To what extent are accusations of French complicity In the Rwandan Genocide based on documented facts?

by OwenThomasJenkins

is it really true that while most of the West didn't act, the French went a step further and supported Hutu militias well after April 1994?

RansomIblis

First, there's a couple of sources that may be useful to you if you'd like to look into this further:

Perhaps you'd like to clarify what you mean by "supported Hutu militias"--French assistance in general, and Opération Turquoise (June 22) in particular, made it more difficult for the RPF to retake Rwanda during the war. Opération Turquoise saw the French help accused genocidaires escape into the neighbouring Zaire. Prunier (and the general consensus--correct me if I'm wrong) states that this precipitated the First Congo War and caused the area to erupt into conflict. This doesn't really answer your question about supporting Hutu militias, but the French clearly entered into the war on the side of the genocidaires/prevailing Hutu government.

Some more information from Alison Deforges' Leave None To Tell The Story:

  • June 26: Journalist Sam Kiley informs French soldiers that Tutsi were being attacked nightly at Bisesero, a few miles away from the French camp. The commanding officer, Capt. Gillier, sent a small patrol to Bisesero and promised to return. The problem was that Gillier brought along "local authorities" (in other words, local Hutu officials who are documented as being part of the genocide). Gillier says that no Tutsi were found, just RPF infiltrators. Gillier told reporters that people were being killed every night, but did nothing as he did not want to "get involved with politics". (1032)

  • June 29: Defense Minister Francois Leotard is at the camp near Bisesero. NYT correspondent Raymond Bonner interviewed French soldiers who said that Leotard refused to protect Tutsis near Bisesero, saying that there weren't enough troops to protect everyone. He finally relents, and Gillier heads to the area the next day to discover a few hundred stragglers--and hundreds of bodies, recently slain. (1033-36)

Desforges goes on to show that the French had within its zone of control those who were reconstituting the Hutu-majority government (those in support of the genocide of Tutsi, now cast out of Rwanda) but refused to act, saying that the Operation Turquoise mandate did not allow them to arrest these genocidaires on their own authority (1043). This decision, made public shortly thereafter, was roundly criticised by the UN (1045).

  • French authorities allowed Rwandan soldiers (and militia?) to remain armed while entering the secured zone. (1047)

It's not all cut-and-dry, however: French soldiers did save a significant number of Tutsis at this point in Nyarushishi, Bisesero, and Gikongoro (1049)--though as Desforges points out, UNAMIR, "with its barely 500 men, poorly armed and equipped, protected at one time nearly twice that number. Like members of the U.N., the French could and did save lives when it suited their interests" (1049).

I'm on vacation and don't have access to my Prunier sources, so forgive me for relying so heavily on Desforges. The short answer to your question is yes, the French supported Hutu militias by supporting Rwandan soldiers and leadership, refusing to disarm Rwandan soldiers, and hindering the advance of the RPF. "Documented facts" in this case include communiques between Kigali and Paris, testimony by French soldiers and journalists, public declarations that Paris made to the U.N... This is current events in terms of world history, and while more sources and more testimony is being uncovered still today, there's enough rope to hang France right now.

EDIT: For the observant, the page numbers I've cited above are from the .pdf of the Desforges document that I was able to find today. The pagination is weird and doesn't match the copy of the document that I have at home, so the above pages correspond to the linked document. If you're looking at a different copy of the Desforges text, the above can be found in the section "Operation Turquoise" on 688, as per the table of contents.