Latest update: 11/08/2008 

- genocide - Rwanda


France slams Rwandan genocide accusations
The French defence ministry has questioned the legitimacy of a Rwandan commission accusing French officials, including late President François Mitterrand, of involvement in the 1994 genocide. CAUTION: Images may be disturbing to some viewers.

Rwanda has officially accused France of playing an active role in the African country’s 1994 genocide.

A 500-page report released on Tuesday by the Rwandan Justice Ministry slams 13 French politicians and 20 French military officers for their alleged role in the events. It demands that legal action be taken against them.

 

France's foreign ministry on Wednesday accused Rwanda of making "unacceptable accusations" in a report alleging French politicians and military played an active role in the 1994 genocide.

 

Questioned on the report's conclusions on Tuesday, the French defence ministry referred reporters to its official position as set out in a February 9, 2007 statement, which claimed the inquiry had "no guarantee of independence or impartiality." France's foreign ministry refused to comment, according to the AFP.

The original statement had declared that "France assumes full responsibility for its actions in Rwanda in 1994, especially those of its armed forces."

The late President Francois Mitterrand and the former French prime ministers Edouard Balladur and Dominique de Villepin are some of the French politicians accused by the report.

The Rwanda report – two years in the making - was compiled by a special commission probing France's role in the genocide. Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwandan minister of information, told FRANCE 24 that it “was the product of a commission based on auditions in different places, including France.”
 
 
The UN estimates that some 800,000 Rwandans died in the 1994 genocide, in which extremist members of the Hutu majority massacred minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The report alleged that France was aware of preparations for the genocide, contributed to planning the massacres, and actively took part in the killing.
 
"French forces directly assassinated Tutsis and Hutus accused of hiding Tutsis... French forces committed several rapes on Tutsi survivors," said a justice ministry statement released after the report was presented in Kigali, the Rwandan capital.
 
The statement said that France’s military and humanitarian Operation Turquoise, conducted between June and August 1994, abetted the killings perpetrated by extremist Hutu groups, a claim denied by Paris. France maintains its forces helped protect people during a UN-sanctioned mission in Rwanda at the time.

Still, “we expect and hope for a good level of cooperation both from the French state and the individuals implicated in this report,” Minister Mushikiwabo said.
 

 

Comments (7)

Kagame is a liar

I was in Rwanda when the genocide took place. Also I witnessed what the french solidiers did to help Rwandans hutus and tutsis alike. The french were very disciplined. They distributed food, medecines and they sheltered refugees (hutus and tutsis alike). Kagame is a big liar. All he does is lie, lie, and lie. He killed so many Rwandans not to mention congolese. Kagame is the one who should be brought to justice. Kagame is the Hitler of Africa. The international community particulary the UK and the USA should hold him responsible of all the mess he created in Rwanda when he murdered his predecessor.

The US was behind the Rwandan Genocide

The US was behind the Rwandan Genocide
The civil war in Rwanda and the ethnic massacres were an integral part of US foreign policy, carefully staged in accordance with precise strategic and economic objectives.

The URL of this article is: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO305A.html

Don't demonise Rwanda's Hutus. They've often been the victims
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/13/rwanda.congo

For your information

The Role of Britain in the Rwandan Genocide:
http://www.medialens.org/articles/the_articles/rwanda/mc_rwanda.html
"It was Britain's ambassador to the UN, Sir David Hannay, who proposed that the UN reduce its force; the US agreed"
"Britain and the US also refused to provide the military airlift capability for the African states who were offering troops for this force. The RAF, for example, had plenty of transport aircraft that could have been deployed. Britain also went out of its way to prevent the UN using the word "genocide" to describe the slaughter"
"Accepting this would have obliged states to "prevent and punish" those guilty under the Geneva Convention. In late April, Britain, the US and China, secured a resolution rejecting use of the term genocide. A year after the slaughter, the Foreign Office sent a letter to an international inquiry saying that it still did not accept the term genocide, seeing discussion on whether the massacres constituted genocide as "sterile".

The Role of the West in the Rwandan Genocide:
"Britain also sought to block the use of the word 'genocide' because under the 1948 UN Convention, this would have obliged states to 'prevent and punish' those responsible."
"Although Britain is culpable in preventing an international response to the genocide, those responsible have never been held to account."
http://www.counterpunch.org/miller04022004.html

For your information

Les Anglais défendent les Français contre les accusations de Kagame. Les Français ne peuvent pas le faire eux-mêmes.

Rwanda report raises issue of motive
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7544267.stm

Selon l'interview que vous pouvez écouter via le lien suivant
(cliquez en dessous de l'image), il n'y a pas de preuve sur les
allégations formulées par Kagame contre la France. La personne
(britannique) interrogée était avec les soldats français sur
terrain au Rwanda.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7542418.stm

Stephen Sackur talks to Rwanda's president, Paul Kagame.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/6218196.stm

http://africannewsanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/07/kagame-interview-with-bb...

Voila pourquoi la BBC est de renommée internationale. Ils n’ont pas peur de dire la vérité. Ils l’ont aussi fait en interrogeant Kagame qui a admis avoir assassine Le Président Habyarimana. Ils ne sont pas comme des charlatans Français qui ne font que semer la confusion.

Just like France,two faced nation

Western hypocrisy and French arrogance
look what France did The 500-page report alleged that France was aware of preparations for the genocide, contributed to planning the massacres and actively took part in the killing.

It named former French prime minister Edouard Balladur, former foreign minister Alain Juppe and then-president Francois Mitterrand, who died in 1996, among 13 French politicians accused of playing a role in the massacres.

just few years ago
Rwanda and not forget Algeria

and France was so quick to point a finger to Turkey,and accuse them of genocide.

people who lives in glass houses should not cast a stone

France is the number one perpetrator of mass killings they just good in covering up just like they invented the perfume to cover up the stink they radiate

Please do not show images that can distrub the viewers

Please do not show images that could chock people, especially children. All people are not happy with watching images that are disturbing.

France24 , please don’t report about false information.

France24, plseas don’t report about false information.

You are writing lies. The Rwandan report is not “ two years in the making” as you state. The report was finished after 12 months, then it was held by Kagame himself , apparently to ensure his General Karake who is accused by the Spanish Judges as having killed thousands of people in Rwanda is appointed as a Deputy Commander of the Africa Union-United Nations Forces. Please be accuarte in your reports. France24 as new media needs to show credibility.

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