The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Friday filed a Application Discontinue proceedings against Rwanda decades the war crimes and violence committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo East. The Congolese government submitted this case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ most important court for disputes between states.
The Democratic Republic of Congo blamed Rwanda bears direct responsibility for years of violations, including massacres, displacements and atrocities in the easternmost parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which directly border Rwanda. The request concerns “abuses attributable to Rwanda over a period from 1996 to the present,” the ICJ said in a statement, confirming that it had received the Democratic Republic of Congo’s request to initiate proceedings.
The case came after years of rising tensions during which the Congolese government repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting armed groups operating in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly the M23 rebel groupwhat has confiscated large areas in recent years. Rwanda denied supporting the group.
The Democratic Republic of Congo said the abuses “targeted primarily Hutus residing in Zairean and then Congolese territory in Rwanda following the 1994 genocide against Tutsi.” However, the filing added that other Congolese ethnic groups, including the Nyindu, Bembe, Nande, Lega, Hunde and Bashi, were also targeted.
“The civilian population in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been subjected to massacres, extrajudicial killings, torture, sexual violence, forced displacement and discrimination,” the Congolese government said in its statement, describing the suffering of locals as “extraordinary levels.”
The east of the Democratic Republic of Congo is caught in cycles of Violence for decades. The region saw a proliferation of armed groups, and civilians were often caught between rebel forces, government troops, and foreign-backed militias. Millions of people have been displaced while many communities have repeatedly faced the situation Attacks.
