Bank of France faces lawsuit over millions it poured into Rwanda genocide Kigali demands justice from Paris

A lawsuit has been filed against the French central bank, Bank of France (Banque de France), accusing it of complicity in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The complaint was lodged on December 4 by lawyers Matilda Ferey and Joseph Breham on behalf of three civil parties — Dafroza and Alain Gauthier, as well as the Collective of Civil Parties for Rwanda — with the senior investigating judge of the Paris court’s unit for crimes against humanity, Cаliber.Az reports, citing the African news website Africa Confidential.

The case threatens to reopen long-standing tensions between Paris and the government of Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

At the centre of the lawsuit are allegations that Banque de France authorised seven transfers from the National Bank of Rwanda’s account, amounting to a total of 3.17 million French francs (approximately €486,000). According to the complaint, some of these payments were made to the French company Alcatel and are alleged to have financed the purchase of satellite phones.

This is not the first time a French financial institution has been implicated in cases linked to the genocide. In 2017, a legal complaint was filed against BNP Paribas over transfers worth $1.3 million to a South African arms dealer, which allegedly facilitated the shipment of 80 tonnes of arms and ammunition from the Seychelles to Rwanda.

The role of the government of then-President François Mitterrand — particularly allegations that it supplied weapons later used during the three-month genocide and violated a United Nations arms embargo imposed in May 1994 — has remained a major source of friction between Paris and Kigali for decades.

Tensions escalated further in 2008 when President Kagame released a report by a Rwandan commission accusing the French state of involvement in the genocide. The move was widely interpreted as a response to a 2006 request by French investigating magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière for international arrest warrants against Kagame and eight senior officials of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).

By Khagan Isayev