{"id":11370,"date":"2022-02-17T10:57:47","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T10:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists"},"modified":"2022-02-17T11:50:26","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T11:50:26","slug":"french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists","title":{"rendered":"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Different activists and Genocide survivors have reacted to the latest ruling by France\u2019s highest court saying that it brings an end to a fallacy that has prevailed for over two decades.<\/p>\n

This follows the decision by the French cassation court, the highest in the European country, dismissing findings by French magistrate Jean Louis Bruguiere who accused former RPA officers of shooting down the plane that carried former President Juvenal Habyarimana on April 6, 1994.<\/p>\n

At least seven former officers of the liberation army were indicted by the French magistrate in a case that was dismissed by many \u2013 including would-be key witnesses \u2013 as politically motivated.<\/p>\n

The shooting down of the plane near Kigali International Airport preceded the Genocide against the Tutsi by the then regime where over a million people were killed.<\/p>\n

Eric Ndushabandi, professor of political science at the University of Rwanda, observed that the development puts an end to a theory of Genocide ideology, where the victim was depicted as villain and it also clears the image of Rwandan leadership that was tainted by the accusations.<\/p>\n

Brugui\u00e8re\u2019s probe was one-sided, he said, \u201che spent all these years delivering falsified justice which is influenced by individual incrimination or passion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he first issued the indictments, he would have been mistaken like any other person, but had he been a credible person, he would have done another report or considered others that were released afterward and change his perspective, instead, he held onto it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Different reports, including one by fellow French judge Marc Trevidic, concluded that there was no way the RPA (Military wing of Rwanda Patriotic Font) could have been behind the attack on Habyarimana\u2019s plane.<\/p>\n

It vindicated another Mutsinzi Commission report, which concluded that Hutu extremists at Kanombe barracks orchestrated the deadly attack on the Falcon 50 jet as a pretext to carry out the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.<\/p>\n

The probe was carried out by a Rwandan team of experts led by former Chief Justice Jean Mutsinzi. Speaking to The New Times, Yolande Mukagasana, a survivor, author, and researcher on Genocide said that it is saddening that after 20 years, France came to this decision while all along \u201cthey knew the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reports that were made showed that the firing came from Habyarimana\u2019s military camp (at Kanombe barracks) who were together with French military personnel,\u201d she said, wondering why the lie has persisted for long.<\/p>\n

She also said that this would be a good time for France to bring to book Agathe Kanziga Habyarimana, widow of Habyarimana, who has found a safe haven in the country for nearly three decades.<\/p>\n

She is a core member of Akazu, a small elite group that orchestrated the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 and has an indictment on her head to answer for her role in the Genocide.<\/p>\n

Another point raised by Mukagasana is the tarnished image of the Rwandan officials who were implicated in this case during all these years, and to whom an arrest warrant was issued while they were performing their duties, some as diplomats.<\/p>\n

Egide Nkuranga, the president of Ibuka, an umbrella of survivors, said that this is an \u201couuf!\u201d moment, \u201cthe decision should have been taken a long time ago, but political tension between the two countries contributed to the delay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey knew the truth, what remained was to officially declare it.\u201d He said that they expect France to now bring to book different Genocide suspects who still live in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pay tribute to people who were prosecuted in a totally defamatory manner and who unfailingly supported the fight led by the defense,\u201d said two lawyers who represented Rwanda\u2019s interests in the case, Bernard Maingain and Leon Lef Forster in a joint statement. Asked what is next, Maingain said that the next step can only be taken by the government of Rwanda.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Different activists and Genocide survivors have reacted to the latest ruling by France\u2019s highest court saying that it brings an end to a fallacy that has prevailed for over two decades. This follows the decision by the French cassation court, the highest in the European country, dismissing findings by French magistrate Jean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":11369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28,14],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-11370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nFrench court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Different activists and Genocide survivors have reacted to the latest ruling by France\u2019s highest court saying that it br ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Different activists and Genocide survivors have reacted to the latest ruling by France\u2019s highest court saying that it br ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-17T10:57:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-17T11:50:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/02\/img-620e366c8cbb4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"847\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"491\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-17T10:57:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-17T11:50:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists\"},\"wordCount\":660,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/02\/img-620e366c8cbb4.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists\",\"name\":\"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists - Rwanda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/02\/img-620e366c8cbb4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-17T10:57:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-17T11:50:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Different activists and Genocide survivors have reacted to the latest ruling by France\u2019s highest court saying that it br ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/02\/img-620e366c8cbb4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/02\/img-620e366c8cbb4.jpg\",\"width\":847,\"height\":491,\"caption\":\"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/\",\"name\":\"Rwanda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists - Rwanda","description":"Different activists and Genocide survivors have reacted to the latest ruling by France\u2019s highest court saying that it br ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists","og_description":"Different activists and Genocide survivors have reacted to the latest ruling by France\u2019s highest court saying that it br ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists","og_site_name":"Rwanda","article_published_time":"2022-02-17T10:57:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-17T11:50:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":847,"height":491,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/02\/img-620e366c8cbb4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists","datePublished":"2022-02-17T10:57:47+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-17T11:50:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists"},"wordCount":660,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/02\/img-620e366c8cbb4.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Rwanda","Rwanda"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists","name":"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists - Rwanda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/02\/img-620e366c8cbb4.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-17T10:57:47+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-17T11:50:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Different activists and Genocide survivors have reacted to the latest ruling by France\u2019s highest court saying that it br ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/02\/img-620e366c8cbb4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/02\/img-620e366c8cbb4.jpg","width":847,"height":491,"caption":"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/french-court-decision-was-long-overdue-activists#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"French court decision was long overdue \u2013 activists"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/","name":"Rwanda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}