Rwanda marks genocide amid questions about France's role

Rwandans have gathered to begin a solemn commemoration of a genocide which killed some 800,000 Tutsis 25 years ago, amid new questions about France's role in the extermination.

The ceremony, expected to be attended by at least 10 heads of state in Kigali Sunday, marks the beginning of a week of events to honor those who were lynched by ethnic Hutus in a span of 100 days. 

The slaughter in 1994 began after President Juvenal Habyarimana and his counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi - both Hutus - were killed when their plane was shot down over the Rwandan capital.

Rwanda’s Tutsi minority was blamed for the crash, igniting a spree of revenge attacks across the country of 12 million that obliterated 75% of the country’s Tutsis.

Shrill broadcasts in the government media incited the killings, portraying Tutsis as dangerous. During the genocide, political and military leaders also encouraged rape to further destroy the Tutsi ethnic group.

In villages across the densely populated country, neighbor turned on neighbor as men, women and children were hacked to death, burned alive, clubbed and shot. As many as 10,000 people were killed daily.  

The fighting ended in July 1994 when a Tutsi-led rebel movement led by incumbent President Paul Kagame swept in from Uganda and seized control of the country.

The attackers of the plane, which sparked the genocide, have never been identified but Rwanda has long accused France of complicity in the massacre, allegations repeatedly denied by Paris.

Belgium — a former colonial ruler of Rwanda — has sent Prime Minister Charles Michel to the commemoration ceremony, but French President Emmanuel Macron has turned down an invitation.

Instead, Macron has sent French lawmaker Herve Berville, who lost his family during the genocide and was adopted by a French family, to attend the commemoration.

Macron’s office said in a statement on Friday that the president had appointed a commission to investigate the country’s alleged role in the genocide.

Macron explained that experts would have access to state archives, including diplomatic and military documents, and produce a public report.

The statement said eight historians and researchers will "contribute to a better understanding and knowledge" of what happened.

SS