The nearly 1,200-page report from the Ducler Commission was officially handed over to Emmanuel Macron on Friday.
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Two years ago, the French president instructed about fifteen historians, gathered in a commission led by historian Vincent Duclert, to examine “the French archives relating to Rwanda and the genocide of the Tutsis” between 1990 and 1994. It stated the goal of establishing France’s role in the Rwandan genocide seems to have been achieved.
France bears “heavy and overwhelming responsibility” in the events leading up to the 1994 Tutsi genocide, according to the report’s conclusions. Paris was really strongly involved in Rwanda from the 1990s and “adapted” to the Hutu regime in the country.
The report states that “France has long invested in a regime that encouraged racist massacres. It remained blind to the preparations for the genocide “and” this adaptation to Rwandan power is the result of a will from the head of state and the presidency of the republic “.
Former French Socialist President François Mitterrand is therefore clearly identified, as is his inner circle.
The report criticizes the massive arms deliveries to the Rwandan regime. But in the archives, no researcher certifies arms deliveries after the massacres, according to the researchers. Emmanuel Macron, for his part, praised “a big step forward” in understanding France’s commitment to Rwanda.
And for the Élysée, if France has a political, institutional, intellectual, ethical and moral responsibility, it could not understand what was happening at that time.
According to the Presidency, the Duclert report therefore excludes the concept of complicity in genocide. For nowhere does he see the intention to participate or allow the genocide. The Élysée also confirms that the allegations against Operation Turquoise are also rejected.
