A commission that spent nearly two years probing France's role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide concluded on Friday that the country reacted too slowly in appreciating the extent of the brutalities – but cleared it of complicity in the slaughter.

The expert commission presented the report to French President Emmanuel Macron and said France had been "blind" to genocide preparations.

At least 800,000 people died when ethnic Hutu extremists massacred the East African nation's ethnic Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus.

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The report said that France bears "heavy and overwhelming responsibilities" in the social changes that led to the killings.

Persistent claims that France under then-President Francois Mitterrand did not do enough to stop the genocide have damaged the relationship between France and Rwanda since the 1990s.

As a result, French President Emmanuel Macron ordered the 15-member commission in May 2019 to investigate what happened in Rwanda between 1990 and 1994.

France's failings

Officials in Macron's office said the inquiry was not just about improving relations with Rwanda but with the entire African continent, as other countries have also questioned France's role at the time.

The commission's report apportioned blame to France for failing in its "political, institutional, intellectual, ethical [and] moral" responsibility, according to officials in Macron's office. But the report says researchers found no evidence that French weapons were delivered to Rwanda after the start of the genocide.

It also ruled out accusations of wrongdoing by Operation Turquoise, a French-led military intervention in Rwanda that has been accused of being a failed attempt at propping up the Hutu-led government in Rwanda.

The report further excluded any "complicity in genocide" by the French, saying there was no evidence of an intention to carry out genocidal actions. 

It also found "malfunctions in the process of appreciation of the situation" and the resulting French government and military decisions, but the commission made it clear that its report did not seek to vilify individuals.

'An important step'

It is unclear to what extent the report would succeed in improving relations between the two countries, and in particular satisfy Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

The Rwandan government said in a statement that it welcomes the report as "an important step toward a common understanding of France's role in the genocide." It said an investigative report commissioned by the Rwandan government will be released in the coming weeks.

Macron hoped the document would allow a catharsis, enabling France to put to rest claims that had simmered for more than a quarter of a century.

Macron's government hopes that this report will help calm relations between Paris and Kigali, which have been strained due to historical tensions over France's role during this period in the recent history of the African continent.