France’s central bank, the Banque de France, has been hit with a formal legal complaint accusing it of complicity in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in a development that has drawn international attention to financial institutions’ roles in historic conflicts. The complaint, filed on December 4 in a Paris court’s crimes-against-humanity division, alleges that the central bank authorised a series of financial transfers from an account belonging to the National Bank of Rwanda during the genocide period — between May and August 1994 — at a time when a United Nations arms embargo was in force. The plaintiffs argue these transfers, totalling the equivalent of around 3.17 million French francs, may have facilitated the purchase of communication equipment and weapons used by government forces at the height of the violence.
Lawyers representing survivors and civil parties contend that the Banque de France failed to impose adequate safeguards or halt the financial flows, despite growing warnings about the escalating ethnic conflict and the unfolding mass killings of Tutsi and moderate Hutu populations. Human rights advocates further argue that authorising such transactions without stricter oversight raises serious questions about the central bank’s role in enabling activities linked to the genocide.
In response, the Banque de France has stated publicly that it is cooperating with the legal process and upholding applicable procedures, while expressing “deep solidarity” with victims and their families. The case is expected to prompt a broader judicial review of financial oversight responsibilities during periods of mass violence, even though the complaint does not itself imply criminal guilt at this stage.
The legal action marks a new chapter in ongoing efforts to clarify aspects of France’s historical and institutional involvement in the events leading up to and during the Rwandan genocide, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 800,000 people in 1994.