To avoid constantly being in the situation of having to apologize in the future, France should, from today onwards, address a kind of perception of relations between politicians or the interests of more or less private French and African leaders and states.
Hatred at the heart of political life in Africa. This was what led to the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. At the launch of the celebration of the twenty-seventh anniversary of this genocide this week in Kigali, President Paul Kagame awarded France a good score. But why is he talking about a “ important step forward “, while some, in France, see the Duclert report as a decisive contribution to calming memories?
No doubt because the Rwandan authorities still expect a lot from France. While this report in Paris is sober with the title “France, Rwanda and the genocide of the Tutsis”, many in Kigali just want to see a recognition of France’s role in this genocide. Alain Juppé, the then Foreign Minister, does express regret and even remorse, but he insists that France is exempt from any involvement in the preparations or implementation of this genocide.
Should we remember that there is a real historical dispute between the two countries over what Paul Kagame continues to present as France’s responsibility in this genocide? It takes time to clear up a historical dispute, and we are never safe from a sudden setback or from a total hearing. Emmanuel Macron has given a lot. But after him, others will probably have to give, and much more!
Are you thinking of any oppositions compared to current progress?
There will inevitably be some who feel that we have already done too much. Not to mention the political families who are blocking some of the current revelations or who can block further gestures that Kigali wants. The public may not remember today the fact that this genocide took place during a cohabitation, in France, with a socialist president, François Mitterrand, a Gaullist prime minister, Édouard Balladur, and a more largely right. Within this government, the Gaullists were divided into two strongly opposed camps: on the one hand, people like Charles Pasqua and Nicolas Sarkozy, who wanted to bring Balladur to power; and on the other hand Alain Juppé and others, who remained loyal to Jacques Chirac. In addition, Foreign Minister Juppé and his Chief of Staff, Dominique de Villepin, were annoyed that in Africa they had to face a parallel diplomacy of the liveliest part of what remained of Françafrique, which Charles Pasqua then shamelessly embodied.
In Rwanda, as to a greater extent, what remained of the French pre-square in Africa, the three emotions at that time did not all aim unanimously at the same goal. It is in this that repairing faults and faults in their predecessors can prove to be “an infinite trap” – this is the title of a novel by Olympe Bhêly-Quenum – for France, in its relations with Africa.
“An infinite trap “ ? Why this expression?
Because the actions that Emmanuel Macron is exhibiting today towards Rwanda, like the ones he has already taken towards Algeria, are worthy excuses. Suffice it to say that the faults and other responsibilities attributed to France stem from the proximity of some French political leaders to the Juvénal Habyarimana regime. Other peoples on the African continent could hope for gestures identical to those made in Rwanda.
The ideal is always to avoid being in the situation of having to apologize again and again. If France does not want to exhaust itself in the future by making excuses, it is through a certain perception of the relationship between certain politicians or more or less private French interests with the regimes and African states that it will be necessary to address, starting today .
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