Former Commander of Rwanda's Presidential Guard Dies Behind Bars More Than a Decade After Arrest

Tom Byabagamba, the one-time head of Rwanda's presidential guard who spent years protecting President Paul Kagame as his personal bodyguard, has died in custody at the age of 59, ending a dozen years spent behind bars following his arrest in 2014.

The retired colonel was detained along with his brother-in-law, Frank Rusagara, a former brigadier-general who had previously held the post of secretary-general at the defence ministry. Both men faced accusations of "spreading rumours" and damaging the reputation of the country and its government — charges widely viewed by human rights organisations as politically motivated.

Throughout his prosecution, Col Byabagamba maintained his innocence, insisting the accusations against him were invented. Advocacy groups monitoring the case argued from the outset that the proceedings against the two men fit a wider pattern of suppression directed at dissenting voices under Kagame's rule.

A military court handed down its verdict in 2016, sentencing Byabagamba to 21 years in prison. That term was later trimmed to 15 years following an appeal. Rusagara received a 20-year sentence in connection with the same affair and did not live to see freedom either — he died inside the prison system in March of last year.

At the time of Rusagara's passing, Human Rights Watch (HRW) characterised it as the "lonely death of a general", pointing out that his relatives had not heard from him — not even his voice — since shortly before his arrest in 2014. Prison authorities told the family that the general had been suffering from cancer, according to the rights organisation.

News of Byabagamba's own death reached his relatives without explanation. His brother, David Himbara, told the BBC's Great Lakes service that the family remained in the dark about what killed him, noting that no visitor had been permitted to see him throughout the entire period of his imprisonment.

Rights organisations have for years levelled criticism at Kagame's administration, accusing it of squeezing out political rivals and muting critical voices both inside Rwanda's borders and beyond them. The deaths of the two former officers, separated by barely a year, have intensified scrutiny of how the state treats detainees once viewed as loyal servants of the regime.

HRW had condemned the original court process against the pair as deeply compromised, describing it as a flawed proceeding shadowed by grave claims of torture and manipulation of witnesses. Those concerns were never addressed by Rwandan judicial authorities, the group indicated.

Another organisation, the campaign Freedom Now, had likewise denounced the men's imprisonment as arbitrary and incompatible with international legal standards, adding its voice to a chorus of international concern that accompanied every stage of the case.

Byabagamba's arrest in August 2014 marked a striking fall for an officer whose career had placed him at the very centre of presidential security. His conviction two years later sent a signal, critics argue, that even the most senior figures within the military establishment were not insulated from prosecution if they fell out of favour.

His death closes a chapter on one of the most closely watched detainee cases in Rwanda, but leaves unanswered questions — foremost among them, why he died and why his family was never granted access to him during all those years in confinement.

Col Byabagamba is survived by his wife and their two sons, who now join the family of his late brother-in-law in seeking answers that the Rwandan authorities have so far declined to provide.