French leaders accused of complicity in Rwanda genocide

Protesters hold a sign in front of the Louvre pyramid commissioned by Francois Mitterrand. It contains exactly 666 panes of glass.

Rwanda said top French politicians should “answer for their actions” as it named them in a report accusing France of arming and advising extremists in the 1994 genocide.

Telegraph | Aug 5, 2008

By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi

The two-year investigation said France helped the extremists who carried out the genocide and even took part in some of the killings.

It named François Mitterand, France’s late former president, and former prime minister Dominique de Villepin among 33 military and political leaders.

In 100 days 14 years ago, more than 800,000 of Rwanda’s minority Tutsi tribe and moderates from the majority Hutus were killed.

A French force sent to establish a “humanitarian safe zone” once the genocide had started directly took part in killing and raping Tutsis, the report alleged.

“French soldiers themselves directly were involved in assassinations of Tutsis and Hutus accused of hiding Tutsis,” it said.

“French soldiers committed many rapes, forced sexual intercourse specifically with surviving Tutsi women. They clearly requested Interahamwe [Hutu militia] … to kill Tutsis,” the special commission report said.

“They also clearly requested to have Tutsi who had infiltrated in displaced population camps brought to them and have Interahamwe kill at least some of them. They let Interahamwe kill Tutsis under their eyes.”

A spokesman for the French foreign ministry refused to comment, but the release of the report follows years of souring relations between Paris and Kigali, Rwanda’s capital.

“We have not yet read the report which has not been sent to us by the Rwandan government. We are therefore not in a position to react,” a spokesman said.

In 2006, a French judge accused President Kagame and nine of his closest officials of being responsible for starting the genocide.

In return, Rwanda expelled the French ambassador, closed French schools and intensified its efforts to join the Commonwealth.

The report states that France knew that the genocide was likely to take place but failed to act. French military advisers worked closely with the Rwandan government in the years leading up to 1994.

Those advisors helped draw up battle plans and military strategy for the Rwandan armed forces, including elite units which are accused of being among the first to start the killings, the report said.

The French suggested a program to arm civilians to protect against opposition rebels, and then went on to train volunteers. These militia formed the core of the later genocidal infrastructure.

Training and funding was also given to a department of Rwanda’s national intelligence services on how to establish a computerised database of people’s tribes, which was later used to draw up a “kill list” of Tutsis.

Once the genocide had started, on April 6, 1994, France sent arms to support the genocidal government, according to the report, which heard from 120 witnesses since it was set up by President Kagame in 2006.

On five occasions during May 1994, an unmarked Boeing 707 landed at the airport in the then Zairean town of Goma, which lies on the border with Rwanda.

Each time, up to 18 tonnes of weapons believed to be from Eastern Europe were unloaded and driven into Rwanda, witnesses told investigators.

One senior Rwandan official spent 27 days in Paris as the genocide was taking place, to “accelerate” six arms deliveries worth more than £2.5 million.

“Considering the gravity of the alleged facts, the Rwandan government enjoins competent authorities to undertake all necessary actions in order to bring the French political and military accused leaders to answer for their acts before Rwandan justice,” the report concludes.