8/9/08

France and Rwanda

By Gideon Rachman

Published: August 8 2008 03:00 | Last updated: August 8 2008 03:00

Gideon Rachman's blog: The idea that the French state had some role in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 that led to some 800,000 deaths is not a new one. There was an official French inquiry in 1998. But that was widely regarded as a bit of a whitewash.

The publication of the Rwandan government's report this week has revived the issue and shocked the French. The Rwandans allege that the French not only trained and armed the Hutu militias but that they were aware of plans for genocide and close to the main perpetrators and that some French forces "directly assassinated Tutsis".

The Rwandan government says it wants war-crimes trials and has made accusations against some of the most senior French politicians - including Alain Juppé and Dominique de Villepin, the former prime ministers , as well as François Mitterand, the former president. The official French reaction is that these charges are "unacceptable". Maybe so, but are they also untrue?

Thursday's Le Monde gives a long and shocked account of the report. But there is no editorial on the subject which - to me - suggests a certain confusion.

An accompanying commentary points out fairly enough that the current Rwandan government may be retaliating for French indictments aimed at its leaders for their alleged role in the killing of the Rwandan president in 1994 - the event that triggered the genocide. But the Le Monde commentary also argues that the Rwandan report is too detailed and well-documented simply to be dismissed. It urges the French government to issue a point-by-point rebuttal. We'll see.






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