Macron appoints experts to investigate French action during genocide in Rwanda



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The commission will examine the period 1990-1994 as "contributing to a better understanding and a better knowledge of the genocide of the Tutsis".

The skulls of the victims of the Ntarama mbadacre during the 1994 genocide are lined up in the church of the Ntarama genocide memorial site in Nyamata, Rwanda. Image: AFP

PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday appointed a group of experts to investigate the actions of France in Rwanda during the genocide that rocked the country 25 years ago. Franco-Rwandan relations have been at stake since the 1994 mbadacres.

The commission of eight researchers and historians "will be in charge of consulting all the archives of France relating to the genocide … in order to badyze the role and the engagement of France during this period", declared the presidency. in a statement.

The commission will examine the period 1990-1994 as "contributing to a better understanding and a better knowledge of the genocide of the Tutsi," the statement said.

The results will be used in material used to teach French genocide in France, he added.

Rwanda has accused France of being an accomplice to the genocide of about 800,000 people, mainly of Tutsi ethnic origin, by its support for the Hutu-led government.

He also accuses French forces stationed in Rwanda under UN mandate of having helped some of the perpetrators of these crimes to escape, some seeking refuge in France.

Paris has always denied any complicity in bloodletting, which has long darkened Franco-Rwandan relations, leading Rwanda to sever relations for three years.

Relationships have improved over the last decade.

But Macron provoked disappointment among the survivors of the genocide by refusing an invitation to attend the genocide commemorations this weekend in Rwanda.

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