A leading Rwandan opposition figure has been brutally murdered. The Democratic Green Party’s vice president, Andre Kagwa Rwisereka, was found nearly decapitated shortly after his disappearance on Tuesday. The party’s president, Frank Habineza, announced the news.

Frank Habineza: “About his last meetings with some people, so we see that was the police and the army. And then, afterwards, we, when reached here last night, this morning, we got confirmation from — again from his sister that today they found a body. So I talked to the brother — he’s called Antoine Haguma — who went to the scene and actually did find the body of his brother Kagwa, and he found that the head was cut, almost cut off the body. It is just small skin remaining. It is a terrible death. So, afterwards, the police has now taken the body to a mortuary.”

The Democratic Green Party has been banned from registering in Rwanda’s upcoming elections. In a speech months before his death, Rwisereka criticized the government of Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Andre Kagwa Rwisereka: “We can’t continue to live like this. The Rwandan population has lived in fear since 1960 up until now. It is time now to change this life and for people to live in peace. That’s what we’ve come to do in our political party.”