INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0)70 302 2323 Fax: +31 (0)70 364 9928
Website: www.icj-cij.org
Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2004/36
6 December 2004
Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo
(Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda)
The Court will hold public hearings from 11 to 29 April 2005
THE HAGUE, 6 December 2004. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial
organ of the United Nations, will hold public hear ings in the case concerning Armed Activities on
the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda) from Monday 11 to
Friday 29 April 2005 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, seat of the Court.
The precise schedule for those hearings will be announced later.
History of the proceedings
On 23June1999 the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) filed in the Registry of the
Court an Application instituting proceedings against Uganda for “acts of armed aggression
perpetrated in flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and of the Charter of the OAU”.
In its Application, the DRC contended that “such armed aggression... [had] involved
inter alia violation of the sovereignty and territorialintegrity of the [DRC], violations of
international humanitarian law and massive human rights violations”. The DRC sought “to secure
the cessation of the acts of aggression directed agains t it, which constitute a serious threat to peace
and security in central Africa in general and in the Great Lakes region in particular”; it also sought
“compensation from Uganda in respect of all acts of looting, destruction, removal of property and
persons and other unlawful acts attributable to [it], in respect of which the [DRC] reserves the right
to determine at a later date the precise amount of the damage suffered, in addition to its claim for
the restitution of all property removed”.
The DRC invoked as basis for the Court’s jurisd iction the declarations whereby both States
have accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Co urt in relation to any other State accepting the
same obligation (Art. 36, para. 2, of the Statute of the Court).
Taking into account the agreement of the Parties, the Court, by an Order of 21 October 1999,
fixed 21July2000 as the time-limit for the filinof a Memorial by the Congo and 21April2001
for the filing of a Counter-Memorial by Uganda. The Memorial of the DRC was filed within the
time-limit thus prescribed. - 2 -
On 19 June 2000 the DRC filed a request for th e indication of provisional measures, stating
that “since 5 June [2000], the resumption of fighting between the armed troops of . . . Uganda and
that another foreign army [had] caused considerab le damage to the Congo and to its population”,
and “these tactics [had] been unanimously condemned, in particular by the United Nations Security
Council”. By letters of the same date, the Presid ent of the Court, acting pursuant to Article74,
paragraph 4, of the Rules of Court, drew “the attention of both Parties to the need to act in such a
way as to enable any Order the Court will make on the request for provisional measures to have its
appropriate effects”.
Public sittings to hear the oral observations of the Parties on the request for the indication of
provisional measures were held on 26 and 28 June 2000 and, at a public sitting held on 1 July 2000,
the Court rendered its Order. The Court unanimously found that “both Parties must, forthwith,
prevent and refrain from any action, and in partic ular any armed action, which might prejudice the
rights of the other Party in respect of whatever judgment the Court may render in the case, or which
might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve”;
“forthwith, take all measures nec essary to comply with all of their obligations under international
law, in particular those under the United Nations Charter and the Charter of the Organization of
African Unity, and with United Nations Security Council resolution 1304 (2000) of 16 June 2000”;
and “forthwith, take all measures necessary to ensure full respect within the zone of conflict for
fundamental human rights and for the applicable provisions of humanitarian law”.
Within the time-limit of 21April2001 fixed by the Court’s Order of 21October1999,
Uganda filed its Counter-Memorial. The Counte r-Memorial contained three counter-claims. The
first concerned alleged acts of aggression against it by the DRC; the second related to attacks on
Ugandan diplomatic premises a nd personnel in Kinshasa and on Ugandan nationals for which the
DRC was alleged to be responsible; and the third dealt with alleged violations by the DRC of the
Lusaka Agreement. Uganda asked that the issue of reparation be reserved for a subsequent stage of
the proceedings. By an Order of 29November2001 the Court found that the first two
counter-claims submitted by Uganda against the D RC were “admissible as such and [formed] part
of the current proceedings”, but that the thir d was not. In view of these findings, the Court
considered it necessary for the DRC to file a Repl y and Uganda a Rejoinder, addressing the claims
of both Parties, and fixed 29May2002 as the time-limit for the filing of the Reply and
29November2002 for the Rejoinder. Further, in order to ensure strict equality between the
Parties, the Court reserved the right of the DRC to present its views in writing a second time on the
Ugandan counter-claims, in an a dditional pleading to be the subject of a subsequent Order. The
Reply was filed within the time-limit fixed. By an Order of 7 November 2002, the Court extended
to 6December2002 the time-limit for the filing by Uganda of its Rejoinder. The Rejoinder was
filed within the time-limit as thus extended. On 28 February 2003, within the time-limit fixed by
an Order of 29January2003, the DRC filed its additional pleading relati ng solely to Uganda’s
counter-claims.
The public sittings in the case, which were to take place from 10 to 28 November 2003, were
postponed at the request of the Parties, which had commenced diplomatic negotiations.
*
N OTE TO THE PRESS
1. The public hearings will be held in th e Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace in
TheHague, Netherlands. Mobile telephones and beepers are allowed in the courtroom - 3 -
provided they are turned off or set on silent mode . Any offending device will be temporarily
removed.
2. Members of the Press will be entitled to attend the hearings on presentation of a press
card. The tables reserved for them are situated on the far left of the public entrance of the
courtroom.
3. Still photography and TV filming will be permitted for a few minutes only at the start of
each sitting. The Court’s proceedings will be tran smitted live, in full, on a large TV screen in the
Press Room, located on the ground floor of the P eace Palace (Room 5). Press Room facilities will
include a direct TV feed from the Court’s video system; TV crews are kindly asked to inform the
Information Department in advance if they wish to use these facilities. A direct audio feed will
also be available.
4. Telephone calls (collect calls only) ma y be made from the phone located in the Press
Room. Public telephones are located in the Post Office in the basement of the Peace Palace.
5. Transcripts of the public hearings w ill be published daily on the Court’s website
(www.icj-cij.org), with translations following as soon as possible thereafter.
6. Mr.Arthur Witteveen, First Secretary of the Court (Tel.: +31-70-302-2336), and
Mrs. Laurence Blairon and Mr. Boris Heim, Info rmation Officers (Tel.: +31-70-302-2337, e-mail
address: [email protected]), are available to deal with any Press requests.
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Armed activities on the territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo v. Uganda) - The Court will hold public hearings from 11 to 29 April 2005