M. Léotard va inspecter un dispositif encore léger et fragile

Isnard, Jacques

29 juin 1994

19940629

L'intervention militaire française au Rwanda

M. Léotard va inspecter un dispositif encore léger et fragile

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IsnardLM29juin1994.pdf

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Le Monde

Article de journal

FR

Jacques Isnard writes in Monde of June 29, 1994 that, "For the moment, the French are intervening in an area where there remains a semblance of a state or Hutu authorities, but where risks , still undetectable, could occur over time. So, who can guarantee them to be safe from 'infiltrations' of the RPF? In these actions for humanitarian purposes, intended to reassure and help the population by approaching them as closely as possible, a Tutsi can turn out to be a potential RPF combatant".

Jacques Isnard, military correspondent of the newspaper Le Monde, is familiar with the general staff on Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris. He reports what he hears about the "‘infiltrations' of the RPF": "In these actions for humanitarian purposes, intended to reassure and help the population by approaching them closer, a Tutsi can turn out to be a potential RPF fighter”. These remarks betray the assimilation made by the French command between the Tutsi and the enemy. Admiral Lanxade, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces in 1994, already made this identification in 1990. These remarks were published on June 29 in Le Monde at the very moment when the soldiers of Turquoise attended the extermination of the last Tutsi in Bisesero without helping them.