ON THE first visit by a French president to Rwanda since the 1994 genocide, President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday acknowledged France made serious mistakes but stopped short of an apology for his country’s role in events leading to the killings.
Choosing his words carefully as he stood alongside President Paul Kagame in Kigali, Mr Sarkozy spoke of “errors of judgment” and insisted that France wanted those involved in the campaign that resulted in 800,000 deaths to be punished.
“There was a serious error of judgment, a sort of blindness when we didn’t foresee the genocidal dimensions of the government,” he said. “Errors of assessment and political mistakes were made here, and they led to absolutely tragic consequences.”
Diplomatic relations between France and Rwanda were restored only last November, having been severed by Mr Kagame in 2006 after a French judge issued arrest warrants for nine of his associates on suspicion of involvement in the killing of former president Juvénal Habyarimana in April 1994. The shooting down of Mr Habyarimana’s aircraft near Kigali triggered the killing of 800,000 Rwandans – the great majority Tutsis – over a three-month period.
Mr Kagame’s government strongly denies the charges. It accuses the French government, which had close ties to Habyarimana’s government, of having trained and armed extremist Hutu militias responsible for the genocide, as well as not doing enough to deport suspected genocidaires living in exile in France.
Mr Sarkozy described yesterday’s visit as an opportunity to “turn the page” on the sometimes poisonous relationship between the two states and said Mr Kagame’s invitation was “an important gesture”.
“What happened here is unacceptable,” he said. “What happened here compels the international community, including France, to reflect on the mistakes that stopped it from preventing and halting this abominable crime.”
In a reminder of the tension that lies behind the fragile rapprochement, reports suggest Mr Sarkozy stayed silent when, during a tour of Kigali’s genocide museum, a guide pointed to a display that described France as having armed and trained Rwandan military forces.
According to Le Monde, the guide then showed the French president a portrait of former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, noting: "Him, he asked for forgiveness." A Rwandan commission concluded in 1998 that France was aware of preparations for the genocide and helped train the ethnic Hutu militias which orchestrated massacres. Paris denies this, and a French parliamentary report broadly cleared it of responsibility for the deaths.
It is believed that there was some opposition in French military and political circles to Mr Sarkozy making an apology.
The president hinted as much yesterday when, asked why he had not apologised, he said he was “trying to bring France towards the future step by step . . . leaving no one behind”.
President Kagame struck a conciliatory tone at the joint press conference and stressed the economic potential of a new partnership between the two states. He also accepted Mr Sarkozy’s invitation to attend a Franco-African summit in Nice in May.
“France and Rwanda have had a difficult past, but we are here for a new partnership and relationship,” Mr Kagame said. “This visit by the French president has a strong meaning.”
On the contentious issue of genocide suspects living in France, Mr Sarkozy said that France wanted the genocidaires to be found and punished. “Are there some of them in France? That’s for the justice system to decide.”