Rwandan lawmakers are studying a Bill that accuses France of ”misunderstanding and downplaying” the 1994 genocide in which, according to Kigali, about one million people, mostly minority Tutsis, were killed.
The draft law paves the way for the creation of a commission to examine France’s role in the 100-day killing spree that was masterminded and carried out by a Hutu government that enjoyed strong support from Paris.
The text of the Bill explains that the commission will in particular look at ”the role France had and continues to have in … misunderstanding and downplaying the 1994 genocide … by fighting the government set up after the genocide”.
The Bill was approved by Cabinet in July, but its text has only just been made public.
Rwanda’s Tutsi-led government, in power since July 1994, has frequently accused Paris of having trained and armed those who carried out the genocide, who were mostly from the Hutu community that makes up 84% of Rwanda’s population.
France has always denied any involvement in the Rwanda massacres, and a French parliamentary commission in 1998 cleared France of responsibility for the genocide while admitting to ”strategic errors”. — Sapa-AFP