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| Africa Subsaharan |
| France discontinues Rwanda genocide investigation |
| 2018-12-27 |
| [PRESSTV] French judges have discontinued their long-running investigation into a deadly 1994 attack on a former Rwandan president, which sparked genocide in the African country. A French legal source told media outlets on Wednesday that the investigation was stopped on December 21 due to a lack of evidence. Seven people close to Rwandan President Paul Kagame were charged in the inquiry. In October, French prosecutors had requested a halt to the probe because of insufficient evidence against the seven suspects. The investigation began in 1998. After a closure interval it reopened in 2016 before hitting a series of legal obstacles the following year. The Rwandan genocide began following the shooting down of a plane transporting former President Juvenal Habyarimana on April 6, 1994. Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was also killed in the plane crash. They were both ethnic Hutus. After the crash, Hutus who were in majority, were incited to commit acts of ethnic violence against Tutsis. Habyarimana’s liquidation triggered 100 days of bloodshed that left thousands of people dead, mostly members of the Tutsi minority. In 2009, a Rwandan inquiry found Hutu myrmidons, who viewed Habyarimana as too willing to compromise with Tutsis, responsible for the liquidation. A report from ballistic experts in 2012 also suggested that the missiles used in the attack were likely fired from a camp held by Habyarimana's own presidential guard. |
| Posted by:Fred |