Open letter to President of the French Republic

Dear Mr President, January 27, the day of the commemorations of the Holocaust and of the Roma genocide, you were, at the Memorial of the Shoah, and then by the site of the camp of Auschwitz. Your presence was just. You have pronounced strong and rightful words on these matters. April 24, the day of the one hundredth commemoration of the Armenian genocide, you will be in Yerevan. There is no doubt that you will once again find the words at the height of the event. April 7, the day of the commemorations of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994, which left more than a million people dead between April and July, you will not be present. You will not speak about the truth. You will not engage with the path of clarity, what your predecessor had begun to trace on speaking of the “grave errors of judgement, [of] a form of blindness” in Rwanda, particularly by France, and in creating the genocide and crimes against humanity pole at the Tribunal of Grande Instance of Paris. It is, therefore, the silence that for the past 21 years has persisted in the official French discourse; this silence, which lead to the cancelation of the official representation of France at the 20th anniversary of the Genocide last year. ‘The indifference’ Mr President, why such different approaches concerning these genocides, these crimes against humanity that, by definition, concern all of us? Why the silence? It is this silence and not the enunciation of the historic truth that dishonors our country. It is not “France” that is in question in the genocide against the Tutsi, but a handful of people, from the right as well as the left, responsible at the highest level of the state apparatus during the second term of François Mitterrand. Certain individuals, who led secret politics, continue to play a role on the political stage and are still present in our institutions. These politics, which have never been discussed in Parliament and even less so before the French public, took the shape of political, diplomatic and military support in Paris for the extremist “Hutu Power” movement, before, during and after the genocide; of whom the French state apparatus was aware of its racist, totalitarian and genocidal (character). Silence against democracy Whilst the knowledge of these facts is established, based in official documents, journalistic investigations, historic research and the 1998 report by the French Parliamentary Commission on Rwanda, the official silence on the Genocide against the Tutsi, in particular, on the responsibility of a handful of former French high officials, reaches the fundamental pillars of democracy: 1. Justice, above all, since France provides shelter with impunity for a number of people highly suspected of committing genocide crimes. We put great trust in the justice system to say if the responsibility of these people and of certain French people make them guilty, but it is high time that France acts vigorously. 2. Transparency of the operation of political power, followed by a necessary conditioning of the democratic character of our institutions, which does not exist as the relationship between leaders and citizens is not marked with the seal of truth. 3. Equality, which is martyred when racism hits. Colonial representations crippled by racism, which explain, in part, the secret politics put in to place by certain French people and their indifference towards genocide in Africa withstand. For the relationship between France and Africa, as among the French, of which certain ascendants had emigrated from Africa, this is a burning issue. Finally, the possibility to look towards the future, particularly for the younger generation, from both here and there. It has been 21 years since incredible violence descended upon the Tutsis in Rwanda. Whilst thousands of kilometres from Paris, the survivors weep for those who they lost, on the hills or in the heart of their towns, they need the enunciation of the truth in order to raise their heads a little, to appease the immeasurable pain, to continue to live, or to survive. Mr President of the Republic, for the sake of France and the French people, you must put an end to this silence, and announce with clarity the truth about the genocide against the Tutsis in in Rwanda in 1994. We the undersigned: Benjamin Abtan, president of the European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM); Bernard Kouchner, former minister for foreign affairs; Noël Mamère, MP, mayor of Bègles; Richard Prasquier, vice-president of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah; and Guillaume Ancel, former soldier involved in the ‘Turquoise Operation.’ Others include Cécile Duflot, MP; Former Minister for Territorial Equality and Housing Charles Habonimana; President of the Group of the former student survivors of the genocide - GAERG (Rwanda) Marie Darrieussecq; Writer Dominique Sopo; President of SOS Racisme Pascal Bruckner; Essayist and novelist Benjamin Stora; Roberto Romero, Vice-President of the Paris Ile-de-France Region; Danielle Auroi, president of the Commission of European Affairs of the National Assembly Jean de Dieu Mirindi; President of the Association the students survivors of the genocide (AERG); C215 street artist Sonia Rolland; Actress and Director Laura Slimani; and Marcel Kabanda, president of Ibuka. Fanélie Carrey-Conte, MP; Sergio Coronado, MP; Rosalie Salaun; Lucas Nédelecand Nina Lejeune, spokesperson of the Federal Secretary and Member of the Executive Board of the Young Ecologists; ElieChouraqui, film maker; Brigitte Allain, MP; NordineIdir, secretary-general of the Movement of the Young Communists; and Patrick de Saint Exupéry, journalist and writer. Eva Sas, MP, Géraldine Guilpain, president of the Young Centre Left; Hélène Dumas, historian; Laurence Abeille, MP; Yannick Piquet, president of the Young Socialists of Belgium; Yves Ternon, historian; Jean-Louis Roumegas, MP, Sacha Reingewirtz, president of the French Union of Jewish Students; and Gaël Faye, author, composer, singer, slamer. Corentin Durand, president of the National High-school Students Union; Christine Priotto, mayor of Dieulefit; ZoïaGuschlbauer, president of Independent and Democratic Federation of High-schools; Frank Demaumont, mayor of ChalettesurLoing; Dafroza Gauthier and Alain Gauthier, co-Presidents of Collective Civic Parties for Rwanda; and Pap Ndiaye, historian and professor at Sciences Pro. Anetta Kahane, chairperson of Amadeu Antonio Stiftung (Germany); Sylvie Coma, journalist, DjordjeBojovic, spokesperson of Youth Initiative for Human Rights (Serbia); Catherine Coquio, professor and president of the association for research on crimes against humanity and genocides; Mario Mazic, director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (Croatia); and Louis de GonzagueMunyazogeye, president of the Rwandan Diaspora of Switzerland. Daniel le Scornet, former president of Mutual of France and former member of the Economic Committee and Social European; Marian Mandache, director of RomaniCriss (Romania); and Levent Sensever, spokesperson of DurDe! (Turkey). editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Open letter to President of the French Republic