During the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, there is no doubt that France actively tried to prop-up Habyarimana’s genocidal regime by providing arms, technical support as well as financial. They did not stop there, French troops fought alongside the Rwanda army and INTERAHAMWE, and in the end provided safe passage for them into the DRC.
Who can forget that infamous news picture showing French troops in their jeeps waving to gangs of INTERAHAMWE welcoming them, and un-mistakenly enjoying the accolade?
Many of those who planned and executed the genocide were given refuge, and now roam the streets of Paris and other French cities with impunity. France has made little effort to apprehend these individuals to face justice in their courts, or short of that, hand them over to the ICTR in Arusha.
France has shown little remorse for her actions, and non-actions. In fact their attitude has been, all along, cavalier. Commenting on the Genocide against Tutsi in 1999, then French President Francois Mitterand reportedly said, ” In such countries, genocide is not too important.”
Fast forward, twenty years since Rwanda, France is still actively abetting genocide. BNP, a French bank has recently pleaded guilty to helping the Sudanese government sell oil, clearing the proceeds through New York in violation of American sanctions. During this time government-backed militias in Darfur were massacring civilians in huge numbers.
What is the appropriate punishment for a firm that greases genocide?
Even though BNP is a private company, I can’t help but wonder why after Rwanda the French still insist on fostering a monstrous regime. Are there no lessons learnt?
Most of the money BNP channeled to Sudan went to the army, which in turn used it to finance rape and pillage in Darfur. During the period of the genocide in Darfur in 2006, BNP’s Swiss branch reportedly held half of Sudan’s foreign currency reserves.
All along, BNP was aware that they were dealing with a government whose leader became the first sitting head of State to be charged with war crimes by the ICC. It did not matter.
BNP has been forced to pay a fine in the billions of dollars. But, French Minister of Finance, Arnaud Montebourg, has compared America’s pursuit of BNP to “economic warfare.” Really?
It seems to me that when it comes to making a profit, or propping-up a corrupt and genocidal regime, France does not value African lives.
A RWANDAN VOICE-and Perspective on Global Issues-Willis SHALITA 