A criminal complaint has been filed in France against the country’s central bank, Banque de France, alleging possible complicity in the financing of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, according to reporting by international media including Radio France Internationale (RFI).
The complaint was submitted on December 4, 2025 to a senior investigating judge in a Paris court unit specializing in crimes against humanity. It was filed by lawyers Matilda Ferey and Joseph Breham on behalf of the Collective of Civil Parties for Rwanda (CPCR) and its founders, Alain Gauthier and Dafroza Mukarumongi, RFI reported.
Allegations outlined in complaint
According to the report, the plaintiffs accuse the Banque de France of authorizing financial transfers in 1994 from the National Bank of Rwanda during the period of the genocide. The complaint alleges that seven wire transfers, made between May and August 1994, totaled about 3.17 million French francs (roughly €486,000).
The complainants argue that some of the funds may have enabled the then-interim Rwandan authorities to maintain communications and possibly procure weapons despite an international arms embargo in place at the time. Among the recipients cited is the French telecommunications company Alcatel, which allegedly received funds used to purchase satellite communication equipment. Other transfers reportedly went to Rwandan diplomatic missions in Ethiopia, South Africa and Egypt, according to the complaint cited by RFI.
Lawyers for the civil parties said the case seeks to examine whether financial and administrative decisions made outside Rwanda may have indirectly facilitated the functioning of the genocidal regime.
Evidence referenced
The complaint relies partly on documentation compiled in 1996 by experts working with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), including records tracing financial transfers connected to Rwanda during the genocide, the report said. Investigators cited by the plaintiffs argue that given the scale of international awareness of the killings and the arms embargo in force, certain transactions should have been subject to heightened scrutiny.
Legal status of the case
Under French law, the filing of a complaint does not establish guilt. A judge must determine whether to open a formal investigation. If accepted, the case could examine whether the central bank had legal or procedural obligations to block or flag the transactions at the time.
The Banque de France has not publicly responded in detail to the allegations cited in the complaint as of the time of reporting.
Broader context
The case comes amid ongoing efforts by survivors’ organizations and advocacy groups to pursue accountability for individuals and institutions alleged to have played roles, direct or indirect, in enabling the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. More than one million people were killed during the three-month period.
Calls for accountability for genocide suspects and alleged accomplices abroad continue more than three decades later.
