The Paris administrative court declared itself this Thursday, November 14, incompetent to judge the responsibility of the French State in the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. At the origin of this decision: a request filed by two associations and around twenty survivors in the hope of condemning the French state for having provided, they say, its “support” to the genocidal Rwandan government between 1990 and 1994. This evening, they are disappointed, but announce that they will appeal.
1 minute
The administrative court explains in its decision that the acts alleged against the French State fall under “ the conduct of France’s international relations » and that therefore by nature, they are not within its purview.
What facts are we talking about? The applicants accuse the French State of not having denounced “ the military assistance treaty » which linked him since 1975 to the Rwandan government which had become genocidal, of having “diverted” the military operation Turquoise from its humanitarian mandate and of having also “abandoned” Tutsi civilians on the hills of Bisesero.
Also readGenocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda: 30 years later, the four keys to the French military operation Turquoise
By declaring itself incompetent, the administrative court stands behind the arguments put forward by the French Ministry of the Armed Forces during the examination of the file in October and therefore renounces examining the substance of the accusations of ” complicity » of genocide.
For Philippe Raphaël, the author of the request, this decision amounts to offering a “ absolute legal immunity » to the French State. He contests the legal reasoning of the administrative court, taking into account the seriousness of the facts and announces that he will appeal.
Also readThirty years of the Tutsi genocide: Rwanda commemorates a past from which “we must learn lessons”