Senior French officials were involved in the 1994 Rwanda genocide and should be put on trial, according to a 500 page Justice Ministry report recently released. The Rwandan report is said to provide evidence that France was aware of and participated in pr
Senior French officials were involved in the 1994 Rwanda genocide and should be put on trial, according to a 500-page Justice Ministry report recently released.
The Rwandan report is said to provide evidence that France was aware of and participated in preparations for the genocide, and even participated in crimes. At a news conference, Rwanadan President Paul Kagame said he has evidence of French complicity.
From June to August 1994, France conducted Operation Turquoise. While France maintains that the operation was humanitarian, the Rwandan government has accused France of supplying arms and training to the Hutu tribe extremists responsible for the genocide.
The United Nations estimates that 800,000 Tutsi tribe members and moderate Hutus were killed by ethnic Hutu extremists over the course of 100 days in 1994.
“The French support was of a political, military, diplomatic and logistic nature,” the report said. Among those listed in the report are 33 French former political and military officials, and former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and late President Francois Mitterrand.
The government will decide whether or not to take legal action against France, which has denied the charges.
Special to the NNPA from GIN
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