France will open its state archives on the genocide of Tutsi in Rawanda to the public, a move aimed at improving relations with the African country and tackling long-held suspicions of French complicity in the carnage.
The move comes on the 27th anniversary of the onset of the massacres and as France released a historical commission report into its actions before and during the killings.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whose rebel forces helped end the genocide, welcomed the move as his country commemorated the anniversary.
“It marks an important step towards a common understanding of what took place. It also marks the change, it shows the desire, even for leaders in France, to move forward with a good understanding of what happened,” Mr Kagame said.
Under the leadership of Mr Kagame, relations between Rwanda and France have been strained for years.
About 800,000 ethnic Tutsis, and Hutus who tried to protect them, were killed by Hutu perpetrators over 100 days in 1994.
Rwanda’s genocide commemoration events were curtailed to combat the spread of Covid-19.
Citizens watched on TV as a symbolic flame of remembrance was lit at a memorial.
The annual Walk to Remember was not held and Mr Kagame cancelled a mass gathering at a sports stadium to address a small number of socially distant dignitaries.
The archives cover the activities of former French president Francois Mitterrand and prime minister Edouard Balladur between 1990 and 1994, officials said.
Many of the documents, including diplomatic telegrams and confidential notes, were source material for the long-awaited report by historians on France’s role in the genocide, published late last month.
Mr Macron ordered the report after years of suggestions that France did not do enough to halt the massacres and was even complicit in the crimes.
The commission set up by the president concluded that France bears “heavy and overwhelming responsibilities” for the genocide and was “blind” to preparation for the killings.
The report excluded any “complicity in the genocide” by France. It said there was no evidence of any intention to carry out crimes against humanity, but it was found the French government had failed to appreciate the magnitude of the situation.
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)
Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15
Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)
Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49
The five pillars of Islam
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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