Rwanda : Call to probe French role in Rwanda genocide

December 13, 2017
| Report Focus News

A United States report has recommended a full investigation into France’s role in the Rwandan genocide should be carried out.

The Muse Report, commissioned by the Rwandan government, concluded senior French officials “were aware of and aided the actions and goals of both the Habyarimana government and the génocidaires who seized power after at the inception of the genocide against the Tutsi”.

It also accused France of “interfering with efforts to achieve truth and justice for the victims”.

France is accused of missing or ignoring the warning signs, and of training the soldiers and militiamen who carried out the killings.

An estimated 800,000 Rwandans, mostly Tutsis, were killed between April and June 1994, in the space of 100 days.

Relations between France and Rwanda have been strained since the mass killings.

At the centre of the dispute is the role of France as a close ally of the Hutu nationalist government of Juvenal Habyarimana prior to the mass killings.

Rwanda has previously accused France of ignoring or missing warning signs and of training those who carried out the killings.