French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged France’s role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, stating that France and its allies could have stopped the slaughter but lacked the will to do so. Macron’s office announced that he will release a video on social media ahead of Rwanda’s 30th anniversary of the genocide, where he will discuss France’s responsibility in the killings of over 800,000 people, mainly ethnic Tutsis and Hutus who tried to protect them.
During a visit to Rwanda in 2021, Macron recognized France’s “responsibility” in the genocide but stopped short of apologizing. Rwandan President Paul Kagame indicated that a new chapter had begun in France-Rwanda relations following French efforts to repair ties between the two countries. The Rwandan government has long accused France of “enabling” the genocide, leading Macron to commission a report on France’s role before and during the genocide and to open the country’s archives from that period to the public.
Macron’s video on Sunday will highlight that the international community had the means to intervene when the genocide began, based on knowledge of previous genocides like the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust. He will reaffirm France’s commitment to Rwanda and its people, in memory of the one million victims who were killed simply for being Tutsi. The French president will not be present at the genocide commemoration in Rwanda, but Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné will represent France.
In recent years, France has increased efforts to arrest and prosecute genocide suspects, including a Rwandan doctor who was sentenced to 24 years in prison by a Paris court in December. This was the sixth case related to the Rwandan genocide to come to trial in France in the past decade. Macron’s acknowledgment of France’s role in the genocide and his efforts to investigate and address the country’s past actions demonstrate a willingness to confront difficult historical truths and to work towards reconciliation and justice. The video release and France’s continued commitment to remembering the victims of the genocide serve as reminders of the importance of acknowledging and learning from past atrocities to prevent future ones.
