The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Rwanda, Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, has asked the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights to dismiss a case filed by DR Congo against Rwanda. In the case, 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, between the Congolese armed forces and AFC/M23 rebels, ongoing since late 2021. The Congolese government claims that Rwanda backs the AFC/M23 rebels, causing massacres, occupation of several areas, mass displacement of people, a cholera epidemic, destruction of infrastructure and looting. ALSO READ: Ugirashebuja calls out DR Congo for politicising African rights court In his submission on Thursday, February 13, Ugirashebuja said DR Congo’s actions constitute an orchestrated misuse of the court's mechanism evidenced by procedural irregularities, failure to exhaust local remedies, and reliance on duplicative claims filed before another forum, the East African Court of Justice. “Such conduct not only undermines the integrity of this proceeding but also risks setting a precedent that encourages frivolous and at times abusive litigation practices within this institution. In other words, the applicant's case is, at its core, a poorly constructed attempt to overwhelm this court with procedural irregularities and excessive claims in the hope that something may stick,” Ugirashebuja said. He argued that DR Congo’s case fails to meet the most fundamental requirements of jurisdiction and admissibility, pointing out that the court has no jurisdiction to entertain the DR Congo's application because the matters contained in the case fall outside the material and territorial jurisdiction of the court. “It is also a moment of heightened responsibility. As the first state to state dispute brought before the court, this case carries profound implications for the procedural and substantive standards that will govern future proceedings of this nature,” he said. “We respectfully ask this court to dismiss this application in its entirety and to do so decisively, leaving no room for doubt that such tactics will find no quarter within these chambers,” he noted. He also emphasized that the application is incompatible with the constitutive act of the African Union, and is based primarily on news disseminated through the mass media.
