“Rwanda’s foreign minister’s message today is a key step in bringing our two countries closer together,” a French presidential adviser told reporters on Monday in response to the Rwandan report.
Since the genocide, critics of France’s role have said that then-President Francois Mitterrand failed to prevent the massacres or even supported the Hutu-led government that orchestrated the crimes.
“The French government bears a significant responsibility for allowing a predictable genocide,” the Rwandan government wrote in its report published on its main website. The report was prepared by Robert F. Muse and the Washington, DC law firm Levy Firestone Muse LLP, which was hired by Rwanda to investigate France’s role in the genocide.
Rwanda’s report comes on the heels of a similar report by the French commission launched in March, which said France was blinded by its colonial attitude towards Africa towards the events that led to the genocide and therefore assumes responsibility for “serious and overwhelming ”.
The Commission removed France from complicity in the genocide.
“Finally, this report cannot be the last word on the role of the French government in Rwanda. This word will come after the French government publishes all its documents and allows all its officials to speak freely,” the statement said. report.
Earlier this month, France said it would open the Rwandan archives of former French President Francois Mitterrand as part of an effort to better understand the nation’s role in the African country during the genocide.