Crimes Against Humanity/Complicity in Genocide—Rwanda Investigates French Army

In response to a lawsuit filed by six survivors of a 1994 massacre of 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis, Rwandan prosecutor Jacques Baillet has opened a formal inquiry into charges against members of the French Army for complicity to commit genocide and crimes against humanity.^[1]

Although French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie has described the claims as outlandish, a Rwandan court has found claims by two of the witnesses credible enough to warrant further investigation.^[2] The survivors claim that French soldiers serving during “Operation Turquoise” in Rwanda not only failed to stop acts of violence against civilians, but actively participated in the slaughter of about 800,000 Tutsis by the majority Hutu military.^[3] These claims are distinguished from earlier allegations in their specificity and personal nature.

Operation Turquoise was a mission authorized in 1994 by then-President of France Francois Mitterand.^[4] At the height of the Operation, some 2,500 French soldiers were deployed in Rwanda to act as peace‑keepers and to train the majority Hutu military in the former French colony.^[5]

This is not the first time the role of the French military in the massacres has been investigated—in 1998, a French parliamentary committee undertook a similar investigation that stalled when most of the evidence it sought to examine was barred for reasons of national security.^[6] In 2004, the Rwandan government established an independent commission to look into the role of the French military.^[7] The French Defense Ministry is seeking to block the current investigation.^[8]

Currently, the killings that took place in Rwanda in 1994 are the subject of investigations and/or trials in Rwandan village courts, in state courts, and at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).^[9]

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[1] Rwanda Genocide Probe Eyes French Army, United Press International [hereinafter UPI], Dec. 26, 2005.
[2] Adam Sage, French Army Faces Inquiry on Genocide in Rwanda, Times Online [hereinafter Times], Dec. 26, 2005.
[3] Kim Willsher, Court to Look at French Role in 1994 Genocide, Guardian Unlimited [hereinafter Guardian], Dec. 27, 2005.
[4] Times supra note 2.
[5] Adam Sage, French “Active” in Rwanda Genocide, The Australian [hereinafter Australian], Dec. 27, 2005.
[6] Times supra note 2. See also Helen Szamuely, The Teflon Country, Free‑Market News Network, Dec. 28, 2005.
[7] Rwanda Inquiry into French Role, BBC News, Aug. 1, 2004.
[8] Times supra note 2.
[9] The village Gacaca (“grass”) is a traditional restorative justice process which includes the (sometimes mandatory) participation of both the accused perpetrators and their aggrieved neighbors. For a fascinating account of this process, see Jeevan Vasagar, Village Courts Left to Unearth the True Story of Rwanda’s Killing Fields, The Guardian, July 29, 2005. See also the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda case status information. See also Two on Trial for Rwanda Genocide, Associated Press, May 10, 2005 for a report of several cases heard in Belgium courts under universal jurisdiction law.