Victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide at the Genocide Memorial in
Nyamata, inside the Catholic church where thousands were slaughtered.
PHOTO | SIMON MAINA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
By EDMUND KAGIRE
In Summary
- The list released by the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG) is likely to escalate the row between Kigali and Paris, in the wake of the reopening of investigations by France into the shooting down of a plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana.
- CNLG further says the French military officers must be charged.
Rwanda has released a list of 22 senior French army officers
it says knowingly aided the planning and execution of the 1994 Genocide
against the Tutsis.
The list released by the National Commission for the Fight
Against Genocide (CNLG) is likely to escalate the row between Kigali and
Paris, in the wake of the reopening of investigations by France into
the shooting down of a plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana.
The move to revive the probe has angered Rwanda, which has threatened to sever diplomatic ties with Paris.
In a detailed report issued Monday, CNLG named 22 senior French
officers who were operating in Rwanda at the time of the genocide and
reportedly had a direct hand in the massacre.
CNLG further says the French military officers must be charged.
“French actors were involved in the genocide both as
perpetrators and accomplices, and do not want their acts to be known
despite their proofs.
“This is the biggest cause explaining the persistent refusal of
the French authorities to validate the ballistic investigation by French
experts in Rwanda in 2010 which indicated that missiles were fired from
Kanombe military barracks,” the report says.
The French officers include Generals Jacques Lanxade, Christian
Quesnot, Jean-Pierre Huchon, Jean-Claude Lafourcade; Colonels Gilbert
Canovas, Jacques Rosier, Didier Tauzin, René Galinié and Bernard Cussac.
Others are Colonels Dominique Delort, Jacques Hogard, Jacques
Rosier, Patrice Sartre, and Lieutenant Colonels Michel Robardey,
Jean-Jacques Maurin and Eric De Stabenrath.
More officers include Captains Etienne Joubert, Paul Barril and
Commanders Grégoire De Saint Quentin, Denis Roux and Marin Gillier, all
of whom Kigali says there is enough evidence to show that French
officers and politicians committed very serious crimes in Rwanda.
Rwanda and France continue to trade accusations over the events
that led up to the genocide, with Kigali maintaining that the French,
who were the main allies of President Habyarimana's government, abetted
the killings.
The two countries also disagree on who downed the plane, which
is perceived to have triggered the killings. French judges in 2012
appeared to support the view that Hutu extremists downed the plane,
seemingly settling the six-year diplomatic standoff.
Failure to act
According to the report, General Jacques Lanxade, who was
the army chief of staff and Gen Christian Quesnot, the special chief of
staff of President Mitterrand, failed to act on intelligence they
received concerning the genocide.
“The French army under Jacques Lanxade played, in Rwanda between
1990 and 1994, the role of a real occupation force, involved in serious
crimes.
“As supreme commander of the army, Jacques Lanxade received
reports of abuses by the Rwandan army, its massacres, its discriminatory
and genocidal policy, but he maintained increased assistance to this
criminal army,” the report indicates.
The 82-year old who has since retired from service is accused of
providing equipment, logistical and personnel support for the training
and development of the Rwandan army at the time. He reportedly approved
all French operations in Rwanda.
Gen Lanxade and Gen Quesnot are said to have maintained
unwavering support for President Habyarimana despite knowledge of the
massacre.
'Fascist' party
On April 29, 1994, three weeks into the genocide, Gen Quesnot is
said to have written extremely offensive words about the RPF, which he
described as the most “fascist” party he has met in Africa, and
occasionally demonised the rebel group that would eventually end the
genocide.
Quesnot and his assistant Gen Jean-Pierre Huchon are said to
have worked together to deliver arms, munitions and military equipment
to the then government forces before and during the genocide.
“These weapons were used to carry out massacres of innocent
civilians killed by the army and paramilitary militias,” the report
states.
Lt Col Michel Robardey, another senior French officer who came
to Rwanda in 1990 and left in April 1994, allegedly led a team of four
French gendarmes who developed a system called "Criminology", a
computerised data system containing lists of wanted persons, primarily
Tutsi and Hutu political opponents who would be subjected to torture.
The list also includes people like Grégoire De Saint Quentin,
Colonel Dominique Delort and Captain Paul Barril, whose names have been
echoed many times in regard to the Rwandan genocide.
File charges
According to Jean Damascene Bizimana, the CNLG executive
secretary, the Government of Rwanda should proceed and file charges
against the officers, whose role was ‘explicit and well documented’.
Efforts to get a comment from the Prosecutor General Richard
Muhumuza were futile by press time, but the Minister of Justice Johnston
Busingye said that the revelations should interest Rwanda to press
ahead.
“I have seen the document and it looks detailed to the bit. The
revelations are a point of serious contention, which the Prosecution
should pick interest in and pursue,” said Mr Busingye.
All the accused officers are still alive but in advanced age.
The list is the latest point of contention between Rwanda and
France. The two countries have had a tumultuous relationship over the
last 22 years. Paris is yet to react to the new development
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