This decision overturns a 2024 ruling by a French court, which had dismissed the case on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
The Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda (CPCR), rights group dedicated to prosecuting genocide suspects, successfully appealed the dismissal.
The Paris Court of Appeal ordered a renewed investigation into Mbarushimana's alleged role in the atrocities.
Speaking with IGIHE, CPCR co-founder Dafroza Gauthier welcomed the ruling.
'We are pleased that the judiciary has agreed to reopen the investigation to uncover new evidence,' she said.
Mbarushimana worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) during the genocide.
In April 1994, after the UN evacuated foreign staff from Rwanda, he was tasked with protecting local employees. Hired by the UN in 1992, he was dismissed in 2001 following allegations of involvement in the deaths of 32 people, including UN staff.
UN war crimes investigator Tony Greig reported that Mbarushimana personally shot two victims and was implicated in the killing of Florence Ngirumpatse, UNDP's human resources chief in Rwanda, and several Tutsi children she had sheltered, aged 8 to 18.
Greig's findings, submitted to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), included testimonies from 25 witnesses alleging Mbarushimana's direct involvement in the massacre and support for the Interahamwe militia, which spearheaded the genocide.
On April 7, 2024, Rwandan President Paul Kagame publicly criticized Mbarushimana's freedom, noting that Florence Ngirumpatse was his cousin.
Kagame further disclosed that his cousin was betrayed by a colleague to the killers and celebrated after her death.
He expressed his disappointment that no action was ever taken against the UNDP staffer despite evidence implicating him.
'It later emerged that a Rwandan working at the UNDP betrayed his Tutsi colleague to the killers. Witnesses remember him celebrating Florence's murder the night after the attack. He continued his career with the UN for many years even after evidence implicating him emerged. He is still a free man now living in France,' Kagame narrated.
In 2008, the CPCR requested an investigation into Mbarushimana by the Paris court handling crimes against humanity.
French authorities dismissed the case in October 2024, citing insufficient evidence and unreliable witness testimony.
The CPCR appealed, arguing that the ruling ignored critical testimonies and a UN internal report detailing Mbarushimana's alleged crimes.
On May 21, 2025, the Paris Court of Appeal acknowledged these oversights, ordering a re-examination of evidence and new witness interviews. The reopened investigation has renewed hopes for accountability.
Links to the FDLR
Mbarushimana's alleged crimes extend beyond 1994. He is linked to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a terrorist group operating in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he reportedly served as Executive Secretary.
In 2010, the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrested him in France on 13 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by FDLR fighters in 2009.
The ICC released him in 2011 citing insufficient evidence, and he has since lived freely in France.
IGIHE
