Former Rwanda First Lady Agathe Habyarimana, 82, the widow of the former Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana, has been under investigation by French courts for "complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity", since 2017. Accused in France of being one of the top leaders during the 1990-1994 Rwandan civil war and genocide, she has requested the dismissal of the case for the lack of evidences and merit. On Friday May 16, 2025, the French justice system closed the investigations of Agathe Habyarimana. According to the statements from the French Prosecution, the investigation was dropped, due to the lack of sufficient evidences and in face of proven false and inconsistent testimonies against her. Hence, the case was dropped without conviction. Meanwhile, in 2024, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) referred the case to the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal, requesting conviction and indictment and a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
A Long Going Controversial and Baseless Case.
Mrs. Agathe Habyarimana, has lived in France since 1998, after fleeing Rwanda with the help from the French government, a few days after President Habyarimana's plane was shot down on April 6, 1994. Her husband Juvenal Habyarimana, then President of Rwanda along with Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira, their top aides and a French airline crew were assassinated on April 6, 1994 when their plane was allegedly shot down by the then rebels of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) , now ruling Rwanda (See Here on AfroAmerica Network: Kagame Assassinated Presidents Habyarimana and Ntaryamira, Testifies Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa For French Prosecutors . and (See AfroAmerica Network: Rwanda: Update on Kidnapped Alfred Nkubili and on Egide Gatera, Purported Transporters of Missiles Used in 1994 Assassination of Rwanda and Burundi Presidents).
The assassination of the presidents and the massacres that followed set off a regional humanitarian catastrophe whose consequences are felt more than 30 years later. The event triggered what is known as the Rwandan genocide, in which more than a million of people, from all the Rwandan ethnic groups, including Tutsis, Hutus, and Twas, were massacred, making it in one of the 20th century's worst atrocities. The victims were massacred by both the extremist Hutus militia or the Rwandan Patriotic Front soldiers, publicly or under the cover of the Hutus militia (see here:Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) Military Leaders Committed Genocide Against Hutus, States Former RPF Top Leader Dr Theogene Rudasingwa).
Based on estimates from the NGOs, experts, and, most importantly, the United Nations, the assassination of Juvenal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira has led to more than 10 million deaths in the African Great Lakes region, so far.
The investigations leading to Mrs. Agathe Habyarimana's case were launched in 2008 after a French-based victims' association, the Collective of Civil Plaintiffs for Rwanda (Collective the Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda - CPCR), allegedly close to and funded by the current Rwandan government, filed a legal complaint against Mrs Agathe Habyarimana, accusing her of being one of the top political and military leaders of the country during the 1994 killings of hundreds of thousand ethnic Tutsis during the Rwandan civil war.
The association accused her of being part of the Hutu inner circle of power, labelled Akazu in planning and orchestrating the killings of mainly ethnic Tutsis. The investigation immediately became more and more confusing, as the former first lady was accused of just being a witness of the massacres and then shifted to being a planner.
Over the years, the investigations and trials against former Rwandan First Lady Agathe Habyarimana were conducted, then stopped, and suddenly resumed without clear reasons or additional evidences.
The investigations started in 2008 when a Rwandan government supported French-based association, the Collective of Civil Parties for Rwanda (Collective the Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda), filed a legal complaint against former First Lady Habyarimana accusing her for complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity. The association accused her of being part of the Hutu inner circle of power, labelled Akazu, accused of planning and orchestrated the killings of mainly ethnic Tutsis. The investigation immediately became confusing, as the former first lady was accused of just being a witness of the massacres and then shifted to being a planner.
In 2016, Agathe Habyarimana was placed under the interim status of assisted witness. Now, she is on the process of having the trial dropped. (see President Juvenal Habyarimana Assassination, Case against First Lady Agathe Kanziga, and Other related AfroAmerica Network reports )
Her latest case has been in front of the French courts since 2017. Since then, she has appeared before the courts multiple times to answer the allegations and has requested the dismissal of the case, for lack of merit and evidences.
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A Long-Going Politically Motivated Case without Substance.
On Friday May 16, 2025, delivering a statement on the ruling, the Investigating Magistrates in charge of the case said:
"at this stage, there is no serious or consistent evidence... that she could have been an accomplice in an act of genocide" or could have "participated in an agreement to commit genocide. Even though the rumour has remained persistent, it cannot serve as a proof in the absence of detailed and consistent evidence." They also emphasized that the "incriminating testimony appears contradictory, inconsistent, and even false".
In September 2024 the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) referred the case to the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal, requesting conviction and indictment. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
Reacting to the decision by the Investigating Magistrates in charge of the case, Philippe Meilhac, the lawyer of former Rwanda First Lady Agathe Habyarimana stated that:
"Ms. Habyarimana awaits with great serenity the outcome of the proceedings, which have just experienced a new twist today with the decision rendered by the investigating judge, which nullifies the prosecution's efforts .It is time for the necessary dismissal of the case to be issued as quickly as possible."
The judge in charge of the case, jointly with another specialized judge, concluded in an order dated Friday, May 16, 2025 dismissing the PNAT's requests, saying that "at this stage, there is no serious and consistent evidence against Agathe Kanziga (Habyarimana) that she could have been an accomplice in an act of genocide" or could have "participated in an agreement to commit genocide."
"While the rumor is persistent, it cannot serve as proof in the absence of detailed and consistent evidence," they continued, emphasizing that the "incriminating testimony appears contradictory, inconsistent, and even false."
Meanwhile, according to several sources, Former First Lady Agathe Habyarimana, who has been living in France since 1998, is not expected to face any trial by a French court, despite the repeated requests by the Rwandan regime for her extradition. The judicial decision may be a major step for the removal of any potential trial or appeals.
What is Next?
With the verdict two major questions remain: what will follow the results of Mrs Agathe Habyarimana's case and why no one, so far, has been held criminally and civilly accountable, for the assasination of Presidents Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira, their close collaborators, as well as French crew members.
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