The beginning of the trials of two genocide suspects in France has raised hopes that Paris will act on dozens of such cases that have not been followed up, with alleged Rwandan genocide masterminds remaining at large in the European country.

Genocide survivors pressure group Ibuka welcomed the trial of the two former mayors, Tite Barahira, 64 and Octavien Ngenzi, 54, which began last week.

“We are hopeful that these trials mark the beginning of a new chapter. It is time France responded to the evidence out there of people implicated in the killings living on its soil,” said Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu, the president of Ibuka.

Kigali has over the past two decades accused France of providing a safe haven for genocide suspects as the two countries continue to have uneasy relations, mainly stoked by differing narratives on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Mr Ngenzi and Mr Barahira, both former mayors of Kabarondo in Eastern Province, are being tried in a Parisian court and the case will be heard until July 1.

Masterminding massacres

The duo is accused of masterminding massacres of people seeking refuge in a Catholic church in Kabarondo, now Kayonza district. According to court documents, Mr Barahira allegedly directed the local Interahamwe militia and provided weapons and instructions.

Mr Barahira was detained in Toulouse, France in 2013 while Mr Ngenzi was apprehended in Mayotte in 2010. The two men are facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity and if convicted, they could be sentenced to life. Close to 100 witnesses are expected to testify during the trial.

Their trial is the second genocide-related one in France. The only other person tried and convicted in France is the former head of military intelligence, Pascal Simbikangwa, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2014.

According to records held by the Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit, there are over 25 high-profile genocide suspects in France, a number of them considered “big fish” or “masterminds” but Paris has done little to apprehend them.

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The International Federation for Human Rights says that there are nearly 30 cases related to the 1994 genocide pending in French courts.

Alain Gauthier, the president of the Collective of Civil Plaintiffs for Rwanda, a non-profit organisation that tracks alleged genocide perpetrators now living in France, called on the French court to fast track the cases because “genocide survivors have waited for so long.”

Diplomatic ties

Diplomatic ties between Rwanda and France continue to remain sour, with the two countries disagreeing on the events that led up to the genocide. Kigali accuses Paris of supporting the genocide regime, or at least some senior government officials at the time.

A report by a French judge accusing the then rebel group Rwanda Patriotic Front Inkotanyi of shooting down the plane of the then president Juvenal Habyarimana, which allegedly sparked off the genocide, has been a point of contention between the two countries.