Paris prosecutors have launched an investigation into complaints filed against former French Military officer Paul Barril’s role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.The complaint against Barril, a former French soldier with the rank of captain, was filed on Monday, June 24, at the Tribunal De grande Instance in Paris by three human rights groups International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), French Human Rights League (LDH) and Survie.The groups want the ex-French commando to answer for his role in keeping a genocidal government in power to exterminate Tutsis.The rights groups filed the complaint on the grounds of Barril’s alleged complicity in Genocide, in particular for having concluded an agreement with the Prime Minister of the Interim Government of Rwanda, Jean Kambanda, to supply arms, ammunition, training and supervision. The decision to open a judicial investigation will make it possible for the case to be referred to an investigating judge and for an independent and in-depth inquiry to be carried out. Rwanda’s prosecution declined to comment on grounds that it would undermine investigations.However, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), Jean de Dieu Mucyo, and the president of the umbrella association of Genocide survivors’ organisations, Ibuka Dr. Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu welcomed the development saying that the French authorities have finally taken a key step towards justice. Optimistic “We remain optimistic of this new development, however, we should as well say, it’s not Barril only, there other French officials, especially those who held top military ranks during the Genocide that should be prosecuted,” he said. Barril is alleged to have been the secretive man who supplied arms and mercenaries on behalf of the French government to the Rwanda government as the Genocide against the Tutsi spread across the country in 1994. In 1994, Barril was paid US$3m by the interim government to supply arms and more than 1,000 mercenaries to keep it in power as the slaughter of Tutsis gained momentum. The contract was allegedly given to him by Kambanda, the interim Prime Minister, currently on life imprisonment in Mali for Genocide.Captain Barril was secretly sent by François de Grossouvre, advisor to ex-French President Francois Mitterrand, to Rwanda a few days before or after the Genocide had started according to the French media. On April 27, 1994, the Rwandan Defense minister at the time, Augustin Bizimana, wrote a letter to Paul Barril asking for two specific supplies; arms and mercenaries.The letter was recently obtained by French newspaper ‘Le Parisien’. In this correspondence titled “Urgent”, Bizimana asks for different types of arms and 1,000 mercenaries to help the interim government fight off the RPF rebels as the execution of the genocide continued.
