Survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi are optimistic that Framces surprise move on Friday, June 12, to open former president Francois Mitterrands archives on the 1994 Genocide will help the world know more about the massacres in which more than one million innocent people died. Mitterrand was president in the European country during the Genocide. France is accused of aiding the genocidal regime at the time and often having a direct hand in the Genocide. Reports from France indicate that the countrys top administrative court ruled Friday that a researcher could consult former president Francois Mitterrands archives on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, ending a long legal battle over access. According to the reports, the State Council said the documents would allow the researcher, Francois Graner, to shed light on a debate that is a matter of public interest. Ibuka France is very happy that after five years of administrative battle, the State Council has finally accepted to grant an early opening of the Elysée archives on Rwanda to the researcher François Graner, a member of the association Survie, said Etienne Nsanzimana, the president of Ibuka-France. Ibuka is an umbrella body bringing together Genocide survivors. This is a huge achievement. Let us hope this is the beginning of a new chapter from which we can learn more. Graner first requested access in 2015, when the government declassified archives on Rwanda for the period 1990-95, but his request was refused. As reported, he then took the matter to courts of law but the latter upheld a law protecting presidential archives for 25 years after a leaders death. Mitterrrand died in 1996, implying they would have become available only in 2021. Protection of state secrets must be balanced against the interests of informing the public about historic events, the State Council ruled Friday. This is a victory for the law, but also for history, Graners lawyer Patrice Spinosi told AFP. Researchers like Mr Graner will be able to access president Mitterrands archives in order to fully understand Frances role in Rwanda in 1994 and 1995, he said. Lately, there have been some positive developments in Paris. In April, this 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 May 2019, the the French government declared that April 7 will be a date on which, every year, they commemorate the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. In April 2019, current French President Emmanuel 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. Beyond this annual commemoration, in his April 2020 letter, Macron noted that several measures taken last year are starting to bear their first fruits. Among others, he wrote that the historians’ committee tasked with studying French archives related to the Genocide against the Tutsi is pursuing its work “in all independence and will hand over to me a report in April 2021, which will be published.”
