Rwandans are closely following recent developments in France. It looks Paris is turning over a new leaf with regard to its relationship with genocidaires. The Wednesday arrest of Titie Barahira is timely.Birahira, who was the mayor of Kabarondo Commune in present-day Eastern Province from 1977-1986, is accused of leading the Interahamwe attacks that killed thousands of Tutsis at Kiziguro Parish.This arrest follows a recent French court order mandating the trial of Pascal Simbikangwa, another genocidaire who sought asylum in France. It would seem that France is finally opening its eyes to the murderers living on its soil.While these two arrests are positive moves, unless French authorities move even further it will seem like merely cosmetic in nature. If France is seeking justice for Genocide victims, then they must also either extradite or try the individuals who planned the Genocide, including Agathe Kanziga Habyarimana, the head of the Akazu. It isn’t enough to try ‘small fish’ when the architects of more than a million deaths still walk free on Paris streets.These recent moves should become the start of a judicial tsunami that cleanses the stains of 1994. France abandoned the Rwandan people before. Perhaps it is time that it sided with those seeking justice. While that would not bring back those we lost, it would help us move on.
