Abstract
- The United Nations Security Council has approved the French initiative for a humanitarian and military mission in Rwanda. 10 votes in favor, none against, five abstentions. A green light that the French government was waiting for before launching its Operation Turquoise tomorrow morning [June 23].
- Nearly 200 men are this evening in Goma, the Zairian airport on the Rwandan border. One kilometer away, Gisenyi, where the provisional government is entrenched, in what still remains Rwanda's toughest Hutu stronghold.
- To avoid being accused of bringing assistance to our old friends, it is finally further south that the French operation will begin. Primary objective: to save from certain death a few thousand Tutsi refugees not far from Cyangugu. The rest of the operation will be the result of the reconnaissance. A mission therefore very careful, evolving: the shortest possible distance, the shortest possible time seems to be the new watchword of the French military.
- All night and morning in Goma, Hercules, Transall, Antonov succeeded each other in rotations, unloading men and materials. At this moment, the soldiers settle for the night in the hall of the airport. The appearance is relaxed and the only declared objective for this first Turquoise day in bloody Rwanda: humanitarian aid, nothing but humanitarianism.
- In Bangui, at Camp Béal, command post for the French elements of operational assistance in the Central African Republic, no particular excitement. The men of the RICM -- rapid intervention marine troops -- have just traveled 450 kilometers of difficult track since they arrived last night [June 21] from Bouar in the north-west of the Central African Republic, where they are stationed. 350 of them are part of the operation. Some checks are therefore required before boarding by air, to eastern Zaire, then Rwanda. During the intervention, the orders are to respect Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which sets out the conditions under which these troops will be able to use their weapons in this peacemaking operation.
- Meanwhile, on the spot in Kigali, shells fell on the city this morning while the United Nations Mission evacuated its French-speaking military observers, threatened by French initiatives. The day before yesterday [June 20], 200 Tutsi children had been evacuated under the watchful eye of these UN observers but also Hutu militias.
- Exchange between François Léotard and Jacques Bihozagara. François Léotard: - "We would not have intervened if there had been no UN resolution. We are not here in a national movement. We are here to apply a resolution which has just been voted on by the UN, and that we wished, allowing to put an end to certain massacres and certain atrocities. […] We save the people we meet, whatever their ethnicity, whatever even, for foreigners, their nationality. […] We want to engage as little as possible in Rwandan territory. And we do not want to take sides in today's conflict in any way. […] We are going to ask the UN to speed up the UNAMIR intervention process to ensure that it can immediately take over from the French system. We are in a way preceding this UN force, which will be under peacekeeper, which I hope will be able to intervene in the course of the summer. […] I have always expressed my concern to stay within a very limited time frame. And not to ensure that the French forces are gradually considered as a kind of international gendarmerie which would intervene everywhere in the world. It turns out that here we have the express request of the United Nations. […] I think that from the first saved child, you will see a number of international competitions appear. Because our goal is to save children. And that, I do not know who can dispute this objective! […] There are not many things that are more beautiful than saving people threatened with death. […] It must be emphasized that the instructions given to the French soldiers are not to come into contact with the RPF forces, not to come into contact with the people who are currently tearing themselves apart". Jacques Bihozagara: - "The operation to rescue populations in danger had been organized and thought through at the level of the Security Council. The Security Council passed resolution 918, which broadened the mandate of UNAMIR. And now we do not see why it is France that is rushing. We are therefore still opposed for reasons that we have always mentioned: France was in Rwanda in 1990 to supposedly protect foreign and French nationals. But, afterwards, we noticed that France took a position in favor of the regime in place. And it took three years for France to leave Rwanda. And now France is returning to Rwanda for yet another humanitarian action. We believe there are other reasons than humanitarian reasons. […] The regime which is slaughtering today has been helped, supported, armed by France! And now, we think that France's action is exactly to prolong its aid to the regime in disarray". François Léotard: - "There is no such intervention. The instructions given to the French forces are never to come into contact with the RPF. That is to say at no time not to seek to be a stakeholder in this conflict. And I don't see how we can be blamed for saving people who are Tutsi. And really, I do not see how we can doubt our good faith in this matter. Because there is no other intention. There is a belligerent intention in this matter. At no time". Jacques Bihozagara: - "I think that if France goes back there, first of all, it's too late. And secondly, we think that the French intervention risks rather complicating the situation and inflaming the whole region". François Léotard: - "I do not see why a week ago all the non-governmental organizations, many international observers were like, 'What are you waiting for? We have to go!'. Now that we are starting this process, we are told, 'But why are you going?'. Once again, it is not the French government, it is the UN which asks the French government to carry out this humanitarian action while waiting for a larger force to come under peacekeeper. I can tell you that it is a complex, heavy operation, but we do it because we have a certain conception of our international responsibilities, of the role of France with its African friends".