The French presence in Africa historically, has been blood thirsty and genocidal one. Everywhere France had a colony in Africa, whether in Central,West or North Africa, massive numbers of Africans died at the hands od French troops. In the case of Rwanda however, while not counting out the possiblilty of French troops having participated in some of the killing, France's relationship and support for what was then the legitimate government of President Juvenal Habyarimana, has been distorted and misrepresneted. While seeking justice for the victims of what happened in Rwanda in 1994, we must not overlook the broader historical and geopolitcal reasons as to why the killings took place.

As Mahmoud Mamdani points out in his book, "When Victims Become Killers: Genocide, Colonilasim and Nativism in Rwanda, the genocide in Rwanda did not began in 1994 but rather in 1884, the year that Western Europeans powers got together and conspired to carve up Africa for themselves. What followed were 2 distinct genocidal impulses that were produced in Africa. The first being that of the European invaders against the various native African populations. The second being that of the African native as he struggled to extract these genocidal foreigners forces from his land.

In the case of Rwanda, with Belgium having implemented the colonial strategy of "indirect rule", used the Tutsis as their proxies to rule over their Hutu brethen. The Belgiums inculcated the Tutsis with an artificial "quasi European racial (Hamaitic) indentity, so much so, that the Hutus began to view them as foreigners as well.

With the coming of independence, the Tutsi elite refused to be ruled by the majority Hutus whom they had been taught by the Belgiums, were inferior to them and fled the country to places like Uganda where they immediately began to attack the newly independent Rwandan goverment.
Because of this, some Tutsis (not all) were looked upon with suspicsion, and were viewed quite justifiably, as wanting to maintain the privileged status they had under colonialism.

Attempts by Tutsis to invade the country were enhanced when the US began to train the Rwanda Patriotic Army in Uganda. France, which had had a relationship with Rwanda since independence, responded to President Habyarimana request for military assistance to ward off continued attacks by the RPA/RPF coming across the Ugandan border. Despite ongoing negotiations between the Habyarimana government and the RPF, President Habyarimana along with President Ntayaramiri of Burundi, were assassinated by the RPF when their plane was shot down as they returned from negotiations in Tanzania.

Charges by some, that the French were involved in the shoooting of the plane carrying the 2 Hutu presidents belies all logic. While it cannot be overlooked that Frances relationship with the Habyarimana's government was motivated by Frances concern to protect it's interests
in the region, this rush to blame France in part on in whole, is an attempt I feel, to obsfuscate the real reasons why this very tragic event happened and to provide cover for the many other culprits who were involved in instigating and benefitting from this genocide.