The National Independent Commission Charged With Gathering Evidence to Show the Implication of the French Government in the Genocide Perpetrated in Rwanda in 1994, commonly referred to as the Mucyo Commission after its Chairman, is a

Rwandan government Politically, Rwanda is a ''de facto'' one-party state ruled by the Rwandan Patriotic Front and its leader Paul Kagame since the end of the 1994 genocide against members of the Tutsi ethnic group. Although Rwanda is nominally democratic, elect ...

commission established by

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame ( ; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who has been the President of Rwanda since 2000. He was previously a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel armed force which invaded ...

in order to ascertain the nature of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

involvement in the 1994 genocide. It released a report in August 2008, 331 pages in total, claiming to detail that France was not only complicit, but had engaged in actions on the level of conspiracy to

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

. Allegations included covert weapons dealing and training of

interahamwe The Interahamwe ( or ) is a Hutu paramilitary organization active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The Interahamwe was formed around 1990, as the youth wing of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (M ...

militants before and during the genocide, providing protection and shelter for some of the worst '' genocidaires'', illegitimate humanitarian aims during Operation Turquoise and even French

black ops A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. US law Under US law, the Central Intelligence Ag ...

on the ground of

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

during the genocide. This report, however, has been subject to great controversy and skepticism in the

international community The international community is a term used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. Usage Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is typically used to imply the ...

. It has been accused of being politically charged to benefit the

Rwandan Patriotic Front The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi; , FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. The RPF was founded in December 1987 by Rwandan Tutsi in exile in Uganda because of the ethnic violence that had occurred during the Rwandan Hutu Revo ...

History

The commission was established in 2004 when a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

authorizing it was passed through the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

Organic Law No. 05/2005. The commission was chaired by Jean de Dieu Mucyo, former

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

of Rwanda and included a variety of high level Rwandan officials, including the

Vice-President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Criticism

According to the scholar

Filip Reyntjens Filip Reyntjens (born 1952) is professor emeritus at University of Antwerp. His academic training is in constitutional law, but he later pivoted towards the study of politics especially of the Great Lakes region of Africa. Career In 1975, while ...

: :"The Mucyo report was problematic for several reasons. Very selective in the use of sources and citations, it avoided mentioning any responsibility of the RPF in the events leading up to the genocide. ..Certain data were unlikely, to say the least; for instance, Tutsi were thrown out of helicopters above Nyungwe forest, but later told their story to the commission. At least one document (on page 295 of the report) was a crude fake."

References

{{Reflist, 2 2004 in Rwanda 2008 in Rwanda Rwandan genocide Government of France