The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was demanding more than $11 billion from Uganda for damages caused by its troops during the second Congo War (1998-2003). It will eventually have to settle for $325 million (285 million euros). Amount fixed Wednesday, January 9 by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to resolve the dispute between the two states following years of litigation.
Kampala was formally condemned by the UN’s highest court in December 2005 for violations of the principle of non-interference and international humanitarian law during the invasion and occupation of Ituri, a mining region in eastern DRC. It remained to estimate the amount of damage. “Reparation should not be punitive in nature, it should be compensatory”, explained the President of the ICJ, Joan Donoghue, in making this decision on Wednesday.
Of the total envelope, $ 225 million will have to be allocated for « compensate » rape and sexual violence – “systematic and large-scale”, the recruitment of children under the age of 15, population displacements and the deaths of 10,000 to 15,000 civilians attributable to the Ugandan occupation army. For the material destruction, the magistrates set the damage at $ 40 million. And to 60 million for the looting of gold, coltan, diamond, coffee, as well as for logging and the consequences on the fauna, flora and parts of the Virunga National Park.
Insufficient evidence
Judges have struggled to find evidence in the case that is detailed enough to assess harm twenty years following the conflict ended. They explained that they had relied on UN investigations, including the Mapping report of 2010, but they criticized Kinshasa for not providing certain documents, in particular to attest to the death of 2,000 Congolese soldiers or concerning the destruction that affected state infrastructure such as the National Electricity Company.
During the hearings held in April 2021, during which the DRC had pleaded its claim, Uganda refused to pay the price of war damage alone. Kampala had recalled that this conflict, one “one of the most complex and deadliest on the African continent”, involved at least 9 states and 21 armed groups. This fratricidal war had in particular pitted Rwandans and Ugandans by interposed militias. When Kinshasa turned to the Court in 1999, its complaint also targeted Rwanda and Burundi. But the court had declared itself incompetent with regard to Kigali. And the Congolese government had finally withdrawn its charge once morest Burundi.
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