WE have looked at the genocide which took place in Rwanda between April and July 1994.
The actual genocide was but the end result of a well-orchestrated plan that was aided directly by France.
This was all done in the military ranks of the ruling Government of the time, which was Hutu-dominated.
The French began entering Rwanda in 1989 as suppliers of arms to the Rwandan Liberation Army.
They then made their first military presence in 1991 after the war between Tutsi rebels and the Hutu Government began in October 1990.
By 1993, the French had 1 000 elite troops stationed in Rwanda.
These stood to protect French interests which were to advise the Rwandan army, train them and also protect French expatriates.
Much evidence has been gathered suggesting that Hutu extremists were trained to be killers by the French military.
The French trained a large Hutu extremist group called Interahamwe that would be responsible for many of the genocidal acts that would eventually victimise the Tutsis and Hutu moderates in 1994.
The Interahamwe were trained by the French at military camps in Gabiro and Mutara.
Training was specifically targeted at attacking civilians and thus only took a minimum of three days.
Indoctrination of ethnic hatred towards the Tutsi was given to hundreds of Hutus at a time.
Most Hutus who were recruited had simply attended a political rally and were offered opportunities to become soldiers, not knowing they were on the verge of being radicalised.
A Hutu and former Interahamwe militant called Janvier Africa was first to expose the involvement of the French in training the Interahamwe to hate and kill Tutsis. According to him, 70 trained Interahamwe were sent on their first mission to a place called Ruhengeri to massacre Tutsis of a clan called Bagogwe.
It was the beginning of 1992 and the Interahamwe militants set up a camp called Mukamira in the region.
From there, they killed 10 000 Tutsis in less than a month using the training and weapons they had received from the French.
This specific group had been trained by the French at a base in Kigali.
The base in Kigali was close to the headquarters of the French military.
The camp was used for interrogation purposes, apart from training.
Those who trained in Kigali received a more intensive course which took up to about four months in a period of about a year.
The Hutu troops were taught how to throw knives, assemble guns and tie down captives among many other atrocities.
When Janvier was imprisoned, Iyamuremye, who was the head of intelligence of Rwanda in this period, was refused access to interview him by French soldiers who worked at the Criminal Investigation and Documentation Centre.
Because of such moves by France, the Rwandese could not pre-emptively act in order to prevent what would eventually be a full scale genocide.
Testimonies similar to that of Janvier would show that the French trained Hutus to be extremists and killers between 1991 and the closing of 1993.
The training reportedly focused on killing with guns, knives, machetes, bayonets, axes as well as bare hands.
Ideological methods of identifying Tutsi civilians were also taught by the French soldiers.
During the training sessions, the recruits would be rhetorically asked: “Do you know the enemy of Rwanda?”
The trainers would teach that the enemies were the Tutsis who wanted to bring the English language to Rwanda, among other things.
This questioning was to make sure that the Interahamwe recruits were properly indoctrinated and well aware of what they were expected to use their newly acquired skills on.
The French soldiers would lead Rwandese commanders in every training session and some would smear a dark polish-like substance on their faces to hide the fact they were white.
The Rhodesian forces used to do the same in Zimbabwe during the liberation struggle and would look like blacks from a distance to literally become wolfs in sheep’s clothing.
From the armed trainees of the Interahamwe institution emerged a group which specialised in executions and this was known as the MRND.
Apart from these groups, there were others like a commando unit in a region called Ruhengeri which was recruited from the National School of Gendarmerie.
In May of 1992, Swinnen, a Belgian Ambassador, reported to Brussels that the above groups had been trained for the sole purpose of killing Tutsis.
A Belgian lawyer, Gillet, gave detailed evidence of a massacre that took place in March of that year at Bugesera which claimed the lives of 300 Tutsis in just over a week.
He pointed out the fact that prior to the killings there had been instigative radio announcements and propaganda leaflets that identified the group to be victimised. Evidence of premeditation and the eventual large scale killings aimed at a specific ethnic group constituted genocide as far back as 1992.
However, the French Ambassador Martres denied there was a genocide taking place in Rwanda and excused the massacres as rumours.
When the life of a French nun who was against Hutu extremism unlike the French militia, was killed, the French Ambassador was embarrassed by the fact that he had been downplaying a serious issue.
The leader of Interahamwe, Joseph Setiba, said that by the end of 1993 about 1 000 Hutus had been trained in camps in Gabiro and Bigogwe by the French.
By the beginning of 1994, it was estimated that the Interahamwe in Kigali amounted to about 3 000.
In the whole country, some estimated there were around 30 000 Interahamwe, all trained to identify, hate, capture and kill Tutsis.
The intensification of training by French soldiers became very noticeable between January 1993 and March 1994 which was just before the massacres began in April of the latter year.
In this period, Hutu extremist circles imported 581 000 machetes which was double the amount imported the previous year.
This was a clear sign that murders were about to take place and sponsors such as Felicien Kabuga were behind the planning and purchasing of weapons.
The French were also responsible for the computerisation of Rwanda’s intelligence data files.
This facility began in June 1992 and was used to view criminal records and also to put suspicious targets under surveillance.
This facility undoubtedly aided the French with information on individuals and groups that were plotting the massacre of Tutsis, Hutu moderates and political figures.
Instead of playing a preventative role by sharing their findings with the appropriate organisations, the French chose to protect the regime and misinform parties that were concerned about the situation in Rwanda.
The French are therefore accused by the Rwandese of participating in the training and supporting of the Interahamwe who took a lead in the killing of Tutsis beginning in February 1992; that and other groups.
The French trained the Hutus in a manner that led to the Tutsis being massacred and regardless of this, the French chose not to stop.
This shows the French were very much aware of how the training they had provided was being put to use.
Thus the French are charged by the Rwandese for tolerating and downplaying the pre-1994 genocides and contributing to the genocide of April – July 1994 because they were the trainers, supporters and sponsors of the criminals who committed the massacres.