Note à l'attention de Monsieur le Président de la République. Objet : Votre entretien avec M. Léotard le lundi 2 mai. Situation

Quesnot, Christian

2 mai 1994

19940502

Note à l'attention de Monsieur le Président de la République. Objet : Votre entretien avec M. Léotard le lundi 2 mai. Situation

Quesnot2mai1994.pdf

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Présidence de la République (fr)

FM

Note

FR

At the United Nations, France had to oppose a partisan condemnation of the only abuses committed by government forces. However, its partners in the Security Council, concerned about the impact on world public opinion of the images of horror conveyed by the media, wish to promote a regional initiative to impose peace.

In this note to François Mitterrand, General Quesnot alludes to France's diplomatic action to prevent the Security Council from recognizing that genocide is being perpetrated against the Tutsi by the interim Rwandan Government that France supports. "At the United Nations, he writes, France had to oppose a partisan condemnation of the only abuses committed by government forces". Reporting that "the government is well aware of the futility of its efforts in the event of victory of the Tutsi clan which would ruin any chance of democratic evolution and lasting peace in Rwanda and Burundi", he expresses that France is engaged in a racial war against the Tutsi, that they are the enemies of democracy and therefore that their assassins are its defenders.