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August 2, 2023 French

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing : « On avait pris un engagement tout à fait précis de ne pas aller en profondeur dans le territoire rwandais ! On est allé trop loin ! »

Card Number 29051

Number
29051
Author
Poivre d'Arvor, Patrick
Author
Marque, Isabelle
Author
Berrou, Loïck
Date
5 juillet 1994
Ymd
19940705
Time
20:00:00
Time zone
CEST
Uptitle
Journal de 20 heures
Title
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing : « On avait pris un engagement tout à fait précis de ne pas aller en profondeur dans le territoire rwandais ! On est allé trop loin ! »
Subtitle
Les troupes françaises renforcent leurs positions à l'entrée de Gikongoro. En face, les rebelles du Front patriotique sont à moins de 10 kilomètres.
Size
35463 bytes
Pages nb.
6
Source
TF1
Public records
INA
Type
Transcription d'une émission de télévision
Language
FR
Abstract
- French troops are strengthening their positions at the entrance to Gikongoro, that is to say in the southwest of the country. 300 legionaries and a hundred other soldiers will soon support the 150 paratroopers already present. Opposite, the rebels of the Patriotic Front are less than 10 kilometers from the French positions.
- As patrols ply the roads, armed with six 90-millimeter cannons, and eight Puma helicopters guard the outskirts of Gikongoro town, military trucks have been seen arriving with machine guns and Milan anti-tank missiles. It is the most advanced position of the French in the famous security zone they have decreed and which extends over an eighth of the territory to the south of Rwanda.
- Colonel Rosier was very clear: the French will respect strict neutrality but their mission remains to protect refugees whoever they are.
- South of Kigali, near the border between Rwanda and Burundi, the arrival of the RPF put an end to the atrocities of the Hutu militias. It was from here that the death squads launched their raids. It was from here that they left on the morning of April 12 for the neighboring village of Ntarama. The 800 inhabitants of the town had gathered in the chapel, from which they hoped for protection. Systematic extermination of Tutsi and Hutu opponents, mass exodus of populations, only one inhabitant in 20 remained alive in Bugesera.
- The new prefect of Bugesera summoned his constituents to encourage them to resume the abandoned crops of sorghum and coffee. As and when its military conquests, the RPF thus supervises its population in its own security zones. Still, the majority of the inhabitants flee from his troops. The Patriotic Front will not be able to populate the 1,000 hills of Rwanda with Tutsis alone. Sooner or later he will have to manage the return of the Hutu populations.
- During his visit to South Africa, François Mitterrand spoke about the French commitment in Rwanda. François Mitterrand: "France does not intend to conduct a military operation in Rwanda against anyone. The fate of Rwandans depends on Rwandans. The Rwandan Patriotic Front is not our adversary! We are not trying to hold back its possible success!".
- Interview with Valéry Giscard d'Estaing by Patrick Poivre d'Arvor: "Rwanda used to be a feudal system, which was ruled by a minority, which represents 10% of the population, which is a minority from the North, who are therefore nomads and who are more warlike, more sassy moreover, and who are the Tutsi. Independence arrives and naturally the Hutus take power since they are the majority. And they begin to hunt and persecuting the Tutsi The Tutsi went into exile in part in neighboring countries, in particular in Uganda, and then they tried to come back for the first time in the 1960s. They tried to come back in 1990. We sent forces to prevent them from coming back. Then comes the attack on President Habyarimana. At that time, it was the Hutus, that is to say the people we had protected until then, who began the massacres of the Tutsi minority. We witnessed the massacre, abominable, it must be said, of the Tutsi minority by the mi liciens of the regime. Regime that we had supported in recent times. So at the same time the Tutsi who were outside, that is to say in Uganda, entered the country and they are advancing. They have now occupied three-quarters of the country. So what's going on in the western part of the country? There have already been very cruel massacres in this part, of which those responsible are still there! And we don't do anything against them. Two weeks ago, we made a very specific commitment not to use an interposition force between the two camps. And especially not to go deep into Rwandan territory! We have gone too far! Because currently we are in the city of Gikongoro, it is in the interior of the country. What are we going to do ? There are Tutsis advancing. Are we going to oppose their advance? I heard the colonel who was in command say: 'But if they advance, we will shoot at them'. Shoot who? And by what right? So I think we have to go back to the initial conception of the operation. That is to say, our forces must be on the border and not in the country and engage in strictly humanitarian operations".