Survie

Petition to support the continuation of the Citizens Inquiry Commission (CIC/CEC in French)

Published on 18 October 2005 - Survie

SURVIE, AIRCRIGE (the international association for research into crimes against humanity and genocide: www.aircrige.org) and OBSARM (observatory for the transfer of armaments: www.obsarm.org) are launching a petition to support the continuation of the investigations begun in March 2004 by the Citizens Inquiry Commission into the genocide of the Rwandan Tutsi population in 1994.

The CIC has gathered elements pointing towards the active complicity of France in the Rwandan genocide beyond anything which we might have previously conjectured. These findings have been laid out in the provisional conclusions of our hearings (http://survie.org/article525.html which is a Survie Press Release from December 19, 2005) and definitely refute our government’s repeated statements to the effect that France was “not in the least implicated” or that “she in no manner whatsoever incited, encouraged, helped or supported those who orchestrated the genocide.” As far as we are concerned the Rwandan genocide of 1994 is still very much an open case, and we intend to keep it off the shelf for however long it takes for the “historical truth” to come out.

Witness reports from Rwandans, which the Commission either heard or viewed via video conferencing accused French nationals of precise actions of complicity. They claim that French soldiers treated Tutsi civilians as enemies during identity controls between 1991 to 1993 going so far as to turn them over to waiting militia who killed them on the spot (April 1991). During the Turquoise Operation some French military units were to have contributed to the massacres, others supposedly committed crimes against Tutsi refugees such as rape, murder and abandon to militia assassins.

France never stopped supplying arms to those responsible for equipping the perpetrators (“les génocidaires” in French) while the Bank of France as well as the BNP continued to transfer money to their accounts. Afterwards our government contributed to the military conflicts which ensued in the Congo (formerly Zaire) by continuing to support the outlawed genocide government, which fled across the border. Since 1990 what passes for French technical assistance in the Great Lakes area of Africa comes down to nothing less than secret warfare fought for questionable objectives with unspeakable methods. Public statements from the Elysée’s Africa cell go to great lengths to downplay genocide or at best to treat its actual occurrence as some sort of inevitable collateral damage to which “unfortunately” they were party.

All this disturbing evidence needs to be thoroughly scrutinised through legal inquiries that must be initiated by parliaments in France as well as those of all the other countries involved including Rwanda and the Congo.

As citizens of France or any other country for that matter we cannot accept impunity for criminal action on the part of any government apparatus.

Therefore we support the continuing work of the Citizens Inquiry Commission so that all those French nationals with decisive responsibilities who were involved in this genocide should one day be brought to justice.

Download this petition and mail it to SURVIE, 210 Rue Saint - Martin, 75003 Paris or fax it to : 0144610320

You can also sign online at the Citizens Inquiry Commission web site: www.enquete-citoyenne-rwanda.org

Note : Download or buy our brochure in french on the origins of the Rwandan genocide and its French implications from SURVIE for 2.50 Euros ; consult :

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