France

Resumption today of the trial of the bombing of Bouaké. On November 6, 2004, 10 people were killed in the attack on the French military camp in the Licorne force by two Soukhoï planes piloted by Russian mercenaries and their Ivorian co-pilots. The court began investigating one of the gray areas of this act: the arrest of suspects in Togo, which will finally be released because France, warned, is not…

We can only hope that this will shake things up a bit. We are not completely naive and we know that defense secrets exist in practically all countries, in all democracies, but more or less in a virulent way. What we can hope for is that at least it can lead to thinking a little more about the lock. There were attempts ... There is the impression that the President of the Republic - whether in the Maurice Audin affair or for Rwanda - would like us to have easier access to documents, to archives classified as a defense…

I will not give up the issue of national memory, but I will never make this memory a business. It is a memory between two peoples and two countries. We are moving forward step by step. But I understand what the French President said. He said that what happened in Algeria (at the time of colonization) goes beyond the Holocaust. He said it. He said it was a crime against humanity. He said it. I do not doubt his sincerity. Abdelmadjid Tebboune,…

In a letter to the French authorities, a copy of which Mediapart and the Guardian had, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions accuses the French army of obstructing the UN investigation into the murders of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon in Mali. And condemns "troubled gray areas". In his letter of 30 pages…

Where will the flagship meetings of African cultures take place in digital form or face to face in March? Here are eleven suggestions. Do not hesitate to send us your "essentials" to fipageculture@yahoo.fr. The New African Film Festival of Washington DC celebrates its 17th online edition, expanded to audiences across the…

At the trial of the bombing of the French military camp Bouaké, which left ten dead on November 6, 2004, the court heard this Friday from General Destremau, former commander of the joint battle group Bouaké, and Captain Bellamy, division chief. based in Yamoussoukro. When asked why the Sukhoi pilots were not arrested when they…

The fourth day of the trial of the bombing of the French military camp Bouakéen in 2004 was marked by unparalleled information given to the bar by a soldier's widow regarding the black boxes on the planes used for the raid. The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces at the time, General Bentégeat, confirmed that the black boxes on…

French Defense Minister Florence Parly visited Mali on Thursday and defended an air strike by France in the African country earlier this year that UN investigators say killed 19 civilians attending a wedding party. The Chief of Defense's visit, which had been planned for a long time but was not made public for security reasons, came two days after the UN mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, released a report on the air strike on 3 January. The report said the strike affected a wedding celebration for…

France faced increasing calls from rights groups on Thursday to launch an investigation into an airstrike by its forces in Mali that a UN investigation said killed 19 civilians at a wedding party. UN investigators released a report on Tuesday on the January 3 strike, concluding that it had killed 19 civilians and three gunmen near the central Mali village of Bounti. France, which has more than 5,000 troops in Mali and neighboring West African countries to fight militants linked to al-Qaeda and Daesh,…

Since Monday, the Assize Court in Paris has tried three pilots and co-pilots accused of murder and attempted murder in the case of the bombing of Bouaké in Côte d'Ivoire in 2004. On Wednesday morning, "one of the 38 French soldiers injured in the bombing, one of the most seriously affected , who gave a moving testimony. With our…