The Paris Court of Appeal has ruled to uphold the dismissal of an investigation handed down in October 2023 into the failure of the French army to act during the Bisesero massacres in Rwanda in 1994.
In mid-September, investigating magistrates said they would consider an appeal by civil parties against the October 2023 decision to dismiss the case and their refusal to carry out certain investigative acts into the Bisesero massacre.
They accuse the French-led UN Operation Turquoise of having knowingly abandoned Tutsi civilians who had taken refuge in the Bisesero hills in western Rwanda for three days, allowing hundreds of them to be massacred by genocidal Hutu militia between 27 and 30 June 1994.
In the case, the associations Survie, Ibuka, International Federation for Human Rights and six survivors – all civil parties – accused France and French peacekeeping forces of "complicity in genocide".
In a post on social media ahead of the court decision, Survie wrote: "[We] hope that justice will enable the survivors of Bisesero, the families of the hundreds of victims, and the French people to know the truth.
'Denial of justice'
According to Eric Plouvier, representing the civil society association Survie, "at the very least, the investigations must continue. It is not a good thing for a judicial decision to leave the bitter taste of a denial of justice".
In light of this Wednesday's announcement by the Paris court, "an appeal to the Supreme Court will inevitably be lodged," he added.
Pierre-Olivier Lambert, who is defending General Jean-Claude Lafourcade – who headed Operation Turquoise – has consistently maintained that he and his client "confidently [expected] the Court of Appeal to confirm the analysis made by the investigating judges [following] the meticulous investigation carried out over nearly 20 years, which unequivocally exonerated the French army and its soldiers".
The two investigating magistrates from the Crimes against Humanity Unit of the Paris Judicial Court had decided to drop the charges against the five soldiers involved in the proceedings, who were never indicted.
After an initial dismissal of the case in September 2022, the investigation was reopened for procedural reasons – linked to the publication of the report by the commission chaired by historian Vincent Duclert in April 2021 – which highlighted France's "profound failure" during the Bisesero massacres.
According to the United Nations, the massacres instigated by the Hutu government left more than 800,000 dead in Rwanda between April and July 1994, mainly among the Tutsi minority.
In mid-November, the Paris Administrative Court rejected an application by victims of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda to have the French state condemned for its alleged complicity in the 1994 tragedy, saying it lacked the legal competence to hear the case.
(With newswires)
