PARIS (AP) – The French government bears ‘significant’ responsibility for enabling a ‘foreseeable genocide’, according to a report commissioned by the Rwandan government on the role of France before and during the 800,000 hurricane. people were slaughtered in 1994.
The report, which was read by The Associated Press, comes amid efforts by Rwanda to document the role of French authorities before, during and after the genocide, as part of the steps taken by French President Emmanuel Macron to with the Central African country.
The 600-page report says that France ‘did nothing to stop the massacres in April and May 1994, and in the years that followed, the genocide tried to cover up its role and even protect some perpetrators.
It will be announced later Monday after the formal submission to the Cabinet in Rwanda.
It concludes that in the years before the genocide, former French President Francois Mitterrand and his administration were aware of the preparations for the massacres – but still supported the government of then-Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, despite the ‘warning signs’.
“The French government was not blind or unconscious about the foreseeable genocide,” the authors stress.
The Rwandan report comes less than a month after a French report commissioned by Macron, concludes that the French authorities were “blind” to the preparations for genocide and then reacted too slowly to appreciate and respond to the scale of the killings. The conclusion was that France had ‘heavy and overwhelming responsibilities’ by not responding to the expulsion that led to the massacre that killed mainly ethnic Tutsis and the moderate Hutu. Groups of extremist Hutus carried out the killings.
The two reports, with their extensive, even if there are different details, could be a turning point in relations between the two countries.
Rwanda, a small but strategic country with 13 million people, is ‘ready’ for a ‘new relationship’ with France, Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta told Rwanda.
“Perhaps the most important thing in this process is that the two commissions analyzed the historical facts, analyzed the archives made available to them, and reached a general understanding of the past,” he said. “From there, we can build this strong relationship.”
The Rwandan report, commissioned by Washington law firm Levy Firestone Muse, was based in 2017 on a wide range of documentary sources from governments, non-governmental organizations and academics, including diplomatic cables, documentaries, videos and news articles. The authors also said they interviewed more than 250 witnesses.
In the years before the genocide, ‘French officials armed, advised, trained, equipped and protected the Rwandan government, despite the Habyarimana regime’s commitment to dehumanization and eventual destruction and death of Tutsi in Rwanda, “the report said.
French authorities at the time pursued “France’s own interests, in particular the strengthening and expansion of France’s power and influence in Africa.”
In April and May 1994, at the height of the genocide, French officials “did nothing to stop the massacres”, the report said.
Operation Turquoise, a UN-led military intervention by France that began on June 22, “came too late to save many Tutsis”, the report said.
Authors say they “found no evidence that French officials or staff were directly involved in the assassination of Tutsi during that period.”
This finding reflects the conclusion of the French report which purified France of complicity in the massacres, saying that “nothing in the archives” is a “willingness to take part in a genocide operation”.
The Rwandan report also addressed the attitude of the French authorities towards the genocide.
For the past 27 years, ‘the French government has covered up its role, distorted the truth and protected those who committed the genocide’.
The report indicates that the French authorities made “few efforts” to try those who committed the genocide. Three Rwandan citizens have so far been convicted of genocide in France.
It also criticizes the French government for not making public documents about the genocide. The Rwandan government in particular has submitted three requests for documents in 2019, 2020 and this year that the French government has ‘ignored’ according to the report.
Under French law, documents relating to military and foreign policy can be classified for decades.
But things can change, reads the Rwandan report, citing ‘hopeful signs’.
On April 7, the day of the commemoration of the genocide, Macron announced the decision to declassify the archives from 1990 to 1994 belonging to the offices of the French president and prime minister and make them accessible to the public.
“Recent disclosure of documents related to the (French) report … may indicate a shift towards transparency,” said authors of the Rwandan report.
Rwanda President Paul Kagame praised the report, commissioned by Macron, as “a good thing”, and welcomed the efforts in Paris to “continue with a good understanding of what happened”.
Félicien Kabuga, a Rwandan wanted man for his alleged role in supplying machete to the killers, was arrested outside Paris last May..
And in July, an appeals court in Paris decided to end a years-long investigation into the plane crash that killed Habyarimana. and put off the genocide. The investigation has exacerbated the Rwandan government for targeting several people near Kagame for their alleged role, they denied.
Last week, a Rwandan priest was arrested in France for his alleged role in the genocide, which he denied.
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AP author Rodney Muhumuza contributed from Kampala, Uganda.