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. 99/34
23 June 1999
Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo
(Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda)
The Democratic Republic of Congo institutes proceedings against Burundi,
Uganda and Rwanda on account of “acts of armed aggression”
THE HAGUE, 23 June 1999. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today instituted
proceedings before the International Court of Ju stice (ICJ) against Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda
respectively for “acts of armed aggression committed . . . in flagrant breach of the United Nations
Charter and of the Charter of the Organization of African Unity (OAU)”.
In its Applications, the DRC contends that the invasion of Congolese territory by Burundian,
Ugandan and Rwandan troops on 2 August 1998 (an invasion currently claimed to involve fighting
in seven provinces) constitutes a “vio lation of [its] sovereignty and of [its] territorial integrity”, as
well as a “threat to peace and security in central A frica in general and in the Great Lakes region in
particular”. The DRC accuses the three States of having attempted to “seize Kinshasa through the
lower Congo, in order to overthrow the Government of Public Salvation and assassinate President
Laurent Désiré Kabila, with the object of installing a Tutsi régime or a régime under Tutsi control”.
The DRC also accuses those States of “violations of international humanitarian law and massive
violations of human rights” (massacres, rapes, attempted kidnappings and murders), and of the
looting of large numbers of public and private in stitutions. It further claims that “the assistance
given to the Congolese rebellion or rebellions... and the issue of frontier security were mere
pretexts designed to enable the aggressors to seize the assets of the territories invaded and hold the
civil population to ransom”.
The Democratic Republic of Congo accordingl y asks the Court to d eclare that Burundi,
Uganda and Rwanda are guilty of acts of aggression; that they have violated and continue to
violate the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols; that, by taking forcible
possession of the Inga hydroelectric dam and deliberately regularly causing massive electric power
cuts, they have made themselves responsible “f or very heavy losses of life in the city of
Kinshasa... and the surrounding region”; and that, in shooting down a Boeing727 aircraft on
9October1998, the property of Congo Airlines, and thus causing the death of 40 civilians, they
violated certain international treaties relating to civil aviation.
The DRC further requests the Court to declare that the armed forces of Burundi, Uganda and
Rwanda must “forthwith vacate the territory” of th e Congo; that the said States “must secure the
immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Congolese territory of [their] nationals, both
individuals and corporate entities”; and that the DRC “is entitled to . . . compensation in respect of
all acts of looting, destruction, removal of property and of persons and other unlawful acts
attributable” to the States concerned. - 2 -
In its Application instituting proceedings against Uganda, the DRC invokes as a basis for the
jurisdiction of the Court the declarations by which both States have accepted the compulsory
jurisdiction of the Court in relation to any othe r State accepting the same obligation (Article36,
paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Court).
In its Applications instituting proceedings against Burundi and Rwanda, the DRC invokes
Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court, the New York Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 10December1984 and the
Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation of
23September1971, and also Artic le38, paragraph5, of the Rules of Court. This Article
contemplates the situation where a State files an application against another State which has not
accepted the jurisdiction of the Court. As to Article36, paragraph1, it provides that “the
jurisdiction of the Court comprises all cases which the parties refer to it and all matters specially
provided for in the Charter of the United Nations or in treaties and conventions in force”.
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The full text of the Applications institu ting proceedings against Burundi, Uganda and
Rwanda will be available shortly on the Court’s website (http://www.icj-cij.org).
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Information Department:
Mr. Arthur Witteveen, First Secretary (+ 31 70 302 23 36)
Mrs. Laurence Blairon, Information Officer (+ 31 70 302 23 37)
E-mail address: [email protected]
The Democratic Republic of Congo institutes proceedings against Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda on account of "acts of armed aggression"