Kigali Targets Habyarimana Family as Rwanda Faces Isolation

Kinshasa, DRC — Three decades after the assassination of Rwanda’s former president Juvénal Habyarimana, his family once again finds itself in the crosshairs of Kigali’s propaganda machine.

In recent weeks, Rwandan state-aligned media have launched a campaign accusing Jean-Luc Habyarimana, the late president’s son, of plotting with Congolese President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo and Rwandan exiles to overthrow Paul Kagame’s government.

But to observers across the region, the attacks reveal something deeper — a regime under strain, seeking new pretexts to justify its continued military presence in eastern Congo.

From Genocide Pretext to New Diversion

For 31 years, the Habyarimana family has lived under judicial harassment, exile, and defamation. Their patriarch, President Juvénal Habyarimana, was killed on 6 April 1994 when his plane was shot down near Kigali, the event that triggered Rwanda’s genocide and propelled the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) to power.

Today, analysts say Kigali’s campaign against the family is part of a familiar pattern: creating diversions whenever international pressure mounts.

With Rwanda now accused by the UN and the U.S. State Department of backing the M23 rebels and exploiting Congolese minerals, President Kagame’s government is turning to the old tactic of inventing enemies to sustain a narrative of self-defence.

“Attacking President Tshisekedi, who bears the heavy burden of leading a partially occupied nation, is not only a travesty of reality but a cynical diversion meant to hide Rwanda’s crimes in Congo,” said Jean-Luc Habyarimana on social media under the title “Panic in Kigali.”

“Gross Lies from a Regime in Despair”

Jean-Luc Habyarimana dismissed the accusations as “grotesque fabrications reflecting the fear of a regime trapped in survival mode.”

“For several days, pro-Kigali media have been spreading false claims that I’m part of a ‘military coalition’ with President Tshisekedi and Rwandan opposition figures. These are lies designed to manipulate public opinion and rewrite history,” he wrote.

He accused the RPF of using his family’s name to manufacture threats and maintain control through fear.

“The name Habyarimana represents, in the Rwandan collective memory, a time of stability, dialogue, and good neighbourliness. That memory contradicts the RPF’s rule of repression, conflict, and permanent victimhood,” he added.

Rewriting History, Erasing Symbols

Jean-Luc Habyarimana’s statement echoed that of his elder brother Léon Habyarimana, who recently reminded Rwandans that during their father’s presidency, despite ethnic divisions, Queen Rosalie Gicanda, aunt of Paul Kagame, enjoyed official recognition and a state salary.

“Our father governed without terror. He respected Rwanda’s history and its symbols. The current regime, by contrast, has erased every trace of the past and never recognised the royal family,” Léon Habyarimana wrote.

Such reminders strike at the heart of Kagame’s tightly controlled narrative — one that presents the RPF as Rwanda’s sole redeemer while dismissing the pre-1994 state as irredeemably oppressive.

From Victimhood to Aggression

Jean-Luc Habyarimana accused the Kigali government of mastering the “art of victimisation”, portraying itself as eternally persecuted even while waging wars abroad.

“The RPF presents itself as a victim while it invades neighbours, kills civilians, plunders minerals and silences its own citizens,” he said. “Even as the world demands Rwanda withdraw its troops from eastern Congo, Kigali invents imaginary plots to distract from the suffering it causes.”

Regional analysts view the attacks on the Habyarimana family as an attempt to muzzle dissent and discredit voices calling for accountability over crimes committed by all sides since 1994.

The Struggle for Truth and Reconciliation

In his statement, Jean-Luc Habyarimana reaffirmed his peaceful activism:

“By attacking me, the regime seeks to silence any voice that demands truth, justice, and dignity for all victims of the past 30 years. But I remain committed to reconciliation and equitable justice for every Rwandan, regardless of origin.”

His advocacy focuses on five principles:

• Dignified return for refugees.

• Sincere national reconciliation.

• Equal justice for all.

• Sustainable peace in the Great Lakes region.

• Shared development for future generations.

“A day will come, and it will come, when Rwanda rediscovers balance. On that day, no one will speak of plots, but of national renewal,” he concluded.

A Wider Context

The campaign against the Habyarimana family coincides with mounting diplomatic isolation for Kigali. The UN Security Council’s Resolution 2773 and the U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report have directly linked Rwanda’s military to atrocities and child-soldier recruitment in the DRC.

Observers say the new accusations show how far the regime will go to maintain its grip on power and control the narrative of the Great Lakes conflicts.

For many across the region, the Habyarimana name, once synonymous with Rwanda’s internal stability, has now become a mirror reflecting the RPF’s inability to reconcile with its own history.