'Rwandan genocide hunter' Dafroza Gauthier dies at 72

Dafroza Gauthier, who alongside her husband Alain spent nearly three decades tracking down people suspected of participating in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda who had taken refuge in France, died in Reims on Saturday. Her husband announced her death on Sunday.

Gauthier was 72 years old. Since 1994, when more than 800,000 people — predominantly ethnic Tutsis — were massacred in Rwanda over the course of a few months, she and her husband worked to locate individuals suspected of involvement in the killings who had since settled in France.

Nearly three decades of pursuit

The Franco-Rwandan couple became known for their persistence in gathering evidence and information that could help identify and bring charges against alleged perpetrators who had found refuge on French soil. Their work began shortly after the atrocities and continued for years afterward.

A photograph from November 2023 shows the couple waiting outside a Paris courthouse, indicating their pursuit of justice continued well into recent years, more than two decades after the genocide.

Dafroza Gauthier's death marks the end of a significant chapter in efforts to hold accountable those involved in one of the 20th century's gravest crimes against humanity.