Sixteen years after the assassination of former Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana, his widow Agathe Kanziga Habyarimana is facing seven counts of genocide and the possibility of being extradited to Rwanda. She was arrested on March 2nd in the Parisian suburb of Courcouronnes, where she had been living for the last twelve years.

By Thijs Bouwknegt

Rwandans call her Madame Agathe. She’s generally perceived as a dominant behind-the-scenes figure
and the vital leader of the clique of Hutu extremists who masterminded and orchestrated the massacre of over 800,000 ethnic Tutsis in 1994.

Three days into the massslaughter, French authorities - who were close allies of Habyarimana’s regime - flew Agathe out of the country. She moved to France in 1998 where she has lived peacefully ever since.
However, France never granted her political asylum because of allegations she had played an active role in Rwanda’s genocidal regime.

But it was Kigali that finally acted against Agathe. In October last year, it issued an international arrest warrant against her. The charge sheet is long and includes genocide, creation of a criminal gang and public incitement to commit genocide.

Symbolic act
Critics say Agathe’s arrest is a purely symbolic act by French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s government, hoping to improve its tense relations with the central African country. After the genocide, a Tutsi regime led by the victorious Rwandan Patriotic Front came to power and has long accused France of supporting Habyarimana’s repressive Hutu regime - even accusing French soldiers of assisting Hutus during the genocide.

But accusations also came from Paris and in 2006, Kigali broke off all diplomatic ties after a French judge
issued nine arrest warrants against close associates of current Rwandan president Paul Kagame, accusing them of involvement in Habyarimana’s death.

Sarkozy has now launched a diplomatic offensive. During a trip to Kigali last month, he visited the city’s genocide memorial where he acknowledged that France had made “mistakes” during the genocide. "We want those responsible for the genocide to be found and punished [....] We have refused to grant political
asylum to genocide fugitives.”

Habyarimana’s arrest – just a few days after Sarkozy’s return to Paris - was a clear political decision. But,
says, Leslie Haskell of Human Rights Watch, Paris, “we are not really looking at those circumstances, we’re looking to have genocide suspects tried [... ] and we welcome her arrest and any others.”

Extradition
It is still unclear whether Agathe will be extradited to Rwanda, since there is no treaty between the two countries. “We would oppose extradition from France to Rwanda”, says Haskell. “Witnesses might not feel comfortable in coming forward and testifying in her defence and we also have concerns towards the independence of the judiciary.” It is more likely, Haskell says, that suspected génocidaires from Rwanda will be tried by the special war crimes unit which is being set up within the High Court in Paris.

Rwanda, however, says that it is ready to try genocide cases. Roelof Haveman of the National Institute for
Legal Practice and Development in Nyanza, agrees: “although in general rather young and inexperienced, the quality and feeling of independence has grown fast. In general I think a fair trial is very well possible, also taking into account the specific laws in place for the trial of people who have been extradited from the [International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)] and third countries.”

Test case
If Habyarimana does stand trial in Rwanda, the trial will be closely monitored, says Haveman. “I am almost certain that Rwanda will allow foreign observers to the trial. Rwanda is very well aware of the fact that this would be an important test case, which can prove that it can handle complex genocide cases in a fair manner.” 

French judges have so far refused to extradite suspects to Kigali saying they could not be guaranteed a
fair trial. However, Paris has transferred three Rwandan genocide suspects to Arusha, Tanzania, to face prosecution before the ICTR.

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