French Court OKs End to Rwanda Genocide Investigation

The skulls and bones of some of those who were slaughtered as they sought refuge inside the church are laid out as a memorial to the thousands who were killed in and around the Catholic church during the 1994 genocide in Ntarama, Rwanda on April 4, 2014. The Paris appeals court upheld a decision to end a years-long investigation into the plane crash that sparked Rwanda's 1994 genocide, citing lack of sufficient evidence, on July 3, 2020. Ben Curtis/AP Photo

PARIS—The Paris appeals court, on Friday, July 1, upheld a decision to end a years-long investigation into the plane crash that sparked Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, citing lack of sufficient evidence.

The probe has damaged France–Rwanda relations for years, because it targeted several people close to current Rwandan President Paul Kagame. His justice minister welcomed Friday’s decision, and his supporters have denounced the investigation as an attempt to exonerate France’s suspected role in the genocide.