement in the genocide when seeking asylum.

Authorities said that during the killings, both men were medical students in the city of Butare and active in the political party that helped perpetrate the genocide, the MRND. 

According to charging documents, Nshimiye helped identify Tutsis among patients and staff at a hospital which became a site for atrocities, and was directly involved in murders and encouraging rapes.

His victims included a 14-year-old boy and a man who sewed doctor's coats at the university hospital, authorities said.

Witnesses in Rwanda identified the locations of the killings and drawn pictures of Nshimiye´s weapons, authorities said. 

According to a LinkedIn post, Nshimiye, seen here, spoke with students at the Jackson Academy for Global Studies about his life in Rwanda and how he escaped during the war

A former Interhamwe member is seen here pointing to the spot where Nshimiye allegedly killed a 14-year-old boy 

Nshimiye is also alleged to have participated in the rapes of numerous Tutsi women during the genocide.

An affidavit says that prior to the genocide, Nshimiye participated in weapons training in a forest adjacent to the university hospital.

After the genocide broke out, Nshimiye is said to have been a part of the Interhamwe, who were the main perpetrators of the massacre. 

Alongside fellow members of the group, witnesses told authorities that he rounded up 25-30 Tutsis who had been hiding in a forest near the university hospital. 

The group are then alleged to have killed all of those captured, before burning their bodies. 

Another witness told authorities that Nshimiye instructed others to rape and kill six young women who were university students. 

One female survivor told prosecutors that Nshimiye had raped her repeatedly and managed to escape when he was taking her and her two children to a killing pit. 

A former Interhamwe member is seen here pointing out a location where Nshimiye is alleged to have trained with weapons

Two witnesses provided drawings to prosecutors of the weapons that Nshimiye is alleged to have used

The woman said she made her escape, but her children did not survive - and were hacked to death.

According to the documents, Nshimiye fled Rwanda in the summer of 1994, after a Tutsi rebel group drove genocidaires into the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

In 1995, Nshimiye made his way to Kenya where he allegedly lied to U.S. immigration officials to gain admission to the United States. 

Nshimiye emigrated to Ohio and, in subsequent years, allegedly continued to provide false information about his involvement in the genocide to obtain lawful permanent residence and ultimately U.S. citizenship. 

He was called as a defense witness at Teganya's trial and gave false testimony to exculpate him, prosecutors said. Teganya was sentenced to eight years in prison. 

Nshimiye was being held Thursday following an initial appearance in federal court in Ohio and authorities said he will appear at a later date in federal court in Boston, where the charges were filed.

If convicted, Nshimiye faces up to five years in prison on the perjury charge, up to 10 years on the obstruction of justice charge, and up to five years on the scheme to conceal charge. 

The suspect's home in Uniontown, Ohio