The French government and military officials are accused of supplying militants with arms in Rwanda during the civil war. Following the organized genocide in 1994, which lasted 100 days, 800,000 (UN statistics) or 1,071,000 (Rwandan government statistics) Tutsis and moderate Hutus who had not followed the orders of Hutu extremists, were violently massacred by Hutu extremist power.
It is estimated that around 200,000 to 500,000 Tutsi women and girls were raped during this period; including 20,000 young Rwandans who are now in the third decade of their lives are the children of these widespread rapes.
What is undeniable is the role of France and its active intervention in the unfolding of this event and also the silence of the international peace institutions. Indeed, because of its close ties with the Hutu government, France did nothing to stop this genocide and took refuge even the Hutu killers. Since 1990, hundreds of French armies have been engaged security and military personnel of the Juvénal Habyarimana regime, and three months after the start of the Rwandan massacre, a few hundred French soldiers take part in an operation in the west to establish a zone of security.
France actively supported the government of Juvénal Habyarimana against the Rwandan Patriotic Front (which was mainly made up of Tutsis). The front active in the Rwandan civil war since 1990 had the objective of restoring the rights of Rwandan Tutsis inside Rwanda and also the rights of exiled Tutsis in neighboring countries. In fact, for more than four decades, anti-Tutsi policies had been ongoing in Rwanda and led Tutsis to seek refuge in neighboring countries. France provided arms and military training to young Habyarimana, Interahamwe, and Impozamogabi militias, all from the Hutu tribe. These weapons and this training were one of the main tools of the Hutu government to carry out the genocide of the Tutsis after the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6, 1994.
On April 6, 1994, Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana’s plane was shot down and all the passengers of the plane were killed. Hutu extremists blamed the Tutsi insurgent group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). Thus, the genocide of the Tutsis started. Hutu extremist militias seized the opportunity to control power, and they started massacring Tutsis in an organized operation. Many of these horrific crimes were committed with batons.
One of the young militia groups of the dominant power was the Interahamwe group which erected roadblocks and to find the Tutsis, broadcast radio programs against them. He went from house to house, looking for victims of Tutsis.
Persistent poverty and hunger, tribal differences inherited from the colonial era, the effects of hate speech from the most influential radio station in the country, the promises of genocidal leaders to poor extremist militants to own property and land deaths, the silence and indifference of the United Nations and the support of the French ended up causing the Rwandan massacre of 1994.
French President François Mitterrand and his entourage accused the Tutsis and in particular the politico-military organization of the Rwandan Popular Front, of a possible massacre during the years of ethnic hatred in Rwanda. This is why France justifies the delivery of arms to the Hutu government of former President Juvénal Habyarimana. These weapons are then used to kill hundreds of thousands of Tutsis. Thus, the authorities at the Élysée and the French government refuse France’s role in the “unprecedented” humanitarian crisis in Rwanda.
International research and investigation
After countless global pressures on France for its undeniable role and responsibility in the genocide of Tutsis, in 2018 a commission of 14 experts was tasked with searching all records of relations between France and the Rwandan government between 1991 and 1994 and to elucidate the role of France in the genocide. Macron promised access to the governmental archives to the commission, but access is only given occasionally and partially and only some of the documents have been made available.
On Wednesday, April 7, 2021, France released a report on the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The 1,200-page report explicitly states that then French President François Mitterrand and his entourage turned a blind eye to the reality of events. in Rwanda.
The report by the French government, of course, although overlooking many aspects of France’s role, states that France had “a heavy and damning responsibility” in the Rwandan massacre, but it denies complicity in the massacre.
According to experts, France was not competent during the four years of ethnic conflict in Rwanda, and the French authorities not only supported the corrupt and racist dictatorship in Kigali (the capital of Rwanda), but also they themselves have a vast program of ethnic cleansing, an ethnocentric vision of the conflict in Rwanda.
A later investigative report indicates that France not only trained the Hutu-majority Rwandan army but also supplied it with a variety of arms and ammunition.
An excuse worse than the crime itself
Following the publication of this report, the only thing the French government did was offer a simple apology. During a speech in Rwanda, Emmanuel Macron, without apologizing on behalf of France, affirms that this report is an important step in understanding and assessing France’s role in Rwanda and will be the basis for further research!
Macron said in Kigali that he asked for forgiveness because France was practically on the side of the regime that perpetrated the genocide. According to Macron, the government ignored the warning. The French president accepted the responsibility of his country in Rwanda but he refused to admit his role in the genocide.
The reaction of international organizations
Human Rights Watch, welcoming the publication of the report, criticized the authors of the report for ignoring the role of the “Tutsi Patriotic Party” of Rwanda in this event.
Although independent peace groups around the world have strongly condemned France’s actions in Rwanda, what is very disturbing is the initial silence of the United Nations and nations of the world in relation to this damning event. No action has been taken by international organizations to prevent these massacres. The United Nations had forces in Rwanda in this period, but they did not intervene in the genocide and most peacekeepers withdrew from Rwanda.
Even the Belgian UN peacekeepers easily left Rwanda and continued the genocide by leaving their posts.
Three months after the start of the massacre, the Security Council adopted resolution 928 on the authorization to enter the international forces especially the French soldiers in Rwanda. The main objective of this successful operation according to the French army was to prevent new massacres, and in particular the revenge of the Hutus against Tutsis, and stop the launching of a reciprocal genocide; an event that happened after this case was over by the victory of the French-supported Hutu front.