Rwanda requests that the DR Congo’s lawsuit be dismissed by the continental court

Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, Rwanda’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, addresses the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHP) on Wednesday, February 12. Courtesy
DR Congo filed a complaint against Rwanda, which Rwanda’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, has requested be dismissed by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Rwanda is accused by DR Congo of violating both continental and international charters, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

The armed confrontation between the Congolese military and AFC/M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been going on since late 2021, is involved in the claimed crimes. Rwanda is accused by the Congolese government of supporting the AFC/M23 rebels, which has resulted in widespread displacement, cholera outbreaks, looting, infrastructure damage, and killings.

Ugirashebuja stated in his submission on Thursday, February 13, that the actions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo amount to a planned abuse of the court’s mechanism, as demonstrated by procedural irregularities, the failure to pursue local remedies, and the reliance on redundant claims submitted to the East African Court of Justice.

“Such behavior not only compromises the fairness of this case, but it also runs the risk of creating a precedent that promotes pointless and occasionally abusive litigation procedures inside this organization. Ugirashebuja stated that the applicant’s case is fundamentally a badly-crafted attempt to overload this court with disproportionate claims and procedural flaws in the hopes that anything would stick.

The court lacks the jurisdiction to consider the DR Congo’s application because the issues raised in the case are outside the court’s material and territorial jurisdiction, he claimed, arguing that the case does not satisfy the most basic standards of jurisdiction and admissibility.

It’s also a time of increased accountability. This case, which is the first state-to-state dispute to be heard by the court, has significant ramifications for the substantive and procedural norms that will guide such processes in the future, he added.

We humbly request that this court dismiss this motion in its entirety and do so in a way that makes it clear that such techniques will not be tolerated in these chambers,” he said.

Additionally, he underlined that the application is based mostly on misinformation propagated by the mass media and is incompatible with the African Union’s fundamental act.