Rwanda has opened criminal investigation against 20 French officials for their involvement in the 1994 genocide, some of whom could be tried in court if investigations indicate that they have cases to answer, according to a statement released by the prosecutor general’s office on Tuesday evening.
“The Office of the Prosecutor General announces the start of a formal criminal inquiry into the role of certain French Government agents and/or officials in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda,” reads the statement signed by Richard Muhumuza, Rwanda Prosecutor General. Rwanda wants to end conclusively the simmering tension with France by making those who took part in the massacre pay for their actions over a million lives, reads part of the statement. Furthermore, the prosecutor said that as investigations continue, other French government agents and/or officials may be required to assist the prosecution authority in similar ways.
Prosecution said appropriate French government officials were formally engaged.
‘‘The inquiry, for now, is focused on 20 individuals whom, according to information gathered so far, are required by the Prosecution Authority to explain or provide clarity on allegations against them, to enable the Authority to make conclusions whether the concerned individuals should be formally charged or not,” reads the statement.
Earlier this month, Rwanda Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo told local and international media that the trial against French officials suspected of committing genocide crimes will be under way, starting with a comprehensive investigation. She stressed that both the government and the militia which perpetrated the 1994 genocide in Rwanda had political and military advisors in France.
In October, a list of 22 senior French military soldiers suspected of intentionally supporting genocide preparation was released by the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG).
Ties between France and Rwanda continue to decline after France has confirmed plans to reopen inquiries into the shooting down of a plane carrying ex-genocidal regime president Juvenal Habyarimana.
Last month, while speaking at the Rwanda Judicial Year event, Rwandan President Paul Kagame warned that revisiting the case of former President Habyarimana’s plane crash would lead to diplomatic standoffs between Rwanda and France, and it will be a “showdown.” Ties between Rwanda and France were totally disintegrated between 2006 and 2009 after a French judge alleged that top Rwandan officials were involved in the shooting down of the Habyarimana ‘s plane — an incident widely seen as causing the crisis.
For years, France’s position in Rwanda during the April-July 1994 genocide has been the target of intense scrutiny and debate, with both Paris and Kigali trying to place responsibility for the genocide on the other. While Rwanda has repeatedly accused France of helping the government of the genocidal regime, allegedly arming and educating the perpetrators of the Hutu ethnic group responsible for the mass murder during the genocide, France refuted the murder charges and claimed that its forces acted to protect the civilians.