KIGALI, (The Southern African Times) – Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame officially received the report of the Commission on France’s role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
French historian Vincent Duclert handed it over to Kagame on Friday, April 9.This follows the release of the report in Paris, France on March 26, which was welcomed by the Government of Rwanda saying it was a step in the right direction.
The team of experts and researchers was commissioned in 2019 by French President Emmanuel Macron to probe the then French government’s role in the 1994 Genocide in which over a million people were killed.
At the time, a government statement indicated that the report represents an important “step towards a common understanding of France’s role in the 1994 Genocide”, something that Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr. Vincent Biruta, reiterated on Friday.
Biruta also noted that the current French government has taken a major step in making a bold decision to try and establish clarity about the European country’s role in Rwanda’s dark past.“This report shows a clear role of France in Rwanda in the period between 1990 and 1994 and especially shows the role of French leaders in 1994 during the Genocide against the Tutsi. There are leaders during that period that played a role,” Biruta said.
“It is therefore an important report regarding the relations between the two countries because it means that both countries can build a better relationship based on a common and clear understanding of the truth about what really happened.”
Recently, the French government also moved to make public about 8,000 archives including some that were previously classified.
