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Tom Byabagamba, the former commander of Rwanda's presidential guard who once served as President Paul Kagame's personal bodyguard, has died in prison, twelve years after he was arrested in a case that drew sustained criticism from international human rights organizations. He was 59.
News of his death was confirmed this week, but the circumstances surrounding it remain murky. His brother, David Himbara, told the BBC's Great Lakes service that the family has no idea what killed him, explaining that throughout his long detention "no-one was allowed to see him in all these years." The lack of access has left relatives unable to verify how the retired colonel spent his final years or what led to his death.
Byabagamba was taken into custody in 2014 alongside his brother-in-law, Frank Rusagara, a retired brigadier-general who had previously held the post of secretary-general at Rwanda's defence ministry. The charges against both men centred on accusations of "spreading rumours" and damaging the reputation of the country and its government — allegations widely interpreted by observers as stemming from their perceived criticism of the ruling establishment.
At his trial, Byabagamba vigorously rejected every count against him, insisting the accusations had been invented. In 2016, a military court found him guilty and handed down a 21-year sentence, though an appeals court later trimmed the term to 15 years. Rusagara received a 20-year sentence in the same proceedings.
Human rights organizations tracked the two men's cases for over a decade, describing them as emblematic of a wider crackdown. Campaign group Freedom Now previously condemned the pair's imprisonment as arbitrary and as a violation of international law, while Human Rights Watch characterized the trial that produced their convictions as flawed and marred by serious allegations of torture and witness tampering.
Rights groups have also repeatedly charged that Kagame's government suppresses political opposition and silences dissenting voices both inside Rwanda and among critics living overseas. The deaths of both men behind bars have intensified those concerns.
Rusagara never left prison either. He died in custody in March of last year, and Human Rights Watch marked his passing by describing it as "the lonely death of a general," noting that his family had not heard his voice since 2014, just days before he was detained. Prison authorities told his relatives that he had been suffering from cancer, according to the rights group.
For Byabagamba's family, grief is compounded by uncertainty. With visitation effectively barred for the entirety of his imprisonment, they now face the prospect of never learning the official cause of death — a situation his brother described in his remarks to the BBC.
The colonel's career once placed him at the very center of Rwandan power. As head of the unit responsible for protecting the president, he stood closer to Kagame than almost any other officer, making his subsequent fall and conviction all the more striking to analysts of the country's political landscape.
Advocates who followed the case argue that the parallel fates of the two brothers-in-law — both senior military figures, both convicted on contested evidence, both dying in state custody without family contact — should prompt renewed scrutiny of how Rwanda treats its perceived critics.
Byabagamba leaves behind his wife and two sons, who are now seeking answers about how and why he died after more than a decade in confinement. Neither Rwandan authorities nor prison officials have publicly addressed the cause of death or the conditions under which he was held.
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