Jacques Bihozagara

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Jacques Bihozagara was a Rwandan diplomat and politician. He was born on February 25, 1945, and died on March 30, 2016, at age 71. He served as Rwanda’s ambassador to France and Belgium, and earlier he was the Minister of Rehabilitation and Social Integration.

In 1987, he helped found the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which played a major role around the 1994 genocide.

After retiring because of ill health, Bihozagara invested his pension in small real estate projects and other small businesses.

He later spent six years trying to become a citizen of Burundi due to harassment from the Kigali government. Burundi denied his citizenship applications, reportedly mainly because he did not live in Burundi. He did travel there for business and family visits and owned property in Burundi.

In December 2015, Bihozagara was arrested in Burundi on suspicion of espionage after weapons were found at his home in Kinindo.

He died in a Burundi jail in March 2016. The exact circumstances are unclear. Some rumors say he was assassinated, possibly by poisoning. Other prisoners said he was in good health until the day of his death and died minutes after arriving at the prison infirmary. An autopsy was performed more than a week later, and his body was returned to his family with bruises and scars on his face. A full autopsy had not been done before his funeral.

There are reports that South Africa had requested his relocation, and information about his death was later shared with Rwanda’s leader, Paul Kagame. The Burundian government has faced criticism from human rights groups for pressuring families to declare deaths as natural causes to avoid responsibility.