Macron seeks forgiveness for France's role in Rwanda genocide

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said he recognizes that France bears a heavy responsibility for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and asked for forgiveness for his country's role. He said this in a speech at the Kigali Genocide Memorial where 250,000 victims of the mass killings are buried.

Noting that France did not listen to those who warned about the impending massacre in Rwanda, Macron regretted that his country stood by a genocidal regime.

"Standing here today, with humility and respect by your side, I have come to recognize our responsibilities. However, France was not an accomplice to the genocide," he said.

"France has a role, a history and a political responsibility in Rwanda. It has a duty, that of looking history in the face and recognizing the suffering that is inflicted on the Rwandan people by favoring silence over the examination of truth for too long," he added.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame praised the speech at a joint press conference after the two leaders met.

"His words were something more valuable than an apology. They were the truth. This was an act of tremendous courage. Speaking the truth is risky, but you do it because it is right, even when it costs you something, even when it is unpopular. This visit is about the future, not the past," Kagame said.

The Rwanda genocide that lasted between April and July of 1994 began after Juvenal Habyarimana, Rwanda's Hutu president and with whom Paris had cultivated close ties, was killed when his plane was shot down over Kigali on Apr 6.

Over 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu militias. The genocide ended when the Rwandan Patriotic Front, led by current president Kagame, launched an attack from Uganda and seized control of the country.