|
Number: 22865
Date: June 26, 1994
Author: Amanpour, Christiane
Title: Rwanda French Patrol
Source: CNN
Abstract: On June 26, 1994, a CNN team followed a French military convoy from Goma, Zaire, to Kibuye, Rwanda. They meet journalists, including Sam Kiley of The Times, who are returning from Bisesero and alert Captain Eric Bucquet on the situation of the last Tutsi survivors who are still hunted down. Kiley shows him Bisesero on the map. Journalists Patrick de Saint Exupery of Le Figaro and Vincent Hugeux of L'Express will recount this meeting. But the French military will continue to allow the massacres until June 30, return to Bisesero, Sam Kiley helped Michel Peyrard Paris Match convince French soldiers to rescue the survivors.
Comment: It is not known whether Captain Bucquet of the RICM passed on this information to his superiors. What is certain is that no rescue mission was launched by the French. The reconnaissance of the CPA 10 group at Bisesero the following day, June 27, seems to have been an initiative of Lieutenant-Colonel Duval, alias Diego, following information given to him by the Namur sisters in Kibuye. Colonel Patrice Sartre, commander of the RICM, tells us: "I have no recollection of any information from Bucquet on the subject. It's true that on June 26, Bisesero was still under the control of the COS and therefore not in my zone. For this reason, either Bucquet didn't see fit to tell me about it, or I didn't memorize the info. I won't take control of Bisesero until the wounded have been 'discovered' and evacuated" (SMS from September 28, 2023).
|
