Macron recognized France’s “responsibilities” …

French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged this Thursday “the responsibilities” of France in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, as part of an official visit to this African country. In its own words, France “has not been an accomplice” but has allowed “silence for too long to prevail over the examination of the truth,” the president assumed from the Kigali memorial. “Only those who have been through the night can perhaps forgive, give us the gift of forgiveness,” he added.

The long-awaited speech took place during an official visit to Rwanda, billed as the “last stage of the normalization of relations “between the two countries, after more than 25 years of tensions for France’s role in the tragedy, which left at least 800,000 dead, mostly Tutsis, between April and July 1994.

“Here today, with humility and respect, I have come to recognize our responsibilities “, Emmanuel Macron said in a speech after a visit to the genocide memorial museum.

“Recognizing this past is also and above all continue the work of justice. Commit to ensuring that no suspect of the crime of genocide can escape the work of judges, ”he added.

However, the French president said France “was not an accomplice”. The role of France before, during and after the Rwandan genocide has for years become a central theme, which has even led to the rupture of diplomatic relations between Paris and Kigali between 2006 and 2009.

Un inform de historiadores publicado en marzo y encabezado por Vincent Duclert concluded that Francia tenía “responsilidades pesadas y abrumadoras” y que el entonces presidente socialista François Mitterrand y su entorno estaban “cegados” ante la deriva racista y genocida del gobierno hutu, que París apoyaba then.