Fate of Habyarimana’s widow remains unclear

KIGALI - Uncertainty continues to loom over the fate of Genocide fugitive and former First Lady, Agathe Kanziga Habyarimana, after a French court turned down her last appeal for asylum last year. The decision taken by Le Conseil d’Etat can’t be appealed.Three months after the court’s decision, Habyarimana who is accused of having been a key player in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, is still in France. A Paris-based organization – “Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda” (CPCR), which works to bring all France-based Genocide fugitives to book and had earlier filed a lawsuit against her, remains dismayed that she is allowed to continue living in France even after the court’s decision. “I think that France simply tolerates her. Normally, she should have been deported,” CPCR President Alain Gauthier recently told The New Times. “Madame Kanziga lives in France illegally. She lives in the suburbs of Paris in her family’s estate, in Courcouronnes, to be precise.” When contacted for comment yesterday Thursday, Rwandan Prosecutor General, Martin Ngoga revealed that like all other Genocide fugitives in France, Mrs. Habyarimana is wanted by Rwanda. “What is official is that we have sent the indictments and French judges have been here once, not on an investigation but a fact-finding mission,” Ngoga said. “This is an indication that they already have the file and are doing something about it. We would want to see all fugitives brought here, without any exceptions.” In a related development, the case of Sosthene Munyemana, another Genocide fugitive also known as “The Butcher of Tumba”, is scheduled to be heard on February 4. Ends

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Fate of Habyarimana’s widow remains unclear