France in Rwanda. Guilty neutrality
Claudine Vidal & Jean-Hervé Bradol
Claudine Vidal is a sociologist whose research has mainly centred on Rwanda (from its pre-colonial history to the genocide of Tutsi Rwandans in 1994) and Côte d'Ivoire (history and sociology of urbanisation in Abidjan). This research has been carried out in the framework of the Centre d'Études africaines de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Since 1995 she has collaborated with MSF on various publications and regularly participates in the reflection and work of the CRASH.
Medical doctor, specialized in tropical medicine, emergency medicine and epidemiology. In 1989 he went on mission with Médecins sans Frontières for the first time, and undertook long-term missions in Uganda, Somalia and Thailand. He returned to the Paris headquarters in 1994 as a programs director. Between 1996 and 1998, he served as the director of communications, and later as director of operations until May 2000 when he was elected president of the French section of Médecins sans Frontières. He was re-elected in May 2003 and in May 2006. From 2000 to 2008, he was a member of the International Council of MSF and a member of the Board of MSF USA. He is the co-editor of "Medical innovations in humanitarian situations" (MSF, 2009) and Humanitarian Aid, Genocide and Mass Killings: Médecins Sans Frontiéres, The Rwandan Experience, 1982–97 (Manchester University Press, 2017).
The CRASH team invited you to the screening-debate “France in Rwanda. Guilty neutrality” on Monday 11th of February 2019 from 6 to 8pm, in the 1rst floor room of the 8 rue Saint-Sabin. A documentary film by Robert Genoud and Claudine Vidal (Director Emeritus for research at the CNRS, member of the CRASH scientific committee at MSF), and produced by EUP. Before and after the screening, Claudine Vidal and Jean-Hervé Bradol, both actors of MSF mobilization between 1994 and 1998 launched the discussion.
In Rwanda, the genocide against the Tutsis started in April 1994. Twenty-five years ago. In 1998, in Paris, the National Assembly launched a fact-finding campaign on the military operations led in Rwanda by France, other countries and the UN, between 1990 and 1994Column “For a parliamentary commission of inquiry on the role of France between 1990 and 1994. In Rwanda, what France? ” Published on March 3rd 1998 in Libération..The meetings were mostly public, several MSF members were constantly attending and reported immediately on the Internet. Following this active watch, it was decided to produce a movie: an inquiry, an observation of the parliamentary work, along with a retelling of the positions held by MSF, the military and political commitments in France, the reactions they elicited, and finally the humanitarian practices between 1990 and 1994.
This movie calls for questions that still hold relevance today, at least at MSF: on the appropriateness of calls for parliamentary inquiries along with the publicity around the debates and documents; on the alerts to the risks of mass crimes and on public usage of said alerts; on the ability of humanitarian teams to intervene during episodes of extreme violence; on the necessary situational inquiries and short stories to which MSF must commit to understand the events and potentially anticipate the worst.
To cite this content :
Claudine Vidal, Jean-Hervé Bradol, “France in Rwanda. Guilty neutrality”, 11 février 2019, URL : https://msf-crash.org/en/conferences-debates/france-rwanda-guilty-neutrality
If you would like to comment on this article, you can find us on social media or contact us here:
Contribute
Book
Humanitarian aid, genocide and mass killings. Médecins Sans Frontières, the Rwandan experience, 1982-97
11/04/2016Throughout the 1990s, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was forced to face the challenges posed by the genocide of Rwandan Tutsis and a succession of major outbreaks of political violence in Rwanda and its neighbouring countries.
Brendan Bannon
Dossier
Extreme violences: MSF experience in Rwanda
10/18/2017Several texts by members and associates of the CRASH published between 1994 and 2014 are united in this collection. In 2017, a book joins these publications: Humanitarian aid, genocide and mass killings: Médecins Sans Frontières, the Rwandan experience (1982-1997).
Read more
Sebastiao Salgado
Review
Une enquête sur les actions de la France au Rwanda et les polémiques qu’elles suscitent
12/15/2008Marc Le Pape nous propose un compte rendu du livre d'Olivier Lanotte, La France au Rwanda (1990-1994) Entre abstention impossible et engagement ambivalent (Peter Lang, Bruxelles, 2007).
Past events
Conference
How to improve access to care and aid for people living with a handicap in a humanitarian context?
04/07/2022 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMThe Crash team was pleased to invite you to the screening-debate of the film Agir contre l'exclusion, on April 7, 2022. The event was prepared and moderated by Elba Rahmouni.
Conference
Reconstructing Lives
02/17/2022 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMThe members of the Crash team were happy to welcome you all to an conference-debate with anthropologist Vanja Kovačič, on Thursday 17th of February. The author introduced her recently-published book "Reconstructing lives Victims of war in the Middle East and Médecins Sans Frontières" (Manchester University Press, translated in French and Arabic). This event, prepared with Jean-Hervé Bradol, was moderated by Michaël Neuman.
Conference
Another approach to well-being at work
12/09/2021 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMThe members of the Crash were very happy to welcome you all to this conference-debate with occupational psychologists Yves Clot and Jean-Yves Bonnefond, two of the authors of “Le prix du travail bien fait – La coopération conflictuelle dans les organisations” (Paris, La Découverte, 2021 ; co-written with Antoine Bonnemain and Mylène Zittoun). This event, prepared with Judith Soussan, was moderated by Clément Perrin.
msf
Conference
Book launch event - Violences extrêmes. Enquêter, secourir, juger République démocratique du Congo, Rwanda, Syrie
11/17/2021 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMWe were happy to welcome Claudine Vidal, sociologist (CNRS) and Crash scientific committee member, and Jean-Hervé Bradol, doctor, former President of the French section of MSF and current director studies at the Crash, for the launching event of the newly-published book “Violences extrêmes. Enquêter, secourir, juger République démocratique du Congo, Rwanda, Syrie” (Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, Paris 2021). The event was hosted by Rony Brauman.
Conference
Round Table - 50 years of Doctors without borders (Médecins sans frontières)
11/03/2021 - 07:30 PM 09:00 PMMédecins Sans Frontières celebrated its 50th anniversary. On this occasion and in the framework of the International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA) conference, the Crash organized a Round Table on the history of the organization, the myths surrounding it, and its recent evolution. This meeting, prepared with Elba Rahmouni, was moderated by Bertrand Taithe.
Conference
Asylum and exile. A history of the distinction between migrants / refugees
04/12/2021 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMOn April 12 2021, we were delighted to welcome Karen Akoka, political scientist and sociologist, fresh from her publication in November of “Asylum and Exile. A History of the Refugee/Migrant Distinction" (La Découverte, 2020). The author described and analyzed the trajectory of OFPRA, the French institution founded in 1952 and responsible for granting refugee status; she provided an insight into how the history of the distinction between migrants and refugees was established in France. This conference was prepared and moderated by Michaël Neuman.