On Monday, 19th April, a team of legal experts led by American jurist Robert F Muse from the Washington-based law firm Levy, Firestone Muse LLP, presented to the Rwandan cabinet a report on the role of France in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The report showed that the French government was neither blind nor unconscious about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and provided unwavering support to the Genocidal government that was in power at the time. The 600-page report dubbed; ‘A foreseeable Genocide: the role of the French Government in connection with the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi’ was a result of four years of research and was commissioned in 2017 by the Rwandan government. The latest findings follow a recent report by Duclert Commission which concluded that France bears heavy and overwhelming responsibilities over the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The two reports were preceded by the 2008 Mucyo Report, which implicated 33 French political and military leaders in the genocide. The reports come at a time when the country has been a victim of falsehoods and lies over the years with actors driven by an array of self-interests. It is not uncommon to come across revisionist theories advanced by genocide deniers, falsehoods by renowned and ‘respected’ institutions often aimed at avoiding blame or responsibility in situations or using the country as a pawn in a bigger scheme. International authors, publishers are at times the carriers of falsehoods and lies at times intentionally and other times misled. As a result of the lies and falsehoods, decisions have been made based on the lies leading to consequences such as genocide suspects being granted safe haven in countries around the world while extradition requests are denied. The two reports will come in handy to help thwart revisionist theories advanced by genocide deniers. The reports tear into the false narratives that have been spread for decades consequently serving to thwart lies by deniers.
