A picture taken on April 9, 2019, shows victims' bones recovered from pits which were used as mass grave during 1994 Rwandan genocide and hidden under houses in Kabuga, the outskirts of Kigali, Rwanda. (PHOTO / AFP)

KIGALI - France "bears significant responsibility" for enabling "foreseeable" genocide against ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda that happened in 1994,a report commissioned by the Rwandan government concluded Monday.

The 628-page report commissioned in 2017 was authored by the US law firm Levy Firestone Muse LLP with the involvement of three Rwandan local law firms in its preparation. It was released during its formal presentation to the Rwandan cabinet.

French officials "armed, advised, trained, equipped and protected" the then Rwandan government and was heedless of its commitment to dehumanization and, ultimately, the destruction and death of Tutsi in Rwanda, according to the report.

The 628-page report commissioned in 2017 was authored by the US law firm Levy Firestone Muse LLP with the involvement of three Rwandan local law firms in its preparation. It was released during its formal presentation to the Rwandan cabinet

ALSO READ: More mass graves discovered from Rwanda's genocide

However, no evidence was found to show that French officials or personnel directly participated in the killing of Tutsis, it added.

France's role during the April-July 1994 genocide has for years been the subject of intense scrutiny and much controversy.

Rwanda had been accusing France of backing the genocidal regime in 1994 and covering genocide suspects through "Operation Turquoise," but the claim was denied by France.

READ MORE: Trial of 'Hotel Rwanda hero' begins amid wrangles over jurisdiction

The central African country severed diplomatic relations with France in 2006 after a French judge issued nine arrest warrants against Rwandan officials in the case of an attack on an aircraft of Habyarimana in April 1994, which triggered the genocide.

Although the two countries restored their diplomatic relations in 2009, France has no ambassador in Rwanda since the last one left in 2015.