Macron has acknowledged France's atrocities in yet another African country

French President Emmanuel Macron has publicly acknowledged the brutality perpetrated by French soldiers in Cameroon during and after the country's fight for independence.

• French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged French military brutality in Cameroon post-independence.
• The admission followed a joint historical report highlighting France's oppressive measures from 1945 to 1971.
• Historical accounts reveal significant human rights abuses, including killings and imprisonment.

The admission came after the publication of a joint report by Cameroonian and French historians on France's persecution of independence aspirations between 1945 and 1971.

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The study portrays a bleak picture of the times, noting widespread imprisonment, village devastation, and the employment of ruthless militias to suppress dissent.

Tens of thousands of Cameroonians were killed, and hundreds of thousands were confined to internment camps.

"A war had taken place in Cameroon, during which the colonial authorities and the French army exercised repressive violence of several kinds in certain regions of the country,” the French leader said via a letter made out to Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya.

"It is up to me today to assume the role and responsibility of France in these events," he added.

Despite France's acknowledgment, Macron did not issue a formal apology, and he said nothing about reparations.

The Cameroon acknowledgement comes at a time when France is under increasing pressure to address its colonial past more publicly.

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While some see Macron's acceptance as a step toward historical truth, detractors believe that without a formal apology and reparative measures, France's colonial scars would only be partially healed.

Macron’s recent admissions of guilt

The French leader's attitude is consistent with his handling of other delicate historical reckonings, such as France's participation in the 1994 Rwandan slaughter and its colonial past in Algeria, as seen in the BBC.

In Rwanda's instance, Macron said in 2021 that France carried "overwhelming responsibilities" for failing to intervene despite warnings of the imminent carnage, which killed around 800,000 people.

In Algeria, however, he has rejected requests for a formal apology, while condemning colonialism in 2017 as a "crime against humanity."

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