Paris sent troops to Rwanda, beginning in the early morning hours of April 9, 1994, under what was known as Operation Amaryllis, to evacuate French and other foreign nationals. According to the Muse Report, a four‑year investigation – activated in 2017 and carried out by U.S. law firm Levy Firestone Muse – into the role of the French government in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the first plane to evacuate French nationals out of Kigali also carried, on President François Mitterrand’s orders, Juvénal Habyarimana’s family—including first lady and Akazu leader Agathe Kanziga-Habyarimana, about whom Mitterrand would later reportedly exclaim, “She is possessed by the devil, if she could, she would continue to call out for massacres from French radios.” ALSO READ: Agathe Habyarimana: France’s useful “victim” of Genocide? Akazu, a Kinyarwanda term for “small hut,” was an informal, highly influential circle of mostly family members, close friends, and loyalists close to Habyarimana and his wife. Operating like a ‘mafia,’ Akazu’s members held sway over government, military, and administration, exercising immense power despite having no formal role. ALSO READ: There is still hope that Akazu members will face justice In an exclusive interview, on January 21, a day before he returned to France to follow the appeal trial of another genocide suspect, Claude Muhayimana, Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda (CPCR) president Alain Gauthier said Kanziga’s case is “more than symbolic.” For more than 20 years, Gauthier and his wife Dafroza Gauthier have pushed to bring genocide suspects living in France to justice. Echoing outcomes in a number of comparable genocide trials, last August, French judges dismissed the case against Kanziga, citing insufficient evidence. They also described her as a ‘victim’ rather than a suspect in the 1994 genocide. I asked Gauthier what that means, and what such a judicial framing does to genocide memory, especially for genocide survivors who associate Habyarimana’s wife with mobilisation and power, not victimhood. “It's terrible!” he replied, adding: “Because, indeed, their conclusion, after having given their arguments, their shocking conclusion, is to say that Agathe Kanziga is a victim. “And we can't accept that. How could she, considering what she is accused of, be a victim?” What exactly is Kanziga accused of? In February 2007, CPCR filed a case against Kanziga before a senior investigating judge at the Tribunal de Grande Instance (TGI) located in Évry-Courcouronnes, in the Essonne department of the Île-de-France region, about 25 to 30 kilometres south of central Paris, who initially handled the file. Later, the investigation was transferred to judges in Paris, where it continued under magistrates specializing in genocide and crimes against humanity. ALSO READ: Habyarimana's role in planning, implementing 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi The rights group accused Kanziga of participating in the planning, organization, and direction of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, in particular by taking part in the 1991 preparatory meetings for the Bagogwe massacres, considered by the rights group as one of the preludes to the killings of 1994. They also accuse her of playing a key role within Akazu, a powerful network of anti-Tutsi extremists, having allegedly financed Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), Interahamwe militia, and the “death squads,” having conducted economic operations described as mafia-like, having promoted Hutu extremism, and having had opponents eliminated. Other CPCR charges include: allegedly having participated in the financing and subsequent control of the extremist magazine Kangura, having made substantial funds available for the creation of RTLM— a tool for spreading anti-Tutsi and anti-moderate Hutu ethnic hatred—and having expressed support for that media outlet; having taken part in decisions by the authorities of the prefectures of Kigali-Ville and Gisenyi with a view to planning attacks against the Tutsi and, around February 11, 1994, drawing up a list of influential members of the Tutsi ethnic group and moderate Hutu to be executed. ALSO READ: Kangura's 8th Hutu commandment re-examined In the first hours following the death of her husband, on April 6, 1994, she is also accused off having participated in extremist political discussions and given her approval to acts of terror carried out in particular by the presidential guard, notably the assassination of then Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyamana. Kanziga is also accused of having ordered the massacre of seven employees of the Sainte-Agathe orphanage – located in Masaka, on the outskirts of Kigali – and having, after her evacuation to Paris, on April 9, continued to intervene in Rwanda’s internal affairs in ongoing contact with members of the interim government implicated in the genocide. ALSO READ: Will France ever bring Kanziga to book? Kigali's request for her extradition was rejected by Paris in 2011. Ten years later, Gauthier acknowledged that when they first filed a complaint against Kanziga on February 14, 2007, “we were well aware that we were facing insurmountable difficulties.” From the outset, they understood how politically improbable it seemed that France — which had welcomed her with a bouquet of flowers and provided security protection — would one day agree to put her on trial. Although French authorities denied her a residence permit, Kanziga continues to reside – without restrictions – in Paris, surrounded by members of her family. End last month, she appeared on a podcast — a move whose timing unavoidably invites scrutiny. Was it an attempt to shape public perception ahead of potential judicial developments, to reframe a long-contested narrative, or simply to reassert visibility at a moment of renewed attention? Today, France is home to more than 40 indicted genocide suspects and hundreds of genocide deniers and revisionists. Why is Kanziga’s trial important? According to Gauthier, the judgement in Paris concerning Kanziga comes within the framework of “all the other complaints that we have filed,” in France. Gauthier said: “Kanziga case is more than symbolic. She is still the wife of President Habyarimana who benefited, in France, from a very favourable reception from François Mitterrand. “For us, the Kanziga case is important, and it is important for everyone, precisely because she is at the center. She is at the center of this network—the Akazu—including her family, her brothers, and other relatives.” ALSO READ: Lessons from Protais Zigiranyirazo’s enduring infamy When it comes to Kanziga’s relatives in Akazu, Gauthier was “especially thinking of Protais Zigiranyirazo,” her elder brother and Akazu power-broker who died last year in Niamey, Niger, where he was living under UN supervision, and of Séraphin Rwabukumba, his other brother, who lives in Belgium. Before and during the genocide, “Mr. Z” or “Mr. Zed”, as Zigiranyirazo was widely known, wielded influence far beyond his official titles. Gauthier added: “All of these are around, all her relatives, all her friends who were part of Akazu. It is true that if we could, and everyone hopes so, if justice could be reversed in these case dismissals, we would be immensely satisfied. But it’s far from certain.” “But we strongly hope that the judicial investigation will be reopened. But, you know, Mrs. Habyarimana isn’t young; she’s 82 or 83. And she could pass away at any moment. If that happens, the case would automatically be closed, because a person cannot be prosecuted after death.” Kanziga turned 83 on November 1, last year.
