Thirty years after genocide, Rwanda's relations with France are slowly mending

France's relationship with Rwanda is gradually improving as French authorities acknowledge the country's responsibility in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which began 30 years ago this week. An estimated 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, died in the violence perpetrated by Hutus – a faction that France had a history of supporting.

After years of controversy over France's role in the bloodshed, a commission of historians appointed by Macron in 2021 returned a damning indictment.

Vincent Duclert, who led the commission, said France had been "blind" to preparations for the genocide and bore "serious and overwhelming" responsibility – findings the French government accepted.

The commission found no proof that France was directly complicit in the killings.

However in a video message, French President Emmanuel Macron said he believed France and its Western allies "could have stopped" the massacre but lacked the political will to do so.

"When the phase of total extermination against the Tutsis began, the international community had the means to know and act," he said in the message, to be published Sunday.

'Partial apologies'

After the report was published in March 2021, Macron asked Rwandans to "forgive France for its role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide".

Although Macron stopped short of an apology and denied complicity, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said the findings could pave the way for a "better" relationship.

But according to Phil Clark, professor of international politics at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, both France's responsibility and the failure of the United Nations to stop the genocide need further reckoning. 

"The French government under Macron has issued partial apologies, but nothing clear or systematic for the entire role of France in the genocide," he told RFI.

"It's a problem for Rwandan genocide survivors who are still calling for a more systematic and honest reckoning of France's role in the genocide, including reparations."  

After years of reparation demands, the Rwandan authorities have taken a step back, Clark said, with Kagame dropping his "rhetoric against France" a decade ago and new diplomatic and economic relationships developing between the two countries. 

French commemorations

Though France remains a favoured hiding place for Rwandans fleeing justice, the country has tried and convicted half a dozen people over their involvement in the killings.

Macron announced last year that a monument to the genocide is to be erected on the bank of the River Seine in Paris, close to the foreign ministry. 

Duclert said the memorial would allow "recognition of the extreme importance of the 1994 catastrophe" and highlight France's "responsibility".

Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné is representing France at this year's anniversary commemorations in Kigali, as part of a wider tour of East Africa.

In Paris, ceremonies are taking place on Sunday at the UN's cultural agency Unesco, as well as in a city park in the 13th arrondissement.

Meanwhile, the Shoah Memorial in Paris is paying tribute to the victims with an exhibition titled "Rwanda 1994, the genocide of the Tutsis", in partnership with the charity Ibuka France and the city council.

The town hall in the 18th arrondissement is also hosting a special exhibition the first week of April.