KINSHANSHA UGANDA: The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has filed a case against Rwanda at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Kigali of supporting the M23 rebel group that has been fighting in eastern Congo.
According to the Congolese government, Rwanda has played a role in the long-running conflict by backing the M23 rebels, who currently control large areas of eastern DRC following their rapid military advances.
Rwanda has repeatedly denied supporting the rebel group. Instead, Kigali argues that the DRC government has collaborated with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group based in eastern Congo that includes individuals linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The conflict in eastern Congo has persisted for decades and is partly rooted in the aftermath of the genocide, when some perpetrators fled into neighbouring Congo.
Last year, leaders from both countries signed a United States-brokered agreement in Washington aimed at reducing tensions and ending the violence in eastern DRC. However, Kinshasa now says Rwanda has violated several international treaties, including conventions against genocide, racial discrimination, and torture.
In its submission to the ICJ, the DRC alleges that civilians have suffered massacres, extrajudicial killings, torture, sexual violence, and forced displacement over the past three decades.
The Congolese government is asking the United Nations’ highest court to order Rwanda to halt the alleged violations and to award compensation to both the state and victims.
Rwanda had not officially responded to the case at the time of publication, but the country has consistently rejected allegations of supporting armed groups in the DRC.
The legal action opens a new chapter in one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts and further strains relations between the two neighbouring countries.
