Overview
- The 301-page, state-commissioned report was delivered to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who called it a decisive step toward restoring historical truth.
- The committee estimates the most credible death toll at 300 to 400, rejecting colonial-era figures of at least 35 as contradictory and manifestly false.
- Archaeological digs at the Thiaroye military cemetery uncovered seven coffins with well-preserved skeletons, including a body with a bullet in the chest and another with iron chains on both tibias.
- The report alleges a systematic cover-up by French authorities, citing altered departure and arrival registers, inaccessible or falsified archives, and the absence of a complete list of the roughly 1,300 riflemen.
- The authors urge France to formally request forgiveness and recommend legal steps such as petitioning the European Court of Human Rights, as Senegal extends excavations and presses for full archival access; France says it will review the report and stands ready to cooperate.