Justice after Genocide: Prosecuting Hutu Perpetrators - Alain and Drafoza Gauthier

The Collective of Civil Parties for Rwanda (Le Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda- CPCR) was created in November 2001 by Alain and Drafoza Gauthier. Since its inception, it has continuously prepared complaints against Rwandan genocide suspects. The association provides moral and financial support to those who, in relation to the genocide of 1994, would like to prosecute presumed perpetrators hiding on French soil. The association also offers to present itself as party in the process of filing complaints, and to offer help in any action aiming to preserve the memory of the victims. The mission of the CPCR is to bring the culprits to justice, because it is only justice that can restore the dignity of victims and survivors.

This lecture will present the speakers' historical commitment to the CPCR by situating this combat in the contact of Rwanda and the genocide against the Tutsi. The presentation will be followed by a discussion with the audience. 

Dafroza was born in Rwanda in 1954. She had to flee her country in 1973 and found refuge first in Burundi, then in Belgium. She is now retired; she has worked for a long time as a chemical engineer in the analytical laboratory of the City of Reims, she was also associate director of Human Resources for the City of Reims in the area of "well-being at the workplace".

Alain was born in Ardèche in 1948. Working in Rwanda from 1970 to 1972, he then became a middle school French teacher in Aisne, and then in Reims. Later he took on the post of head of a professional middle and high school. He finished his career as the associate president of an important school.

Their common history began in 1974. They were married in 1977 and have three children and four grandchildren. In 1994, Dafroza lost most of her family to the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. In 1997, the couple started collecting testimonies of survivors to bring their case to justice. IN 2001, they created the CPCR with the aim of prosecuting those suspected of having taken part in the genocide living in France. To this day, three perpetrators have been condemned by French justice and they have filed more than twenty complaints. The fight continues.