27th anniversary of Rwandan Genocide, Commission finds France bears responsibility for atrocities

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A commission set up by French President Emmanuel Macron concluded last month that France bears overwhelming responsibility for the Genocide in Rwanda, in which 800,000 mostly Tutsi people were slaughtered over 100 days, AFP reports. The French commission published its conclusions shortly before the 27th anniversary of the Genocide, which began on April 7, 1994.

On Wednesday, the French government ordered the opening of important state archives concerning the Genocide, AFP reports. The archives contain documents related to work conducted by France’s former president Francois Mitterrand and prime minister Edouard Balladur between 1990 and 1994. The documents were used as sources by the commission of historians which compiled the report on France’s role in the Genocide. The papers include diplomatic telegrams and confidential notes, AFP said.

The commission was set up following accusations that France had not done enough to stop the killings, AFP said. The historians have now concluded there was no evidence France had been complicit in the actual massacres. However, the commission said, the French government had been “blind” to preparations for the Genocide, there had been “failure” by France under the leadership of Mitterand.

Following the publication of the commissioned report, the French government said it hoped there could now be an “irreversible” reconciliation process between France and Rwanda: the two countries have maintained strained relations since the atrocities.

The Rwandan government led by Tutsi President Paul Kagame said the report is “an important step toward a common understanding of France’s role in the genocide against the Tutsi.”

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