Goucher College has suspended a visiting professor from Rwanda after being told he stands accused of participating in the 1994 genocide that killed some 800,000 people in the African nation.
Leopold Munyakazi, who taught French last semester, was removed from teaching duties in December after school officials learned of an indictment by a prosecutor in Rwanda. Among the charges is that he revealed hiding spots of ethnic Tutsis who were targeted by machete-wielding Hutu militias. Munyakazi denies the allegations.
Goucher President Sanford J. Ungar said yesterday that the case is "murky" and stressed that he had decided to suspend Munyakazi without accepting the allegations as fact. He told The Baltimore Sun, "It's very frustrating to be caught up in a situation where you're never sure if you'll know the whole truth."
But, he said, "We have tried to act in the best interests of the Goucher community, most especially the students."
In an e-mail Saturday to Goucher students and faculty notifying them of his decision, he said: "I will spare you the many details and nuances surrounding this case, but suffice it to say that evidence that would either convict or exonerate Dr. Munyakazi beyond a reasonable doubt simply does not exist at this time, or, if it does, I have not seen it."
Munyakazi, who is Hutu, told The Sun that the charges that he helped incite attacks on Tutsis are false. "I never did this. I myself was targeted by the militias," he said, explaining that he had criticized the Hutu-led government that held power prior to the genocide. "How could I collaborate with people who were hunting me?"
Munyakazi noted that his wife is Tutsi and said: "I helped save many other Tutsi people while I myself was hiding in my native area." The slaughter also led to the deaths of thousands of moderate Hutus.
While Munyakazi may not use the library or other campus facilities, he and his family will remain in college-sponsored housing in Towson for the rest of the spring semester.
The 59-year-old professor came to Goucher in September through the Scholar Rescue Fund, a program in New York that arranges fellowships for academics threatened in their home countries. No one from the fund could be reached for comment yesterday.
A Goucher spokeswoman said the school relied on the fund to vet Munyakazi. Goucher knew about controversial statements he had made in 2006 at the University of Delaware in which he described the genocide as "civil war." Officials also knew he had been imprisoned.
