Macron says France, allies ‘could have stopped’ Rwanda genocide

President Emmanuel Macron says France and its Western and African partners could have prevented the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which resulted in the death of more than 800,000 people.

But they lacked determination to intervene and stop the massacre, Macron has said.

On the 30th anniversary of the genocide, in a video message to be published Sunday, the French president has said when the phase of total extermination against the Tutsis began, the international community had the means to know and act.

“France, which could have stopped the genocide with its Western and African allies, did not have the will” to do so, a French presidential official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, while quoting Macron.

The president is of the opinion that by that time, the international community had already gained historical knowledge of genocides.

Macron has decided not to travel to Kigali to participate in the genocide commemorations on Sunday with the presence of Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Instead, France will be represented by Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne.

In 2021, while visiting Rwanda, Macron recognized France's "responsibilities" in the genocide and said only the survivors could grant "the gift of forgiveness."

He refrained from issuing an apology, while Kagame, the leader of the Tutsi rebellion that brought an end to the genocide, has consistently emphasized the importance of a more forceful declaration.

A historical commission established by Macron in 2021 also determined that there was a "failure" on the part of France during the leadership of Francois Mitterrand.

During the Rwandan genocide, which occurred between April 7 and July 15, 1994, during the Rwandan civil war, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu militias.

The Constitution of Rwanda states that more than 1 million people perished in the genocide, but the actual number of fatalities remains unclear.

The militia murdered victims with machetes and rifles, along with committing genocidal sexual violence. An estimated 250,000 to 500,000 women are also said to have been raped during the genocide.

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