A regional court will begin hearings on a case filed by DR Congo next month, an official has said
The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) has decided to open hearings in a case filed by Kinshasa against Rwanda over its alleged role in a decades-long armed conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), a Congolese official has said.
Samuel Mbemba, DR Congo’s deputy justice minister in charge of international litigation, announced the decision on Thursday, saying the trial would begin on September 26.
“This trial will result in the conviction of Rwanda for violation of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of an EAC [East African Community] member state, mass atrocities against civilian populations, as well as serious and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law,” Mbemba told reporters.
Relations between Kinshasa and Kigali have deteriorated since the return of hostilities in DR Congo’s volatile eastern region in 2021, waged by the M23 militia, one of several insurgent groups that have seized vast swaths of land in North Kivu.
Authorities in the conflict-torn country have repeatedly accused the Rwandan government of arming the insurgents, a claim also supported by the US. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi recently threatened to declare war on the neighboring state if it keeps fueling the conflict.
Early last month, a group of UN experts released a report claiming that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the M23 militia against Congolese forces and local allies. The experts declared that the Rwanda Defense Forces’ “de facto control and direction over M23 operations also renders Rwanda liable for M23’s actions.”
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