allies who were facing trial at the ICTR , as revealed by the investigative journalist Linda Melvern . They pushed for the trying of RPF leaders in the same court that was trying genocidaires , and when these efforts failed they re-emerged in the form of the “ mapping report ” for the DRC conflict . Imagine the absurdity of having people who had fled the crime scene and evacuated their dogs , some of whom provided military and intellectual support to the genocidaires , insisting on trying RPF leaders ! None of these cowards would , for instance , entertain the idea of trying in the Nuremberg court leaders of the western alliance that brought down the Nazi regime .
Today , the two fabrications unrepentant French politicians relied on to wage their war against Rwanda ’ s current political dispensation have completely crumbled under the relentless assaults of associations representing the interests of genocide survivors , as well as those of conscientious journalists and historians both in Rwanda and France . Their noble struggle to preserve the memory and clarity around the events that started in 1959 and culminated in the 1994 tragedy has compelled the French government to recognize its “ overwhelming responsibilities ” in the genocide against the Tutsi . The Duclert Report , the result of a commission set up by President Macron , has revealed that French politicians had always known , through their intelligence services , that the genocidaires – whose interim government was formed at the French embassy in Kigali in April 1994 – were behind the downing of the plane that served as a pretext for executing their plan to exterminate Tutsis . The Report , moreover , discredited the myth of double genocide , which the President of the commission termed “ an intellectual swindle ”. Despite these developments , the US and UK governments continue to willingly entertain ambiguity around the genocide – something even the complicitous French have finally come to terms with .
An assault on Rwanda ’ s reconciliation process
France always conceived reconciliation in Rwanda as the accommodation of Hutu Power in the country ’ s politics . Its actions were aimed at undermining Rwanda ’ s capability to chart a new path . On the other hand , the RPF understood that in order to create an environment inhospitable for the recurrence of genocide , it would have to deny space to any political movement whose ideological orientation espoused or accommodated the Hutu Power .
Because such an environment excluded Hutu Power proponents – France ’ s allies – from the political landscape , reconciliation on RPF terms was seen as an obstacle to France ’ s ambitions that could only be achieved through the infamous divide and rule logic : the division of Rwandans . With these competing visions for Rwanda ’ s society ,
France and the RPF were always headed for a collision .
Moreover , the remembrance of those who were killed for opposing the extermination of the Tutsi during genocide commemorations is a testament to this commitment to craft a new Rwanda in which “ Ndi Umunyarwanda ,” a call for unity that transcends ethnicity , represents a shield against recurrence . In other words , real reconciliation can only espouse the values of the martyrs and heroes who died in defence of the indivisible Rwandan nation .
Similarly , anyone opposing clarity around historical facts ruled by the ICTR to be “ beyond dispute and not requiring proof ” suggests that these martyrs – who constituted the internal obstacle ( to the genocidal project ) that had to be removed – died in vain and that the values they were defending are not worth emulating .
If the UK and U . S were committed to supporting healing and reconciliation in Rwanda , their position would align with that of the martyrs who are remembered on the 13th April rather than lend support to genocide deniers . Indeed , support to healing and reconciliation can only be reflected in the terminology we use to describe what the martyrs opposed : the genocide against the Tutsi .
Consequently , the US and UK governments – whose denialist position is hailed by genocide
24