40 years after the attack on the Capitole train between Paris and Toulouse, the victims of terrorism are better treated
The SOS Attentats association was created in 1985 by Françoise Rudetzki, following the attack on the Capitole, named after this train running from Paris-Austerlitz to Toulouse. On March 29, 1982, occurs one of the first deadly attacks on a train in France, targeting civilians. “The emotion is strong, we are in a wave of attacks attributed to the terrorist Carlos and at that time, terrorists rarely answered for their actions in court“recalls Françoise Rudetzki, at the microphone of France Bleu Occitanie.
The Capitol bombing is attributed to the organization of Venezuelan Carlos (real name Ilich Ramirez Sanchez), figure of international terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s. Thirty years after the events, in 2011, Carlos was tried for four attacks committed between 1982 and 1983 for which he denied any involvement, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
“At the time the victims were not defeated”
Françoise Rudetzki was herself seriously injured on December 23, 1983, in an attack targeting a restaurant in Paris where she dined with her husband for his ten years of marriage. Shocked by the lack of consideration for the victims of attacks and the lack of structure for them, she created in 1985 the SOS Attentats association to help the victims and act as a lobby with the French political authorities.
“Terrorists were dismissed, their trials were corrected, they were granted amnesty. I fought with Me Francis Szpiner at the time for the victims of the Capitol to testify at the trial of Carlos in 2011“says Françoise Rudetzki.
The victims showed themselves to be very dignified, they did not express hatred, they told how they had experienced the facts, their reconstruction during the 30 years that followed. The trial is one of the first restorative trials, so to speak. – Françoise Rudetzki, founder of SOS Attentats
Some victims of the Capitol bombing died before the trial, others”did not dare to become civil parties, but supported by the association, they felt confident“recalls Françoise Rudetzki. At the time, “There was no psychological support in place for the victims of the attack, it is necessary to measure since the path traveled. Carlos treated the victims of manipulated people” says Françoise Rudetzki.
Back to the facts
At 8:42 p.m., on March 29, 1982, near the town of Ambazac in Haute-Vienne, about twenty kilometers from Limoges, a bomb explodes killing 5 and injuring 30. The second lead car is shredded, “mbut the driver managed to stop the convoy, without derailment” specify the AFP dispatches of the time. The rescuers extricate the bodies, take care of the wounded. Most of the passengers are from the South West or the Paris region. Ten kilos of explosives were represented, according to the investigators, in baggage in a passenger compartment.