Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire has demanded accountability after the death of her party’s spokesperson, Anselme Mutuyimana, whose body was found without visible wounds but with blood in the mouth, according to family members.
Witnesses reported seeing men in police uniforms in a red car detaining Mutuyimana in the western Mahoko area before his death, though the exact cause remains unclear. Rwandan authorities stated they have launched an investigation but have not identified suspects.
"We need justice," Ingabire said, citing a pattern of unresolved deaths among political opponents. Her party, FDU-Inkingi, has previously faced allegations of repression, with figures like Jean Damascene Habarugira found dead two years prior under unsolved circumstances.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who has overseen economic recovery since the 1994 genocide, faces ongoing criticism over human rights concerns. Similar cases include the 2010 death of Democratic Green Party vice president Andre Kagwa Rwisereka and the 2014 murder of exiled intelligence chief Patrick Karegeya in South Africa.
Ingabire, who served a six-year sentence for inciting insurrection before returning to Rwanda in 2010, has repeatedly called for transparency in political deaths. Local police did not respond to requests for comment on the ongoing investigation.
