Overview
- Submitted to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on October 16, the report—led by historian Mamadou Diouf—says the most credible estimate is 300 to 400 deaths, far above the 35 reported by French authorities in 1944.
- The document contends French colonial officials altered records to conceal the scale of the killings and calls on France to formally ask forgiveness from affected families and communities.
- Excavations launched in May at the Thiaroye military camp have uncovered human skeletons with bullets, and Faye said searches will continue at suspected mass-grave sites.
- Senegal maintains key archival materials are still being withheld by France, while French officials cite prior commitments to open archives and a 2024 public acknowledgment of the massacre.
- The shootings occurred on December 1, 1944, after roughly 1,300 West African troops who had fought for France protested over unpaid wages and unequal treatment at the Thiaroye camp near Dakar.