The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday started its pleadings before the International Court of Justice, the United Nations’s highest court, against Uganda, which it accuses of invading DRC territory and massacring Congolese civilians.
Outlining the position of the DRC in the proceeding, the Congolese ambassador to The Netherlands, Jacques Masangu-a-Mwanza, said the Minister of Justice of the DRC, Honorius Kisimba Ngoy Ndalewe, will ”stress the urgency of stopping the massacring of Congolese civilians by Ugandan troops”.
Even though the Ugandan troops have officially left the DRC, the Congolese representative told the court they remain on Congolese territory ”through different militias that operate under false pretence”.
The DRC accuses Uganda of violating its territorial sovereignty, violating international humanitarian law and massacring Congolese civilians.
It is demanding reparations for destruction and looting allegedly carried out by Ugandan troops and ”the restitution of national property and resources appropriated for the benefit of Uganda”.
In Monday’s hearing, the DRC also argued that the presence of Ugandan forces constitutes a threat to endangered species in the DRC, such as the gorilla and white rhinoceros.
According to Masangu-a-Mwanza, Uganda left behind ”a large network of war lords, which it supplies with arms so they can continue to pillage the DRC’s riches”.
Uganda has consistently denied the claims and said it has only acted to protect national security.
It will present its side if the story on Friday.
In the course of the two last wars in the DRC — in 1996/97 and 1998-2003 — both Uganda and Rwanda sponsored armed guerrilla movements fighting against the regime in Kinshasa.
In its 1999 application, the DRC said it sought ”to secure the cessation of the acts of aggression directed against it, which constitute a serious threat to peace and security in Central Africa in general and in the Great Lakes region in particular”.
In June 2000, the court issued so-called provisional measures at the DRC’s request, ordering that both parties ”forthwith, prevent and refrain from any action, in particular armed action” that might aggravate the dispute before the court.
Originally, the court was set to start hearings in November 2003 in the case, but the start was delayed at the request of both parties to allow diplomatic negotiations.
The DRC’s Ndalewe told the judges on Monday that although future relations between the opposing countries show promising signs — with for instance, the opening of a Ugandan embassy in Kinshasa — Uganda’s past incursions into Congolese territory must be punished. — Sapa-AFP