Rwanda doubtful France move to declassify Genocide documents

Rwandans have expressed doubt about France's move to declassify documents relating to the 1994 Rwanda genocide that claimed more than one million people.

French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday announced plans to make genocide documents available to everyone; they will no longer be kept a secret, a source close to the president's office told media on Tuesday.

The documents from between 1990 and 1994 include minutes from secret defence meetings and files from advisers to then-president Francois Mitterrand relating to the genocide in the small central African state.

Speaking to local reporters on Wednesday, Johnston Busingye, Rwanda minister of Justice welcomed the initiative; however he was doubtful if it will be totally implemented.

"Paris should ensure the declassification is "total." and the documents are available to everyone who wants to read and find out the truth about the Genocide in our country," he emphasized.

Busingye noted that Franco-Rwanda political, diplomatic and military relationship during the genocide regime has been a tightly guarded domain and classified.

"If France does total declassification, it will shed light on the many dark and unanswered questions regarding Rwanda Genocide," he noted.

According to French presidency, the papers, which include documents from diplomatic and military advisers as well as minutes from ministerial and defence meetings, will be available to both researchers and victims' associations.

Dr Jean Damascene Bizimana, the executive secretary of the National Commission for the fight against Genocide stated that France's move was vital towards promotion of unity and reconciliation among Rwandans.

"Let's wait and see if Paris will declassify these documents, but I highly doubt it since it will clearly show France's role during the genocide and how the country failed to prevent it," he noted.

The documents will be available to researchers and historians if they make a request to Dominique Bertinotti, a former minister and custodian of Mitterrand's archives.

Rwanda accuses France of participating in the training of militias that took part in the Genocide that saw majority ethnic Tutsis and minority Hutus lose their lives in cold blood within a period of three months.

For the last 21 years, the post-Genocide country has given France a chance to change course and improve its relations with Africa.

Presently Rwanda is in mourning period of the victims of the 1994 genocide. This year's memorial primarily focuses more on engaging the national and the international community about the issue of genocide denial and revisionism. Endi