Death of Théoneste Bagosora considered “the brain” of the Tutsi genocide

Théoneste Bagosora, considered the “brain” of the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda and one of the most senior Rwandan officials convicted of this tragedy, died on Saturday at the age of 80 in Mali, where he was serving his sentence, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned from corroborating sources.

The death of the former colonel was first announced on social networks, Saturday in the middle of the day, by his son Achille Bagosora, in a terse message “RIP papa” (“rest in peace dad”), without further details.

It was then confirmed this Sunday to AFP by the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MTPI), which took over from International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) after 2015.

the TPIR had condemned Théoneste Bagosora to life in prison in 2008 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. His sentence was reduced to 35 years in prison on appeal in 2011.

During the trial, the prosecution presented this director of cabinet to the Rwandan defense ministry in 1994 as “the brain” of the genocide which claimed the lives of nearly a million people, mainly the Tutsi minority.

In 2011, the ICTR appeal judges quashed several conclusions of the trial chamber which had condemned him. They had, however, maintained a central conclusion of the judgment, that Bagosora was the highest military authority present in Rwanda between April 6 and 9, 1994, in the early days of the genocide.

In 2019, the French media Mediapart and Radio France had also revealed that a “French intelligence document” of September 1994 designated “two extremists of the regime” Hutu in power at the time, including Théoneste Bagosora, like “the main sponsors of the attack of April 6, 1994” against the plane of President Habyarimana.

Deceased “consequences of illness”

This attack, which caused the death of the head of state, triggered large-scale massacres against Tutsis and Hutus opposed to the genocide.

Théoneste Bagosora was serving her sentence at the Koulikoro prison, to Mali.

Malian sources told AFP that he was ill and had been transferred to “a clinic” of the capital Bamako.

“He had been in the clinic for a while but was guarded by security guards”, a source in the Malian prison administration told AFP, confirming his death “consequences of illness”.

An official at the facility where he was admitted said he died of “heart failure”, without further details.

His early release was refused in April 2021 because of the “extremely high gravity (of its) crimes”

Mr. Bagosora was refused an early release request in April. He claimed to have served two-thirds of his sentence since his arrest in Cameroon in 1996. His request was rejected in particular because of “the extremely high gravity (of his) crimes”.

Will the criminal be buried in France?

This possibility worries the Collective of civil parties for Rwanda (CPCR) whose members have tirelessly searched for more than twenty years the former Rwandan genocidaires refugees on French soil.

In a statement published on Sunday on the collective’s website, its president called on the French authorities.

If for the moment, nothing indicates that a request will be addressed to France, Alain Gauthier prefers to remain vigilant. He still has some precedents in mind.

The first man mentioned was president of the Coalition for the Defense of the Republic (CDR), a Rwandan extremist party. He was also a founding member of the infamous Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) which called for the murders of Tutsis during the genocide. The second, a popular singer who “sang the extermination of the Tutsis on the airwaves of Radio-television libre des Mille Collines”.

“The most important thing is that he could have been tried and that he ended his life in prison”

“Frankly, the death of Théoneste Bagosora obviously does not affect us at all”, reacts Alain Gauthier withEuronews. Together with his wife Dafroza, they lost more than seventy family members in the genocide. “On the other hand, I have never been able to rejoice over anyone’s death. The most important thing is that he could have been tried and that he ended his life in prison. With his death, part of the history of the genocide ends. “

According to their estimates, nearly a hundred genocidaires who played a role in the planning of the Tutsi genocide have found refuge in France since 1994.

With the Collective of civil parties for Rwanda, they have already lodged around thirty complaints against alleged genocidaires. But time is running out. “France took so long to judge them (…). We keep denouncing the slowness of French justice. Those who are today indicted in France are over 70 years old.”

So far, only three Rwandans have been sentenced in France. During his trip to Rwanda last May, Emmanuel Macron had engaged in his speech at the Kigali genocide memorial, in Gisozi, in “to continue the work of justice (…) By committing ourselves to ensure that no person suspected of crimes of genocide can escape justice”. He also promised to unlock resources.

Alain Gauthier says he has since written to the French President, and that he has “relaunched again last week”, to find out what means were involved, “without getting an answer”.