The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Rwanda, Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, has called out the government of DR Congo for filing a politically-motivated case at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR). ALSO READ: DR Congo church leaders meet M23 leaders in Goma The case filed by DR Congo alleges that Rwanda violated international and continental charters including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The alleged violations are in relation to the armed conflict in eastern DR Congo since 2021. The Congolese government which alleges that Rwanda backs the AFC/M23 rebellion claims that the conflict has caused massacres, occupation of several areas, mass displacement of people, a cholera epidemic, destruction of infrastructure and looting. ALSO READ: Rwanda-DR Congo border crossings surge to 30,000 after M23 secures Goma Speaking to the national broadcaster on Wednesday, February 12, after Rwanda presented its oral submissions during the procedural hearing, Ugirashebuja noted that the case is an improper attempt to politicise courts of law and interfere with ongoing diplomatic efforts regarding the issues transpiring in eastern DR Congo. “Our argument is that this case is a political case, outside the realm of remedying violation of human rights, because the argument by Congo is that Rwanda committed an act of aggression. These are normally cases of international peace and security, and not human rights cases,” he noted. “So, we do believe that yes, the court has an important role, but the applicant – the Democratic Republic of the Congo – is trying to invite the court into a political realm, on political matters that have nothing to do with the jurisdiction of this court.” ALSO READ: M23 threatens to move on Bukavu to ‘protect our people’ Ugirashebuja also argued more on the political nature of the case, noting that it was filed just before DR Congo held its presidential elections, last year, and its leaders had made statements that they would engage in a war against Rwanda, both on the ground and in all possible forums, including the courts. He noted that the first step of the case is to establish whether the court is competent to deal with the case, and then, the second step is the question of admissibility. ALSO READ: EAC-SADC leaders urge for political solution to silence guns in eastern DR Congo “We do believe that our case is strong enough. And if you followed the case, we actually relied on the jurisprudence of this court, the jurisprudence of similar international courts, and very strong legal arguments, which have been established over the years,” he said. On February 8, the joint East African Community and Southern African Development Community leaders meeting held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, resolved that there must be peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern DR Congo through the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes. Another key element is the leaders’ call for the implementation of an earlier approved harmonised plan for the neutralisation of FDLR, a DR Congo-based terrorist militia founded by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The genocidal militia poses an existential threat to Rwanda, the entire region, and especially the Congolese Tutsi communities it has been persecuting in eastern DR Congo, resulting in the ongoing crisis in the region. Last year, by mid-September, a plan to neutralise FDLR, had been finalised and waited the final approval by the ministers of foreign affairs of Rwanda, DR Congo and Angola. But at a ministerial meeting held in the Angolan capital Luanda, on September 14, Congolese foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner made a last-minute U-turn that surprised her counterparts and intelligence officials from the three countries, who had developed the plan. She refused to sign the final harmonised plan, which had been endorsed by the head of the Congolese military intelligence. ALSO READ: How Tshisekedi scuttled FDLR neutralisation plan at last minute But the joint EAC-SADC summit called for the implementation of the harmonised plan for the neutralisation of FDLR and the lifting of Rwanda’s defence measures. Earlier this week, the government of Rwanda announced that it would maintain its defensive measures along the border with DR Congo as long as security threats from the Congolese army and its allies such as FDLR still exist. ALSO READ: SADC forces in DR Congo sought to 'bring war to Rwanda', says Foreign ministry The escalating war between a Congolese government army coalition that includes FDLR, over 10,000 Burundian troops, 1,600 thousands of Congolese militia elements grouped in what is called Wazalendo, and South Africa-led SADC forces, against M23 rebels started in 2021. M23, a rebel movement fighting for the rights of a persecuted Congolese community in the country North Kivu Province, is now a member of a larger rebel coalition, Alliance fleuve Congo (AFC), created in December 2023. The AFC is fighting for governance that supports basic human rights, secures all Congolese citizens, and addresses the root causes of conflict. Its leaders have vowed to uproot tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and genocide ideology, among other vices, widespread in DR Congo. ALSO READ: Why genocide ideology doesn’t dissolve three decades after dispersion of genocidaires On January 27, the AFC/M23 rebels captured Goma, the capital of eastern DR Congo's North Kivu Province. They quickly consolidated their power in the city and the entire province, establishing new administration structures, and executing plans to ensure that internally displaced people return to their villages which are now secure. On February 5, the rebels appointed new leaders for North Kivu Province, saying there was “a need and urgency to organize the territorial administration in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
