"
It is a big step, we must accept it
", proclaimed the Rwandan president.
In an interview with AFP and France Inter, Paul Kagame explains that he chose to recognize France's work on its role in the 1994 genocide, even if it did not result in an apology.
"
Does that answer all the questions people ask?"
I do not think so.
Do survivors have the right to challenge?
They have the right
", estimated the Head of State, affirming however that there is not, according to him, of"
miracle solution, something which will come to regulate everything
".
Read also: Between France and Rwanda, a long and painful road to reconciliation
Visiting the capital Kigali, French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed that France had “
responsibilities
”, but was “
not an accomplice
” in the tragedy which left at least 800,000 dead, mainly in the Tutsi minority.
"
Established facts
"
Beyond the visit and the words of Emmanuel Macron's speech, the Rwandan leader says he recognizes the approach he has taken in recent years, including the establishment of a commission of historians, headed by Vincent Duclert. In a report submitted at the end of March, it concluded on the "
heavy and overwhelming responsibilities
" of France and the "
blindness
" of the then socialist president François Mitterrand and his entourage in the face of the racist and genocidal drift of the Hutu government supported by Paris. A Rwandan report published a few weeks later affirms that "
the French state bears a heavy responsibility for having made possible a foreseeable genocide
".These two commissions have "
established facts
And "
say almost the same thing but in a different way
," said Mr. Kagame.
Moreover, if he does not ask for extradition, the Rwandan president places Emmanuel Macron in front of his commitment, made Thursday, that "
no person suspected of crimes of genocide can escape the work of the judges
".
"
If justice is done in France against these people, I will be happy,
" he simply said.
However, he refuses to comment on the request for the dismissal of the Paris prosecutor's office on the Bisesero massacre, where associations accuse the French army of "
complicity in genocide
".
“
It's not for me to decide,
” he says.
To read also: Rwanda: the association of survivors Ibuka regrets the absence of "apologies" from Macron
"
Lies by the hundreds
"
Some detractors of the regime believe, however, that this reconciliation comes at the expense of human rights, accusing France of remaining silent on the attacks denounced by activists and NGOs on the part of the Rwandan regime.
Accusations that the Rwandan head of state describes as "
lies by the hundreds
".
“
When it happens to other people, nobody gets involved.
When it's here, our problems have to be dealt with from the outside, or they are created from the outside,
”he criticized.
