France "deliberately supported" Rwanda's "genocidal regime and its genocidal project before, during, and after the genocide"

From Boston, Noam Schimmel comments on Anjan Sundaram's New York Times news report, Sarkozy acknowledges "grave errors" on Rwanda (Feb. 26), in which we learn that the first French head of state to visit Rwanda since the genocide (in which more than 800,000 people, mostly minority Tutsi, were killed) said that “We want to turn the page” and that Sarkozy admitted that France and the international community had operated under “a form of blindness to not have seen the genocidal dimensions” of the former Hutu government:

To survivors of the genocide in Rwanda and to human rights advocates, the oblique and morally obtuse statement from President Nicolas Sarkozy of France is deeply offensive.

France did not merely make errors of judgment. It deliberately supported through military training, weapons provision and economic aid the genocidal regime and its genocidal project before, during and after the genocide. After the genocide, it gave safe haven to those who carried out atrocities.

The French government has both the legal and the moral obligation to acknowledge its violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide and its complicity in genocide.

The French government should apologize and provide reparations to the Rwandan government and to the survivors of the genocide, as they seek to rebuild their lives and rehabilitate their communities.

There can be no turning the page, as Mr. Sarkozy insisted, without truth and justice.

France, incidentally — just to provide a timely reminder — is the country otherwise known as the perennial sermonizer on human rights, the evils of war, and the benefits of peace and discussion to the clueless retards in America. Anjan Sundaram's New York Times news report continues:

Mr. Sarkozy also said that Radio France International would begin broadcasting in Rwanda this year. The rift between France and Rwanda has coincided with Rwanda’s break from its French-speaking past under Mr. Kagame. Last year, the national language was changed from French to English, and Rwanda also obtained membership in the Commonwealth, widely seen as a snub to France.

… While many Rwandans were pleased with Mr. Sarkozy’s visit, some saw it as another French rebuff. “He should have stayed more than three hours,” said Sam Kagabo, a journalist in the capital. “The French are here after 16 years. He should have given more respect to Rwandans.”