FRANCE TRYING TO COVER UP ITS ROLE IN GENOCIDE
Alfred Ndahiro
New Vision, Uganda
Dec 14 2006
Rwanda’s decision to sever diplomatic relations with France continues
to be a subject of animated discussion among those who have an interest
in the political evolution of Rwanda, and the proxy war that France has
waged since the defeat of the Interahamwe extremists who masterminded
the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The recently published report by Judge Jean-Louis Bruguière, now
discredited by most legal experts and even those he claims to be his
informers, can only be construed as a facet of that proxy war.
>>From the time of the downing of the plane carrying Habyarimana
and his Burundian counterpart, credible commentators and analysts
concluded that extremists in the Habyarimana government, with the
help of the French army, brought down the plane.
Yet, Judge Bruguière brushes this aside and instead indicts the
leadership of Rwanda and senior aides of the Rwandan president. In
so doing, Bruguière aims to cover the role of the French government,
by intimidating Rwandans and attempting to divert them from their
effort to unearth the truth about French involvement in Rwanda.
The following are but a few of the facts that Judge Bruguière knows
but chooses to ignore: At the time of the plane crash, the entire
airport and the surroundings were under the control of the French
soldiers and the then Rwandan presidential guard.
When soldiers of the United Nations peace-keeping force in Rwanda
attempted to reach the scene of the plane crash, they were blocked
and prevented from accessing it by those same forces. That is how
the whereabouts of the black box have remained a mystery to-date,
although French officials admitted having it, at some stage.
France trained, armed, and fought alongside the former Rwandan forces
before, during, and after the 1994 genocide, just as its soldiers
trained the Interahamwe militias.
The Rwandan Patriotic Army fought and single-handedly stopped the
genocide.
France continues to harbour and give sanctuary to the architects
of the Rwandan genocide, including Agathe Habyarimana, Fr Wenceslas
Munyeshyaka, and others, who masterminded the carnage.
Judge Bruguiere’s so-called evidence is based on false testimonies
provided by genocide fugitives and Rwandan dissidents who aim to
use it either to deny the occurrence of the Rwandan genocide or to
advance their misguided goals and justify their applications for
political asylum.
The French government has never come to terms with the regime change
in Rwanda and have worked ceaselessly towards achieving their hope
that some day, their former proteges would be reinstated.
In ignoring the above facts, Judge Bruguière’s injudicious project
serves to advance the broader political enterprise and hidden agenda
of the French government.
All this, however, is beginning to crumble, and many legal experts
and his alleged informers are distancing themselves from his findings.
One such alleged informer, quoted in his report, is Emmanuel
Ruzigana. In a letter addressed to Bruguière on November 30, Ruzigaza
draws the attention of the judge to the fact that he was forcefully
picked from the airport in Paris and taken to Bruguière’s office by
his members of staff on March 29, 2004.
In Bruguière’s office, Ruzigana was questioned as to whether he
belonged to the "Network Commando" and whether he knew the person
who shot down the Habyarimana plane. In spite of having denied both
allegations, Ruzigana appears in the judge’s report as having confirmed
the allegations.
Another of his principle informers by the name of Abdul Ruzibiza was
a nursing assistant in the north-west of Rwanda, far away from the
scene of the plane crash. How such a fellow can claim to be privy to
the plans of an operation of such sensitivity boggles the mind.
Besides, he is a convicted criminal, having stolen soldiers’ allowances
before his escape.
A third key witness, a certain Innocent Marara, claims he was privy
to RPA planning to assassinate Habyarimana in 1993. Yet Marara joined
the RPA in 1994, and not 1990 as Bruguiere claims.
The missiles Judge Bruguiere claims shot down Habyarimana’s plane
were found to have been a hoax, foisted upon the world by a French
Parliamentary mission of information. One of the launchers allegedly
used to down the plane still had its missile unfired when it was
allegedly photographed after the event.
Finally, Judge Bruguiere, without a shred of evidence, accuses key
regional leaders, including President Museveni, of being complicit
in the killing of Habyarimana, a thinly veiled political attack on
what the French call their "Anglo-saxon" enemies.
There is no doubt that France can do a lot of good for itself by
coming clean. It cannot blame Turkey for refusing to acknowledge the
genocide of the Armenians in 1915 and at the same time withhold its
own ‘mea culpa’.
In any case, France, even in its might, should have understood that the
Rwandans are a people with a proud legacy of a rich culture, history
and values. They will not allow France to subdue and subjugate them.
France should also learn that people who uphold the truth, and who
have the right cause, will always triumph. It was so when Rwandans
fought the genocidaires on the battlefield, it will be so on the
‘diplomacy-field’!
The writer is the advisor in communication and public relations in
the office of the President of Rwanda
–Boundary_(ID_6yF3HBKPO+9gDo3qzWBL6A)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
