Name: Bank of France hit with legal complaint
Uploaded: 2025-12-12T16:58:16.485Z
Duration: 1 min 5 s
Description: The case opens a new chapter in ongoing efforts to clarify France’s role during the Rwanda genocide. A judicial investigation is expected to determine whether the central bank failed in its duty of oversight.

The case opens a new chapter in ongoing efforts to clarify France’s role during the Rwanda genocide. A judicial investigation is expected to determine whether the central bank failed in its duty of oversight.

Paris

A legal complaint has been filed against the Bank of France, accusing it of involvement in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The complaint, submitted to the Paris Judicial Court's crimes against humanity unit, alleges that the Bank of France allowed seven financial transfers to the National Bank of Rwanda between May and August 1994, during the height of the genocide.

According to the plaintiffs, these transactions, totaling the equivalent of €486,000 today, continued even after a United Nations arms embargo was imposed. The funds are alleged to have potentially supported the interim Rwandan government's procurement of equipment critical to the genocidal regime.

Bank of France hit with legal complaint

The Bank of France is facing a formal legal complaint accusing it of involvement in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The complaint was filed December 4 before the Paris Judicial Court's unit dedicated to crimes against humanity. According to the civil plaintiff including the collective of civil parties for Rwanda, the Bank of France allegedly allowed seven financial transfers to the National Bank of Rwanda between May and August 1994 at the height of the genocide. The payment, totalling the equivalent of €486,000 today, reportedly continued even after the UN imposed an arms embargo on May 17, 1994. The plaintiff argued that these transactions may have supplied the interim Rwandan government with funds that could have supported the procurement of equipment deemed critical to the genocidal regime, potentially facilitating the violence.

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