Genocide of Tutsi: Monument Inaugurated in Paris by Emmanuel Macron, New Memorial Gesture Towards Kigali

A monument to the victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda was inaugurated on the banks of the Seine in Paris on Tuesday. French President Emmanuel Macron and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame attended the ceremony, signifying a new step in memorial relations between France and Rwanda.

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Here, like an archive, rest the voices and words, the memories and experiences, the feelings and hopes of the victims and survivors

The double stele, designed by Portuguese artist Grada Kilomba, is intended as a place for remembrance of the disappeared and for the intergenerational transmission of the genocide's memory, according to the Élysée Palace. Engraved on the black brass blocks is a tribute to the hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children massacred between April and July 1994: "Here, like an archive, rest the voices and words, the memories and experiences, the feelings and hopes of the victims and survivors."

France's role before, during, and after the genocide, during which it maintained close ties with the Hutu government of the time, has been a contentious issue for years. This tension even led to a rupture in diplomatic relations between France and Rwanda from 2006 to 2009. Paul Kagame, a former leader of the Tutsi rebellion's Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which ended the genocide, had long accused Paris of complicity.

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like a place of remembrance, in memory of the disappeared, and of intergenerational transmission of the memory of the genocide

In 2021, President Macron acknowledged France's "overwhelming responsibilities" in the genocide during a historic speech in Kigali. This followed the findings of a commission of historians he had appointed, which also cleared France of direct complicity. While Macron did not offer an apology, he expressed hope for forgiveness from survivors. This move unprecedentedly fostered a "very strong relationship" with Rwanda, according to Vincent Duclert, the president of the historians' commission. He believes this new memorial in Paris represents another powerful step, bringing the Tutsi genocide fully into French public history.

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overwhelming responsibilities

Duclert highlighted the monument's "highly symbolic location" near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the presidency, "places of power that bore witness to their failure" during the genocide. The monument is designed to be permanent and visible in the public space. For survivors and the Rwandan diaspora, the inauguration represents a long-awaited moment. "We have been waiting for this for over 30 years... it's oxygen, because civil society has long carried this burden alone," one representative stated.

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a very strong relationship