By Anait Miridzhanian
Thiaroye, SENEGAL (Reuters) – Senegal on Sunday commemorated the eightieth anniversary of a bloodbath of African troopers who fought for France throughout World Warfare Two, and have been gunned down by French troops in 1944 for demanding honest therapy and fee on their return.
The West African nation has lengthy demanded its former coloniser take accountability, formally apologise and correctly examine the bloodbath that occurred in Thiaroye, a fishing village on the outskirts of Senegal’s capital Dakar.
The occasion, which renewed these calls for, comes as France is shedding affect over its former African colonies, lots of which have turned to Russia for safety as a substitute.
Accounts of the bloodbath range, as does the demise toll, which French ex-president Francois Hollande raised to at the very least 70 from 35 throughout a go to to Thiaroye in 2014. Historians say it may very well be a lot larger.
A number of days earlier than the commemoration, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote a public letter to his Senegalese counterpart Bassirou Diomaye Faye by which he referred to the killings as a “massacre” for the primary time.
Hollande in 2014 described it as a “dreadful tragedy”, but in addition referred to as it a bloodbath in an interview with a French broadcaster final month.
The ceremony, which France’s overseas affairs minister attended alongside different African heads of state, began with a go to to the Thiaroye army cemetery to put flowers.
A printed information to the ceremony described the “horrific repression” of members of the Senegalese infantry unit, who have been surrounded and gunned down for requesting due compensation.
The circumstances of the bloodbath stay murky, with France accused of falsifying or hiding information.
There was strain to permit a search of mass graves by which historians imagine as much as 400 African troopers may very well be buried.
Macron stated in his letter that France was cooperating with a Senegalese committee to determine the reality.
“There have been several efforts to smother this story,” Faye stated in response to Macron’s letter. “We think that this time France’s engagement will be complete, frank and collaborative.”
Earlier this 12 months, Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko accused France of in search of to “unilaterally determine” the way in which it had handled African troopers that served in its armies, and the reparations they deserve.
