President of Senegal since April, Bassirou Diomaye Faye is preparing to commemorate, on Sunday, the 80th anniversary of the Thiaroye massacre. The 1is December 1944, dozens of African riflemen – even hundreds, according to some historians – were killed by the French army in this camp on the outskirts of Dakar for having claimed their pay.
In an interview with Mondehis first with a French newspaper since his election, the Senegalese president, 44 years old, defender of a sovereignist policy, returns to this colonial crime long kept silent and the relations he intends to build with France, whose influence is increasingly called into question in French-speaking Africa.
In a letter he sent to you on Thursday, November 28, Emmanuel Macron recognized that a “massacre” had been committed to Thiaroye. Until now, the French authorities had spoken of a “mutiny”, then a “bloody repression”. What is your reaction to this official recognition?
It's a big step. I congratulated President Macron for his courage and his choice to name things as they are. This reflects a positive state of mind and the desire of the French authorities to collaborate for the manifestation of the truth.
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But that is not enough. It remains unclear how many people were killed, why, how and where they were buried. Archives and archaeological excavations will shed light on part of the history. Members of the committee of historians that we created to restore the truth are currently in France. With President Macron's statement, we hope that they will have access to the entire French archives.
The French state, however, claims to have handed over all the documents. Do you think there are still secret archives in France?
Ten years ago, the French government was talking about “bloody repression”. Ten years later, he recognizes that it was a massacre. 80 years ago, he spoke of 35 deaths. 70 years later, there were 70 deaths. Everything must be done so that the truth can be definitively established. This will allow us to move towards a partnership stripped of these painful dross.
You invited several African leaders on the 1is December in Thiaroye. Why do you want to give a regional dimension to these commemorations?
I consider that I must pass on the torch that I have inherited. Beyond the Senegalese people, it is the African people who have suffered this tragedy. We must preserve this memory, prevent Thiaroye from falling into oblivion. A people without memory is a people without a soul.
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