As the President of Senegal since April, Bassirou Diomaye Faye has been preparing to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Thiaroye massacre, on Sunday. On December 1, 1944, dozens of African tirailleurs (French soldiers recruited from France's former colonies) – hundreds, according to some historians – were killed by the French army, in this camp on the outskirts of Dakar, for having demanded their pay.
In an interview with Le Monde, his first with a French newspaper since his election, the 44-year-old Senegalese president, an advocate of sovereigntist policy, looks back at this long-unspoken colonial crime and speaks about the relations he intends to forge with France, whose influence is increasingly being challenged in French-speaking Africa.
It's a big step. I congratulated President Macron on his courage and his choice to call things as they are. It reflects a positive state of mind, and the French authorities' willingness to work together to uncover the truth.
Yet that's still not enough. We still don't know how many people were killed, nor why, how or where they were buried. Archives and archaeological digs will allow light to be shed on part of the story. Members of the committee of historians we set up to restore the truth are currently in France. With the declaration by President Macron, we hope they will have access to the full French archives.
Ten years ago, the French government spoke of "bloody repression." Ten years later, it admits that it was a massacre. 80 years ago, it spoke of 35 dead. 70 years later, the figure has become 70. Everything must be done to establish the truth once and for all. This will enable us to move on to a partnership free of these painful leavings.
I feel I must pass on the torch I have inherited. Beyond the Senegalese people, it is the African people who suffered this tragedy. We need to preserve this memory, to prevent Thiaroye from being forgotten. A people without memory is a people without a soul.
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