The French judiciary has reopened the case of Callixte Mbarushimana, a former UN employee accused of involvement in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Last year, the judiciary in France dismissed the investigation into Mbarushimana’s case citing insufficient evidence. ALSO READ: Value of two shades of life: Death of Kagame’s cousin vs protection of diplomats Alain Gauthier, the President of France-based Collectif des Parties Civiles pours le Rwanda (CPCR), a rights group which has, over the years, worked hard to see Genocide suspects living in France brought to book, on Wednesday, May 21, told The New Times that the Paris appeals court had ruled to reopen the investigation. “This Wednesday, May 21, 2025, the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the civil parties, requesting the reopening of the judicial investigation,” Gauthier said. Mbarushimana, who has held political refugee status in France for the past 20 years, was first indicted in 2010 for crimes against humanity and complicity in such crimes. ALSO READ: Rwanda to pursue Mbarushimana He is accused of directly participating in the 1994 Genocide. He is said to have been among the people who drew up lists of the Tutsi to be killed and supplied equipment to the genocidal regime’s army and Interahamawe militia. ALSO READ: How has Europe fared in bringing to book Genocide fugitives? Mbarushimana was previously prosecuted by the International Criminal Court in 2010 for crimes in DR Congo but was not tried due to insufficient evidence. Last year, CPCR appealed against the case’s dismissal, criticising the investigation as incomplete, particularly noting unverified witness testimonies and overlooked details from a UN internal report. Mbarushimana, the former Executive Secretary of the DR Congo-backed FDLR genocidal militia which was formed by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide was, in January 2011, transferred from France to the International Criminal Court (ICC), in The Hague, for trial and detention over crimes the genocidal militia he led committed in DR Congo but he was never prosecuted. He returned to France where he continued to live as a free man. In 2010, Rwanda’s Prosecution sent an indictment – with genocide charges – to France. Mbarushimana is accused of playing a central role in organizing and executing massacres in Kigali during the 1994 Genocide, when he took over the administration of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) offices in Kigali after the evacuation of expatriates. He is believed to have used the logistics of the United Nations in killing sprees across the city. In 1994, the genocide suspect worked as an IT specialist for UNDP. When the Genocide escalated, on April 7, 1994, Mbarushimana was a computer technician with UNDP, in Kigali. In 2001, the UN conducted its own investigation and linked Mbarushimana with the murder of 32 people, including Tutsi colleagues at the UNDP, during the Genocide.
