According to French researcher François Graner, the archives of former French President Francois Mitterand already consulted prove the complicity of French leadership in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, French newspapers have revealed. In 2015, Graner began a legal battle to gain access to all of the documents on French policy on Rwanda from 1990, left by the then French President, Mitterrand, in the national archives. The State Council granted him access in June 2020 and his report is expected around April this year, according to sources. But French media is already awash with bits of information on what his report will contain. Dr Jean-Damascène Bizimana, Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), on Monday, January 18, told The New Times that for us we are waiting for the final report. According to French newspaper, Le Monde, which has reported matters around the researchers discoveries, top French officials, altered information sent to Paris as the Genocide was happening. The newspaper notes that before the Genocide, Paris was receiving regular, clear and alerting messages about the situation as it evolved. A document dated February 6, 1991, Le Monde reported, proves this. Jacques Pelletier, French Minister for Cooperation, it is reported, is one of the people who did not hide his anguish. Mr. President, the situation in Rwanda worries me more and more, Pelletier wrote to Mitterrand. President Habyarimana does not guarantee the openness that he has been advised on several occasions ... The government modifications seem to favor elements hostile to discussions with the rebels [of the RPF]. Mme Habyarimana and her clan [around the first lady has formed a political and financial circle made up of Hutu extremists called the Akazu] have taken things in their hands ... If this development continues, I fear that the regime will not be able to last very long. Here the document is referring to Agathe Kanziga Habyarimana, the wife to Habyarimana and key architect of the Genocide who currently lives in France. Mitterrand was president in France during the 1994 Genocide and was particularly close to ex-President Habyarimana. The European country stands accused of aiding the genocidal regime at the time and often having a direct hand in the Genocide. Mitterrrand died in 1996. In April, last year, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote a letter to survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi In the letter which was addressed to Ibuka-France president Etienne Nsanzimana, Macron reminded survivors “of his commitment” to make sure the Genocide against the Tutsi takes its full place “in our collective memory.” In April 2019, Macron appointed a team of researchers and historians to look into archives of France’s actions in Rwanda during the 1994 Genocide, a move then received with mixed reactions, in Kigali.
