Macron acknowledges "France's responsibility" in the Rwandan genocide but does not apologize

First, call “the tragedy by its name: genocide”. Second, “recognize the responsibilities” of France in the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis, the last genocide of the 20th century. And third, to hope that “those who went through the night can forgive, give us the gift of forgiving ourselves”. French President Emmanuel Macron took those three steps in a solemn, emotional and measured speech at the Gisozi Genocide Memorial, where the remains of 250,000 genocide victims rest.. His words were received with the silence of those present.

After naming it, Macron has characterized the Rwandan genocide: “A genocide has a genealogy, a history, a target: the murderers had a single criminal obsession, the eradication of Tutsis, of all Tutsis. A genocide is prepared to abolish the humanity of the other, it is installed through daily humiliations.. then unleashes absolute hatred, the mechanics of extermination”.

Then he has defined the role of France: responsibility, yes; complicity, no. “The assassins did not have the face of France. The blood that flowed did not dishonor our troops nor the hands of our soldiers who saw with their eyes the nameless, healed the wounds and drowned the tears.”. The metaphor describes with beautiful words the humanitarian role, although also protective of the executioners, of Operation Turquoise undertaken between June and August 1994 by France, under a UN mandate.

“But France has a role, a history and a political responsibility in Rwanda.. And the duty to look History in the face and recognize the part of suffering that it inflicted on the Rwandan people by making silence prevail over the examination of the truth”. Before, “France did not listen to the voices that alerted it” and therefore “has an overwhelming responsibility in the gear that led to the worst. (…) With humility and respect I come to recognize the breadth of our responsibilities”. Macron expressed his commitment that the suspects can be brought to justice, perhaps alluding to several dozen implicated residents in France.

“Acknowledging our responsibility is an unrequited gesture, a demand on ourselves and a debt towards the victims (…) Only those who have gone through that night can forgive and give us the gift of forgiving ourselves,” he concluded after mentioning the word three times “Diibuka” (Remember) was also read on the flower crown that he previously deposited at the monument.

Macron did not follow in the footsteps of Bill Clinton who already in 1998 did not need more than three hours in Kigali to apologize on behalf of the US. Path followed by Belgium, the UN and even the Vatican. But he has gone a little further than his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy. In the same place, in 2010, he recognized “mistakes” and a certain “blindness” of France. but did not ask for forgiveness. “I went as far as I could,” he said later.

Macron has reached the point of responsibility, as he did with regard to Algeria. Then one of his advisors explained his strategy for tackling the past (and its black pages) prudently: “It's not a matter of asking for forgiveness. Regret is vanity, recognition is truth. And the truth is acts.”

Macron commissioned a report on the genocide

To shape his vision of the role of France in Rwanda and overcome the resistance of those who still defend the innocence of Paris, Macron has resorted to his method, typical of the nerd student who has always been. He commissioned a report from a commission of 15 researchers, headed by historian Vincent Duclert. He gave them access to all the French files, those of the presidency, those of the prime minister, those of the Army and those of espionage.. The result of this was a 1,200-page report, published in March.

Macron has stuck, almost verbatim, to his conclusions: France had “serious and overwhelming responsibilities” in the last genocide of the 20th century in which 800,000 Tutsis died in an orgy of blood and hatred that lasted one hundred days. The report “discards the active complicity” of Paris: “If this is understood as the will to associate with genocidal action, nothing in the files consulted proves it.”

But it stresses that French policy towards Rwanda was a “total failure” and that it “long supported a regime that encouraged racist massacres” after “remaining blind to the preparation of genocide.”

In a chronological journey, he estimates that between 1990 and 1993 “he dispatched considerable quantities of arms and ammunition” while the massacre was incubating.. Then it remained “blind” without “abandoning the balanced condemnation of the killings committed by both sides.”

What the report does name but Macron has not mentioned in Rwanda is the person responsible for the failure: “President François Mitterrand who maintained a strong and direct relationship with the Rwandan head of state. This relationship explains the great involvement of all the Élysée services. To the concern of ministers, parliamentarians, senior officials and intellectuals, he responded with indifference, rejection or bad faith”.