France was ready to continue its support to the FAR, despite the massacre of Tutsi by the government of Theodore Sindikubwabo and his army.
1. France supports to Rwanda in the field of international politics
It was about France’s support to Rwanda in the field of international politics; the physical presence of French soldiers in Rwanda, or at least a contingent of instructors for the actions of “helping hand” during the genocide; “the indirect use of regular or irregular foreign troops”, which alludes to possible sending of mercenaries, mentioned by some, but which we will not discuss here due to lack of sufficient precise elements. The following priorities have been addressed. a. France’s support to Rwanda in the field of international politics. b. The physical presence of French soldiers in Rwanda or at least a contingent of instructors for helping hands as part of cooperation. c. The indirect use of regular or irregular foreign troops. […]
Huchon advised Rwanda to do a lot of international awareness-raising effort to improve its image abroad and make the RPF responsible for the massacres: “(…) General HUCHON made it clear to me that the French soldiers’ hands and feet were tight to be able to make any intervention in our favour because of media reports that the RPF seems to be leading. If nothing is done to restore the image of the country towards the outside, the military and political leaders of Rwanda will be held responsible for the massacres committed in Rwanda. He repeated it several times”.
2. RTLM talks about French support and continues to incite the massacre of Tutsi
This advice given by General Huchon to Ephrem Rwabalinda was taken very seriously by the Rwandan host, as he noted in the conclusions of his mission report: “Caring more for the image of the country abroad constitutes one of the priorities to work on. The phones I bring should help us get out of isolation in relation to overseas countries”. And he revealed that France has already started to support the interim government and its armed forces: “the military cooperation house is preparing the assistance actions to be carried out in our favour”.
After Rwabalinda’s return to Rwanda (he left Paris on May 13), we are witnessing in the media controlled by the genocidal government a number of changes, a certain optimism and the desire to control the image damage caused by the genocide. However, it should be noted that there was never any stabilization of the genocidal government, of the genocidal regime, in May. The Tutsi continued to be massacred.
RTLM continues to incite the massacre of Tutsi: the continuation or even the reinforcement of propaganda as it has been working for weeks: dialogue with militiamen on the roadblocks, encouragement to “work” i.e “kill”, continuous allegation that Tutsi commit suicide, and that, in fact, it is perhaps Tutsi who are responsible for all the violence.
Rwabalinda’s report is dated May 16 in Gitarama, where the interim government was located at that time. On May 18, RTLM through the voice of Habimana Kantano, informed its listeners of the continuation of French assistance as well as the discretionary council in the massacres: “Good news for Rwandans. The news is really starting to be good. It’s because France has started to help us again, with important aid in addition, with promises to increase it. Only, in order for this good news continues to reach us, they ask that there shouldn’t be any more human corpse visible on the road, and also that there will be no more people killing another while others assist laughing without handing him over to the authorities2”.
There is reason to believe that the news of the resumption of French military aid came from Rwabalinda, and that the message requesting to hide the killings constituted the implementation of the advice given by General Huchon to Rwabalinda. Finally, it should be recalled here that a denial association, JAMBO ASBL based in Belgium, and composed of sons and daughters whose parents played a leading role in the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi, is led today by Robert Mugabowindekwe, the son of Lt Colonel Ephrem Rwabalinda.
The genocidal government continued to receive military support from France, through the complicity of the French military, and through the decision of the French authorities, led by President Mitterrand. (End)
Done at Kigali on May 10, 2020
*Dr BIZIMANA Jean-Damascène, Executive Secretary/ National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG)