INTERNATIONAL COURTOFJUSTICE
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Press Release
ünofficial
No. 2002/15
28 May 2002
The Democratie Republic of the Congo initiates proceedings against Rwanda citing massive
human rights violations by Rwanda on Congolese territory
The Democratie Republic of the Congo reguests the Court to indicate provisional measures
as a matter of urgency
THE HAGUE, 28 May 2002. The Democratie Republic of the Congo (DRC) today filed in
the Registry of the Court an Application instituting proceedings against Rwanda for "massive,
serious and flagrant violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law" resulting
"from acts of armed aggression perpetrated by Rwanda on the territory of the Democratie Republic
of the Congo in flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratie
Republic of the Congo, as guaranteed by the United Nations and OAU Charters".
In its Application, the states that Rwanda has been guilty of "armed aggression" from
August 1998 to the present day. According toit, that aggression has resulted in "large-scale human
slaughter" in South Kivu, Katanga Province and the Eastern Province, "rape and sexual assault of
women", "assassinations and kidnapping of political figures and human rights activists", "arrests,
arbitrary detentions, inhuman and degrading treatment", "systematic looting of public and private
institutions, seizure ofproperty belonging to civilians", "human rights violations committed by the
invading Rwandan troops and their 'rebel' allies in the major towns in the East" of the DRC, and
"destruction offauna and flora" ofthe country.
In consequence, the Democratie Republic the Congo requests the Court
"to adjudge and declare that:
.(ill Rwanda has violated and is violating the United Nations Charter (Article 2, paragraphs 3
and 4) by violating the human rights which are the goal pursued by the United Nations through
the maintenance of international peace and security, as well as A3tande4 of the OAU
Charter;
.(hl Rwanda has violated the International Bill of Human Rights, as well as the main instruments
protecting human rights, including inter alia the Convention on the Elimination of [Ali Forms
of] Discrimination againsWomen, the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948, the Constitution of the WHO, the Constitution of
UNESCO; -2-
if} by shooting down a Boeing 727 owned by Congo Airlines on 9 October 1998 in Kindu,
thereby causing the death of 40 civilians, Rwanda bas also violated the United Nations
Charter, the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 7 December 1944 signed at
Chicago, the Hague Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft of
16December 1970 and the Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts
Against the Safety of Civil Aviation of23 September 1971;
@ by engaging in killing, slaughter, rape, throat-slitting, and crucifying, Rwanda is guilty of
genocide against more than 3,500,000 Congolese, including the victims of the recent
massacres in the city of Kisangani, and bas violated the sacred right to life provided for in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, the Convention on the Prevention andPunishment of the Crime of Genocide
and other relevant international legal instruments;
In consequence, and in accordance with the international legal obligations referred to above, to
adjudge and declare that:
(1) all Rwandan armed forces at the origin of the aggression shall forthwith quit the territory of
the Democratie Republic of the Congo, so as to enable the Congolese people to enjoy in full
their rights to peace, to security,to their resources andto development;
(2) Rwanda is under an obligation to procure the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of its
armed forces and the like fromCongolese territory;
(3) the Democratie Republic of the Congo isentitled to compensationfrom Rwanda for all acts of
looting, destruction, slaughter, removal of property or persons and other acts of wrongdoing
imputable to Rwanda, in respect of whichthe Democratie Republic of the Congo reserves the
right to establish a precise assessment ofthe prejudice at a later date, in addition to restitution
of the property removed.
It also reserves the right in the course of the proceedings to claim other damage suffered by it and
its people."
The DRC further states in its Applicationthat the Court'sjurisdiction to deal with the dispute
between it and Rwanda "deriv[es] from compromissory clauses" in many international legal
instruments. In this connection, it cites the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, the 1965 International Conventionon the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination, the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide, the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Constitution of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,the 1984New York Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, lnhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the
1971 Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil
Aviation. The DRC adds that the jurisdiction of the Court also derives from the supremacy of
mandatory norms (jus cogens), as reflected in certain international treaties and conventions, in the
area ofhuman rights.
The Democratie Republic of the Congo bas also today filed a request for the indication of
provisional measures. Inthat request it states that, in addition to the numerous "crimes set out in
the Application instituting proceedings, the perpetrator of which is Rwanda, the urgent request by
the Democratie Republic of the Congo for provisional measures is amplyjustified by the fact that
the massacres (begun in August 1998) have been continuing since January 2002 up to the present
time, despite numerous resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and Human Rights
Commission." The DRC further states that the purpose of the provisional measures which it is
requesting "pending the Court's decision on the merits [is] to prevent irreparable harm being
caused to its lawful rights and to those of its population by reason of the occupation of part of its -3-
territory by Rwandan forces". It emphasizes that "[t]o fail to make an immediate order for the
measures sought would have humanitarian consequences incapable ofbeing made good, whether in
the shortterm or in the long term".
Hearings on the request for the indication of provisional measures will be held on
Thursday 13 June 2002, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. (DRC) and from 3.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.
(Rwanda) and, ifnecessary, in the moming of 14June 2002.
The full text of the Democratie Republic of the Congo's Application instituting proceedings
and request for the indication of provisional measures will be available shortly on the Court's
website (www.icj-cij.org).
Information Department:
Mr. Arthur Witteveen, First Secretary (Tel.: +31 70 30223 36)
Mrs. Laurence Blairon, and Mr. Boris Heim,Information Officers (Tel.: +31 70 302 23 37)
E-mail address: [email protected]
The Democratic Republic of the Congo initiates proceedings against Rwanda citing massive human rights violations by Rwanda on Congolese territory - The Democratic Republic of the Congo requests the Court to indicate provisional measures as a matter of urgency