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French Judges Dismiss Case Against Agathe Habyarimana Over Rwanda Genocide Allegations

The ruling caps a yearslong French inquiry that did not substantiate allegations tying her to the 1994 genocide.

Agathe Habyarimana, veuve de l’ancien président rwandais hutu assassiné, arrive au palais de justice de Paris, le 3 novembre 2020.
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Overview

  • Two Paris investigating judges ordered a non-lieu for Agathe Habyarimana, ending the case for lack of sufficient charges.
  • In their written order, the judges said there was no evidence she was an accomplice or part of a conspiracy to commit genocide and described her as a victim of the 1994 attack that killed her husband.
  • The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office had sought a mise en examen after requesting renewed probes in 2022 and 2024, and its appeal of a May 2025 order remains unexamined.
  • The investigation began in 2008 after a complaint by the CPCR, and Habyarimana has held assisted-witness status since 2016, reducing the prospect of a trial in France.
  • Habyarimana, 82, has lived in France since 1998, Rwanda has repeatedly requested her extradition, and the United Nations estimates about 800,000 people were killed in the 1994 genocide.