Bank of France Sued Over Rwanda Genocide Funding

The Bank of France faces a formal legal complaint. Plaintiffs accuse the institution of complicity in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

The plaintiffs filed the complaint on December 4 with the specialized crimes against humanity unit of the Paris judicial court. They allege that the French central bank facilitated financial flows to the Rwandan regime at the very height of the massacres.

The Alleged Transfers

The civil plaintiffs include the Collective of Civil Parties for Rwanda (CPCR). According to them, the Bank of France permitted seven distinct financial transfers to the National Bank of Rwanda.

These transactions reportedly occurred between May and August 1994. The plaintiffs estimate the total value of these payments at approximately €486,000 in today’s currency.

Crucially, the complaint highlights the timing. These transfers allegedly continued even after May 17, 1994. On this date, the United Nations imposed a strict arms embargo on Rwanda to halt the violence.

Funding the Violence?

The legal argument centers on the impact of these funds. Plaintiffs contend that the money provided a financial lifeline to the interim Rwandan government.

They argue that the regime may have used these funds to procure critical equipment. This could have facilitated the logistical execution of the genocide.

The plaintiffs assert that the Bank of France failed in its duty of oversight by authorizing these movements of funds.

The Bank’s Defense

The Bank of France has responded to the allegations.

The institution stated that it has no remaining trace of the transactions in question. It noted that, as a matter of routine procedure, it destroys many administrative records older than ten years.

A New Legal Chapter

This case marks a significant development. It opens a new chapter in the decades-long effort to clarify France’s role during the Rwandan genocide.

A judicial investigation will now determine the facts. The court must decide whether the central bank’s actions or lack of oversight contributed to enabling crimes during one of the 20th century’s deadliest atrocities.

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