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FRENCH army commanders in Rwanda are working closely with officials
implicated in the murder and persecution of Tutsis. In some cases, the
French are relying on officials who helped organise the slaughter to
enforce measures to end it.
Francois Leotard, the French defence minister, on Wednesday visited
troops protecting refugees to allay fears that Paris, while claiming
purely humanitarian motives, intends to prop up the Rwandan
government.
French collaboration with the killers continues to raise fears of
ulterior motives and will not reassure those in need of protection
from the authorities, the stated aim of the French intervention.
In the Cyangugu area of south-west Rwanda, road-blocks set up by
pro-government militia to capture Tutsis often remain in place after
French troops have moved into the area.
The French commander in Cyangungu, Colonel Didier Thibaut, is relying
on the local prefect to clear the barricades. He said the French army
has no authority to disarm the militia or dismantle the road-blocks
even though they are a threat to civilian lives.
Col Thibaut has built a close working relationship with the prefect,
Mgambiki Emanuel. But some of the 8,000 Tutsis who were held at
Cyangungu stadium - supposedly for their own protection - said Mr
Mgambiki participated in the selection of individuals who were handed
to the militia and murdered.
Among those executed was the father of 19-year-old Pierre
Canisuius. The two Tutsi men had taken refuge in the cathedral having
eluded militiamen tracking them with dogs. Several days later, Mr
Mgambiki ordered the Tutsis in the crowded building to move to the
stadium.
``The prefect and the soldiers came to the stadium and said: 'there are
people among you who are in contact with the rebels. The militia want
to kill them and they must leave for the good of the security of the
other people here'. They had a list of 15 people who were taken
away. The next day they were dead. One of them was my father,'' Pierre
Canisuius said.
Although Mr Mgambiki is directly linked to the killings, Col Thibaut
said it is no obstacle to his working with him.
``We are not in a war against the Rwandan government or the Rwandan
armed forces,'' he said. ``They are legal organisations. Some members
might have blood on their hands, but not all. It is not my task and
not my mandate to replace these people.''
He agreed that there might be some risk of compromising the
description of the mission as purely humanitarian if French forces
were working with, and therefore seeming to protect, those guilty of
crimes against humanity. But he said these were political questions
which should be resolved by governments.
The refugees have been moved from the stadium to a nearby camp at
Nyarushishi where they are ``protected'' by armed gendarmes who guarded
them at the stadium. Although French soldiers are on hand, the Tutsis
in the camp said they live in fear. Aid workers have also criticised
the use of the gendarmes.
While the French continue to insist on humanitarian motives, there is
a perceptible slant to their interpretation of the crisis.
Col Thibaut played down atrocities against Tutsis by highlighting the
suffering of the majority Hutu population. He said there were hundreds
of thousands of Hutu refugees in his area who had fled the Rwandan
Patriotic Front (RPF) rebel advance. This week another 250,000 Hutus
were found living in a forest.
He said there were not nearly as many Tutsis displaced, but omitted
that most of the Tutsis who tried to flee were dead or still in
hiding.
Col Thibaut argued that the Tutsis in Nyarushishi camp are also afraid
of a rebel advance, implying that they fear the RPF will kill
them. But the Tutsi refugees said they fear new rebel successes
because they might provoke the militia into a final killing spree.
In an effort to establish legitimacy for the intervention, French
forces are trying to recruit aid organisations to the cause. Most have
refused, afraid that association will damage their credibility in
rebel areas, or if the mood turns against the French.
Some foreign aid workers are also concerned at the size of the
military force. France has brought in at least four Jaguar fighter
jets, which might be thought unusual for confronting the machetes of
the death squads.
