France’s judiciary is set to rule on Wednesday in a long-running investigation linked to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, as prosecutors and civil parties seek the indictment of Rwanda’s former first lady Agathe Habyarimana.
Now 83, Habyarimana has been under investigation in France since 2007 after a complaint by the Collective of Civil Parties for Rwanda (CPCR). She is suspected of complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity, allegations she has consistently denied.
Despite the length of the investigation, she has never been formally charged. Since 2016, she has held the intermediate legal status of an assisted witness, which falls short of indictment.
In 2025, two Paris investigating judges dismissed the case, citing insufficient evidence. That ruling is now under appeal.
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Disputed role
At the centre of the case is whether Habyarimana played a role in planning or encouraging the mass killings that followed the assassination of her husband, former president Juvénal Habyarimana, on 6 April 1994.
His death triggered violence that killed around 800,000 people over three months, according to the United Nations, mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Civil parties argue that Habyarimana was a key figure in the so-called Akazu, an alleged inner circle of Hutu elites accused of organising the genocide. She rejects that claim and says she was a mother of eight with no political role.
In their August 2025 ruling, the investigating judges backed her account. They said there was no convincing evidence she had been an accomplice to genocide or part of a conspiracy to commit it. They instead described her as a victim of the attack that killed her husband and several relatives.
That decision was immediately challenged by France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT), which handles crimes against humanity cases, along with civil parties. The case is now before the Investigating Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal.
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Calls for further inquiry
In submissions dated January, the Advocate General called the dismissal “at the very least premature”.
He pointed to what he described as “serious and corroborating evidence” suggesting Habyarimana’s involvement in a conspiracy and support for genocidal intent.
He also said the investigation remained incomplete, citing requests made by prosecutors in 2022 and 2024 for further inquiries, including witness testimony, confrontations and a review of Habyarimana’s asylum. He said those requests were ignored or rejected by the investigating judges.
The Advocate General said the “imperative of speed” should not outweigh the search for truth in what he described as a case of “historical significance”.
The debate has also spread into public discussion. In a March opinion piece published in Le Monde, 56 public figures, including historians, criticised the dismissal and said it overlooked research and testimony, especially concerning the existence of the Akazu.
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Defence rejects accusations
Alain Gauthier, head of the CPCR, has insisted the network existed and said Habyarimana held significant influence within it.
He said that although France has secured several genocide-related convictions since 2014, “much remains to be done”.
For survivors and victims’ families, he said, the ruling will test whether the French justice system can meet their expectations.
Habyarimana’s lawyer Philippe Meilhac said that after nearly two decades of proceedings, including long periods of inactivity, the case should end.
Habyarimana was evacuated to Europe with her family on 9 April 1994, reportedly at the request of former French president François Mitterrand, a close ally of her husband. France later rejected Rwanda’s extradition requests while also refusing to grant her asylum.
(with newswires)
