French historian Vincent Duclert, accompanied by members of his commission, on Wednesday, June 30, met leaders of the umbrella association of Genocide survivors, Ibuka, and presented a copy of his report which concluded that France played a key role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. After their meeting, in Kigali, Naphtal Ahishakiye, the Executive Secretary of Ibuka told The New Times that Duclert and his delegation had been in the country for about a week; visiting various places and meeting different other people and Ibuka too was on their list. The French historian and his team, Ahishakiye said, were scheduled to leave the country the same day. Ahishakiye said: On our part, we were happy meeting with them: one, there is the content in their report. Then there was meeting these experts and exchanging with them on various matters. Of course we had already read their report but now we have, officially, a new and important entry in our archives. Duclert first officially handed to President Paul Kagame the report in early April, after its release in Paris, France on March 26. His team of experts and researchers was commissioned in 2019 by French President Emmanuel Macron to probe the then French government role in the 1994 Genocide in which over a million people were killed. The government of Rwanda maintains that the report represents an important step towards a common understanding of France’s role in the 1994 Genocide. In April 2019, Macron appointed a panel of experts to probe France’s actions in Rwanda during the Genocide, a subject that, for long, hindered relations between Rwanda and France. The Duclert Commissions report, among others, concludes that France bears heavy and overwhelming responsibilities over the 1994 Genocide but makes no mention of any evidence of French complicity. The 1,200-page report concludes that the European country, led by the François Mitterrand during the Genocide, was blind to preparations of the massacres. During his recent visit to Rwanda, President Macron on May 27, sought the forgiveness of the survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, for what he admitted was his countrys historical and political responsibility in Rwanda. He delivered the speech at the Kigali Genocide Memorial - the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi where he laid a wreath and honoured Genocide victims. According to Macron, France has a duty to face history and to recognize the suffering it has inflicted on the Rwandan people by, for too long, being silent as far as facing and examining the truth is concerned.
