On November 19, France paid tribute to the victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

A street in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France, was named after Aminadabu Birara, a hero of Bisesero, in western Rwanda, who died while putting up fierce resistance against the interahamwe militias during the Genocide.

The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, after a vote by the Paris Council, conferred the 18th Arondissement to  Aminadabu Birara.

Place Aminadabu Birara creates an everlasting memory to remember the act of bravery of the Tutsi of Bisesero who used stones and other traditional weapons against well equipped killers from different areas in the Western Province. 

Bisesero is a mountainous region in Karongi District. During the Genocide, Birara organised and used different unique tactics to counter the attacks of the genocidal government’s soldiers and interahamwe militias.

His tricks were not limited to defense. They also involved reconnaissance, which informed their plans of defense.

First, carefully selected men were sent to do reconnaissance on the footsteps of the Bisesero hills. Whenever they saw cars loaded with killers, they alerted those uphill to descend immediately while women and children were collecting stones.

His other effective trick was close-contact fight. This limited and prevented the attackers from using ammunition and guns.

However, every time Birara employed new resistance tactics, the killers would be defeated and they would withdraw. Their withdrawal implied that they would re-attack with new methods too.

There is a time the militias from the then Cyangugu, Kibuye and Gisenyi prefectures came while wearing coffee leaves which don’t exist in Bisesero hills so as to distinguish themselves from victims. 

Perhaps the most unforgettable date for Bisesero resistors is May 14, 1994 when a massive attack of Interahamwe militia,  supported by soldiers and members of the Presidential Guard, on the hills of Muyira and Gitwa, killed 25,000 to 30,000 Tutsi.  On this day, they set up heavy guns on the hills surrounding Bisesero and started shelling heavily resulting in the death of many women and children who were on the hill tops while the men had descended to encounter and battle the killers. This shelling lasted the whole day.

When the resistors realised that the women and children left behind were killed, and that they were weakened as many resistors were killed and others wounded, Birara changed tactic to resistance while running.

Unfortunately, the hero of Bisesero eventually succumbed to a grenade attack, at the age of 68.

Birara had coordinated the resistance together with his sons: Nzigira, Karamaga and Munyaneza, who survived but died after the Genocide, and Aaron Gakoko who is still alive.

There is a connection between France and Bisesero. When the Genocidal regime supported by France was fleeing as the rebel RPA soldiers advanced, the then President of France, Francois Mitterand did every thing possible to rescue the genocidal government. Since the RPA attack, Mitterand had sent troops to fight the former under “Operation Noroît”. 

On June 20, 1994, France sent a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council for authorization of Operation Turquoise under a two-month Chapter VII mandate. After two days of consultations and the personal approval of the U.N. Secretary General, it was adopted as Resolution 929 (1994), on June 22, with 10 votes of approval and five abstentions.

The "multilateral" force consisted of 2,500 troops. Even if the resolution was being discussed, some French soldiers were already in Goma (DRC). They entered Rwanda before the resolution was actually passed.

The primary mission of Operation Turquoise was to stop the RPA advance. Key witness, Lt Col Guillaume Ancel who was part of the Operation Turquoise said that: “Obviously, Operation Turquoise had a humanitarian mission, but at the same time it was an aggressive military operation which dealt with immensely supporting Government which was committing the Genocide.”

“My testimony is based on what I saw, not what I read. I received orders to prepare a raid on Kigali which was liberated by RPF. The orders stated that taking control of Kigali was not in bid to implement a humanitarian operation but rather bringing back to power the defeated government. This was on 30 June 1994, the genocide was still underway. It was on the eighth day of our operation in Rwanda. I received orders to go and halt RPF soldiers who were fighting the genocidal government. We were on the point of attacking when we received orders to cancel the operation. By arming them we transformed refugee camps into military bases.”

Today, some French senior officers who served in Operation Turquoise and those who participated in different operations in Rwanda between 1990 and 1994 still exhibit hatred towards the RPF and they support genocide fugitives.

They still believe in Hutu land and deny the Genocide against the Tutsi for “Honneur de la France”.

They are against anyone who publicly talks about the role of France during the Genocide against Tutsi including current French President Emmanuel Macron.

Such French soldiers include  Gen Jacques Lanxade who was the Special Chief of Staff of Mitterrand from April 1989 to April 1991 and Army Chief of Staff (from April 1991 to September 1995), Lt. Col. Michel Roberday, Col. Jacques Rosier, Col. Didier Tauzin, and Col. Jacques Hogard.

Some of those cited are members of an association of  genocide deniers called France-Turquoise which brings together the former French soldiers who participated in Operation Turquoise in 1994.

They participate in many seminars of genocide deniers and always testify in favor of suspected Rwandan genocidaires in France and other countries’ courts. One of them, Michel Robardey, runs a blog where he disseminates disavowal ideas about the genocide against the Tutsi.

Whenever those deniers walk around the 18th Arondissement now named  Aminadabu Birara, they will be shamed by their evil actions of supporting genocidaires during the genocide while leaving behind the victims.

Since remembrance is the most powerful weapon against genocide, Paris should be an example for other global cities to give a place to the victims of the Genocide against Tutsi in order to fight genocide around the world.