DRC takes Uganda to court
2005-04-11 21:48
The Hague - The International Court of Justice, the UN's highest legal body, on Monday was to start two weeks of hearings on a 1999 complaint filed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) accusing Uganda of invading its territory and massacring Congolese civilians.
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".
Uganda has consistently denied the claims and said it has only acted to protect national security.
The two parties will present their respective sides of the story before the 15-judge panel from April 11 to April 29.
In the course of the two last wars in the DRC - in 1996-1997 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 seeks "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.