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Yesterday in Kigali, Emmanuel Macron acknowledged France’s “responsibility” in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, but made no apology. So, some are happy, others are disappointed. But what does Vincent Duclert think, the author of the report that came out two months ago and which greatly inspired the speech that the French president gave yesterday. He answers questions from Christophe Boisbouvier.
RFI: How do you react to Emmanuel Macron’s speech?
Vincent Duclert: It addresses our conclusions about France’s overwhelming responsibility in the process leading up to the genocide. It is abandonment that France is realizing Tutsi victims. He also points out strongly that France has not been able to bear the consequences of this commitment, which has led to the country being involved in a genocide. And so it is true that I congratulate myself, and the whole team that is with me, congratulates myself to this place, not only to historical truth but also to the research effort. And he announced that this research work should continue, especially with young researchers. And this affirmation of historical truth does not end with this discourse.
It is clear that in this speech we feel that Emmanuel Macron drew a lot of inspiration from your report. Are there any gaps in the same way?
I really appreciated what he said [en conférence de presse] about apology which was a much awaited topic. And I think the way in which he united the issue of excuses and clarity before the genocide is very important, and I emphasize that with genocide we do not apologize, because we can not solve the past. It is exactly necessary to live with the genocide, that is, also to have all this clarity that makes it possible to react to other genocide processes.
And at the same time, many are disappointed that there is no word “excuses“Emmanuel Macron likes to say: “Neither denial nor repentance“That’s why he did not speak?
I would say that I was struck by this reflection on the genocide of the Tutsis and I think he is really right to say that the excuses may seem inadequate to the reality of history. And what he said, I think, is also interesting when he said that it is to the survivors who carry the memory of the victims, “perhaps to give their forgiveness to France”. What does this mean? It also means that France must also live up to this possible forgiveness and therefore always face the truth and work with knowledge. I think there really was an investment in the future as well, which is very interesting and which should really make us think and that we do not stop ending this mantra “excuses or no excuses”.
Your colleague Benjamin Stora, who is a specialist in the Algerian past, has this word: “There is no point in apologizing if they are not sincere“Examples of false apologies from Japan to China, 50 years after the end of World War II. Do you think that if Emmanuel Macron had apologized, he might not have been sincere??
Having observed, since I was indeed given a mandate for this research assignment with a team, I nevertheless observed through the words written by Emmanuel Macron in the assignment letter, in the way in which he could talk about our commission, therefore in this speech, that there is sincerity . There is an undeniable risk-taking. What his predecessor did not do his predecessor: Nicolas Sarkozy had advanced in the subject. But still, in Emmanuel Macron, we must acknowledge a determination to move forward. And I think again that there is a specificity in this story, that we are facing genocide. And there is his choice to demand the pursuit of knowledge, even the pursuit of justice in the direction of the genocides, because not to stop at something that can give a feeling that everything is solved with excuses. And therefore, on the contrary, to go further and actually allow this armament of knowledge against the genocide and knowledge in particular against the genocide of the Tutsis.
Emmanuel Macron is the President of France. He is also a politician who has elections in a year. And there are, to the right of the French political spectrum, many people who believe that France has no excuses to offer for its past actions, in Algeria, in sub-Saharan Africa. Is it also to spare these people that Emmanuel Macron does not apologize?
After all, I’m a little uncomfortable with the idea that Emmanuel Macron could be suspected of being reluctant. Because, as chairman of this research commission, I saw that he had made the decision of an independent commission, which he emphasized. We were independent, we received support from beginning to end, even if it was sometimes very complicated. All the archives we looked at were open to the public, so the commitments were kept. So there was no reluctance on the subject. And moreover, our conclusions are very strongly rejected, especially by the heirs of François Mitterrand, Bernard Cazeneuve, Paul Quilès, a collective forum for the former ministers, all this … Our conclusions, he registered them, confirmed them. His first speech is to remember, to take on these overwhelming responsibilities. So I do not think he is actually making any kind of strategy to avoid being attacked on the right. And basically, what he is showing is that – and Paul Kagame says so too – the judgment of history is making nations grow. And in Algeria, in principle, perhaps the model for our committee will also be able to make progress on the issue of archives, the issue of accountability. It is still a big step forward and objectively we must emphasize this significant step that is being achieved today.
► Also reading: Emmanuel Macron in Rwanda: “I will acknowledge our responsibility”
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