Facts
In June 1994, Opération Turquoise was launched by the French military, in the context of the genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda. The operation, which counted 2’500 French military personnel, aimed at ending the massacres and protecting the civilian populations.
Several former military personnel later alleged that the operation had a hidden political agenda and that numerous abuses were perpetrated by French military forces on the ground, including the rape of Tutsi women and the allowing of several massacres by knowingly abandoning Tutsi civilians to the hands of their genocidaires. In particular, between 27 and 30 June 1994, the French army failed to prevent atrocities committed on the Bisesero hills where Tutsi survivors had taken refuge, of which the army was allegedly aware.
Procedure
In February 2005, a complaint was filed by six victims as civil parties. Later that year, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), its member organization in France, the Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH) and Survie were admitted as civil parties in the case.
In 2012, the case was transferred to the specialized unit for the prosecution of international crimes.
In 2017, the investigative judges refused to grant the request of the civil parties to interview senior political and military officials. An appeal was lodged against this decision, but the refusal was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
The same year, several French military personnel were placed under the status of “assisted witnesses” (témoins assistés).
On 26 July 2018, the investigation was closed by the investigative judges. A request for additional investigative acts was filed by the civil parties but this request was rejected by the investigating judges. The civil parties appealed this decision unsuccessfully.
On 3 May 2021, the prosecutor asked for the dismissal of the case.
In June 2021, the civil parties filed observations to oppose the dismissal.
In September 2022, the investigative judges followed the request of the prosecutor and dismissed the case, deeming that the investigation had not established the direct participation nor the complicity of the French military forces in the crimes committed between 27 and 30 June 1994.
The civil parties appealed this decision.
On 21 June 2023, the Court of Appeal granted the civil parties’ appeal and ordered the reopening of the investigation.
Once again, the prosecutor asked for the dismissal of the case, what the investigative judges did.
The civil parties have appealed this decision.
On 9 September 2024, a hearing took place before the Court of Appeal.
On 11 December 2024, the Court of Appeal confirmed the dismissal of the case. The civil parties have referred the matter to the Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation).