France Cannot Forget Its Complicity in Rwanda

This is not an appeal. This is a memorandum; it is a statement to make note of facts that have been forgotten, or ignored. While this could have been a story about my own experience in the Rwandan Genocide, I do not want my words to be dismissed as another African testimony of the sort that I too often see devalued and discredited. Let me start at the beginning. Centuries ago, a peaceable people, who lived in present day Rwanda, were radically divided at the behest of foreign governments. First it was Germany, who governed by indirect rule. Then it was Belgium, who developed a system of governance based on ethnicity. Then it was France, whose role I discuss here. These governments brought ideas of difference, of “otherness.” In 1994, these same ideas were used to fuel a genocide, one in which children would be orphaned, and a million lives would be lost in a matter of weeks.
For twenty years Rwandans have come forward to testify that French militia were present in the Genocide, and committed acts of genocide, such as rape and murder, during this time. Testimonies to this effect have been recorded by the Rwandan Genocide Commission and have been put on display at various Genocide memorial sites in Rwanda. They have been brought forward to the international community, but to no avail. The testimonies of an entire nation have been devalued.
We, as Rwandans, understand this. We are all too familiar with this kind of racism. A subtle racism that only exists between the West and Africa, the colonizer and the colonized. The kind of racism in which the African mind is perceived to be incapable of knowing, and feeling. One where the stories told by a more influential nation take precedence over those of a lesser one, even in the face of astounding evidence.
Over the years, the French government has had multiple responses to these claims. In a 2007 article, The Guardian reports that former French president Mitterrand assisted the 1994 Rwandan regime with ammunition and soldiers, while at the same time flying out high government officials into France for refuge. In this article, former President Mitterrand responds with: “ In such countries, genocide is not important”. This was also reported by Le Figaro in a 1998 publication. In a recent interview with Radio France International, former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner confirms that French government officials did train the militia who committed acts of genocide, and continued to supply weapons to these soldiers even after the killings began.
Earlier this week, the BBC published an article reporting that France had decided to pull out of a Rwandan commemoration event because they believe that continued discussion of France’s role in the genocide impedes reconciliation efforts. The BBC also reported that France had denied allegations of their involvement in the genocide. As has been the case since 1994, we see here that the French government demands to determine the criteria of reconciliation and seeks to write a history that overlooks their role in the genocide. This, I believe, is a disregard for human life.
Scholars say that the Rwandan Genocide had many causes, the extent of which cannot be elucidated in this short article. They discuss ethnic tensions, the existence of a minority and a majority and the power differentials between them. They deliberate on the politics that were involved. Nevertheless, they fail to mention their role—or lack thereof—in the genocide and its aftermath. Where were the scholars during colonialism? Where were the learned when Rwanda sought justice? Where are they today, when even the basic facts of the genocide remain obscured?
Rwanda is not a singular case; we have seen the international community and the academy allow powerful nations to erase the stories of weaker ones before and since. However, I must ask: can we do better?
Despite the appalling actions of the French government, Rwanda continues to rebuild. Its people have chosen to remember the Genocide prudently and entirely. They are trying to break free of poverty and return to peace. They are writing their own story, and this reflection is the beginning of just that.
Image Credit: BBC News