French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that he recognises his country's heavy responsibility for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
In a speech on a visit to the African country, Mr Macron detailed how France had failed the 800,000 victims but did not give an apology.
France "was not an accomplice" in the genocide but ended up siding with Rwanda's "genocidal regime" and bore an "overwhelming responsibility" in the run-up to the massacres, he said at the genocide memorial in the capital, Kigali.
“France has a role, a history and a political responsibility in Rwanda. It has a duty: that of looking history in the face and recognising the suffering that it inflicted on the Rwandan people by favouring silence over the examination of truth for too long,” Mr Macron said.
When the genocide started, “the international community took close to three months, three interminable months, before reacting and we, all of us, abandoned hundreds of thousands of victims”.
France’s failures contributed to “27 years of bitter distance” between the two countries, he said.
“I have to come to recognise our responsibilities,” Mr Macron said.
Although Mr Macron did not apologise, he won praise from Rwandan President Paul Kagame for his “powerful speech”.
“His words were something more valuable than an apology, they were the truth,” Mr Kagame said. “This was an act of tremendous courage.”
Mr Kagame and Mr Macron both signalled that a page had been turned in France-Rwanda ties.
“This visit is about the future, not the past,” Mr Kagame said.
He and Mr Macron discussed a range of issues, including investment and support for businesses, Mr Kagame said.
Mr Macron said they were opening "a new page" and rebuilding ties that are "strong and irreversible". He said that he asked to be able to appoint a French ambassador to Rwanda, after six years during which France has been without one in the country.
Appearing to explain his lack of apology, Mr Macron said: “A genocide cannot be excused, one lives with it.”
Instead, he said he decided to apply “the white light of truth” to France’s role in the genocide and recognise its responsibilities.
“This recognition is what I can give. A pardon is not mine to give,” Mr Macron said, promising beefed-up efforts to bring genocide suspects to justice.
Rwandans who had hoped for an apology said they were disappointed.
“We don’t want to hear him talk about responsibility, about France’s role in the genocide," survivor Dan Karenzi told The Associated Press. "We, the survivors, wanted to hear Macron apologising to us officially. I am really disappointed.”
The opposition Rwandese Platform for Democracy party tweeted before Mr Macron’s speech that it hoped he would “apologise honestly” and “promise to pay reparations” to genocide victims.
Mr Macron arrived in Kigali early on Thursday and met Mr Kagame at the presidential residence. The French president then toured the memorial to the 1994 slaughter in which Hutu extremists killed mainly minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus who tried to protect them.
Mr Macron’s trip builds on a series of French efforts since his election in 2017 to repair ties between the two countries.
Two reports completed in March and in April that examined France’s role in the genocide helped clear a path for Mr Macron’s visit, the first by a French president in 11 years.
The previous visit, by Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010, was the first by a French leader after the 1994 massacre sent relations into a tailspin. Rwanda’s government and genocide survivor organisations often accused France of training and arming militias and former government troops who led the genocide.
Mr Kagame, who has been Rwanda's de facto leader since 1994 and its president since 2000, won praise abroad for restoring order and making advances in economic development and health care. But rights watchdogs, dissidents and others accuse Mr Kagame of harsh rule.
Juliet, Naked
Dir: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke
Two stars
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
The specs
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
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Job: CEO JCDecaux Middle East
In the role: Since January 2015
Lives: In the UAE
Background: M&A, investment banking
Studied: Corporate finance
The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
PAKISTAN v SRI LANKA
Twenty20 International series
Thu Oct 26, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
Fri Oct 27, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
Sun Oct 29, 3rd T20I, Lahore
Tickets are available at www.q-tickets.com
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Handicap | US$135,000 (Dirt) | 1,400 metres
7.05pm: Handicap | $135,000 (Turf) | 1,200m
7.40pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes | Group 3 | $200,000 (T) | 2,000m
8.15pm: UAE Oaks | Group 3 | $250,000 (D) | 1,900m
8.50pm: Zabeel Mile | Group 2 | $250,000 (T) | 1,600m
9.20pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
if you go
The flights
Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.
The hotel
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Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850
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Events and tours
There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com
For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art.
More information
For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
