Different reports indicate that France was aware of the plan of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, supplied arms to the government which planned and executed genocide, declined to rescue Bisesero residents and provided passage for fleeing genocide perpetrators among others.
During a press conference yesterday, President Paul Kagame revealed that he has talked enough on the role of foreign countries in genocide.
During the 20th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, Kagame talked on the role of France, Belgium and Catholic Church in genocide and said “Les faits sont têtus.” A message he reproduced in English at the 25th commemoration on Sunday saying “The facts are stubborn.”
Speaking to the media yesterday, President Kagame said it is not necessary to repeat the same thing over time.
“Once you have stated the facts that live on as long as the problem lives on, does it makes sense that I have to keep repeating it? Because if I have said it more than once or twice, then you assume it was for the purpose of reminding people but you can’t just keep reminding people. Sometimes you give them room to think for themselves,” he noted.
Commenting on people who have asked whether what Rwanda needs from France or anybody else has been an apology, Kagame said it is not true.
“You can’t ask people to apologize or keep asking them to apologize or tell them how to apologize. That after all kills the whole meaning of an apology. For an apology to have meaning, it must come from somebody who is apologizing,” he said.
“You can’t ask the person who is offended whether he needs an apology or not. What would be the meaning of an apology extracted by somebody who deserves an apology? If you put all these things together you will realize that it is up to anyone. It is up to France, individuals to write the wrong they think they would agree they have inflicted on other people. This has been our approach,” added Kagame.
He, however, noted that it is not to deny the fact that the presence of Macron to the office because there has been very significant progress in terms of complicated environment of politics and all kinds of things.
“We still make progress from things that you know that happened including the way archives have been treated, being treated because they contain truth that people can make interpretation of. Thinking about bringing up the truth even making one step, next day two, all the steps required is good progress and we have seen that happening,” highlighted Kagame.
He also lauded the commission set up by Macron to investigate France role in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
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