Home » Macron admits some of France’s faults in the Rwandan genocide – Pierre Haski

Macron admits some of France’s faults in the Rwandan genocide – Pierre Haski

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The last word fell to Paul Kagame, Rwandan president and former leader of the revolt against which France was engaged at the time of the Tutsi genocide. Speaking of French President Emmanuel Macron’s lack of apology in his May 27 speech in Kigali, Kagame replied: “The speech itself is an act of immense courage, it has more value than an apology.”

Naturally there is a certain disappointment among the associations of survivors of the genocide and among all those in France who hoped for total repentance. But in the end the choreography of this Franco-Rwandan appointment was signed by Kagame, and his word has enough weight to close the debate: not that of history, which will continue its path and perhaps reveal other truths, but the one among the two states, France and Rwanda, who wanted to turn the page on a dark past.

Macron gave a very nuanced speech, taking inspiration from the Duclert report drawn up by the commission of French historians which had access to the archives hitherto classified as a state secret. According to the report, France is not complicit but shares some responsibility for what happened before, during and after the genocide of the Tutsis, which cost the lives of 800,000 people.

A Euro-African policy
Kagame is a skilled tactician, and he refused to normalize relations with France until a real political process was initiated. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s first attempt was unsuccessful. When Macron was elected, Kagame immediately understood the role that memory played in the vision of the new president and decided when to turn the page.

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Kagame recently told Jeune Afrique magazine: “We have done 85-90 percent of the work to normalize the situation, and I think we need to focus on the remaining 10-15 percent. We will build starting from what we have accomplished and then we will move on to something else ”. By “other” he means the creation of a Euro-African policy in which France and Rwanda occupy the central positions.

This pragmatism favored Macron, who was able to follow his beloved political line of “complexity” (at the same time): on the one hand, a sincere and unpleasant look at a serious fault of France, on the other the desire not to suffer the barrage of the opponents of repentance and of the Mitterrand clan (president at the time of the genocide).

Can this method be applied to other similar situations? It certainly doesn’t work with Algeria, the other big issue opened by the president. The report commissioned from the historian Benjamin Stora, in fact, met a wall in Algiers, not because of its content (even in that case there was no excuse) but because of the power games and the exploitation of the war of independence.

Is it right to follow this path of memory that does not obtain consensus in France to face complex diplomatic situations? Yes, because the historical wounds of which France is often unaware weigh on the present and the future. With Algeria but also with the former colonies in Africa these problems emerge without warning.

It would be easier to hide everything under the carpet of denial, but the example of Rwanda demonstrates to what extent such a meaningful event cannot disappear on command. The exercise is risky, it is disturbing, but after looking the story in the face you come out strengthened.

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(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)

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