Access to presidential archives on Rwanda, between 1990 and 1995 while François Mitterrand was in post, had been denied to him. The Council of State has just authorized him to consult them.
Researcher François Graner will thus be able to "feed his historical research and thus inform the debate on a question of public interest" on the controversial role of France during the genocide of Tutsis, in 1994.
The Council of State authorizes a researcher to consult the archives of President Mitterrand on Rwanda, before the 60-year
deadline 👉 https://t.co/rPaK2xjjhQ pic.twitter.com/TBgN6QmJHl
These documents were normally subject to classification for a period of 60 years and are now in the National Archives. They include in particular notes drawn up by the advisers of the President and reports of meetings of the Government and “are indeed covered by a protocol which does not provide for their general opening to the public until 60 years after its signature, in 2055. The Council of State recalls that an early consultation is however possible with the authorization of the representative, "said the highest court in the state in a press release.
François Graner is the author of several books devoted to the role of France in Rwanda during the events linked to the genocide perpetrated in 1994. For the Court of Cassation “the protection of state secrets must be weighed against the interest to inform the public about these historic events ”.
Jurisprudence
And to invoke the jurisprudence of "consultation already authorized for previous research work".
The Council of State also recalls, in accordance with the case law of the Constitutional Council and the European Court of Human Rights, "that the possibility of access to public archives derives so much from the right to demand account from any public official of his administration, set out in article 15 of the Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights of 1789, that, in certain cases, freedom of expression protected by article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of the Rights of Man and fundamental freedoms ”.
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- Justice
- Africa
- Genocide in Rwanda
- François Mitterrand
- World
- Rwanda