The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo filed a complaint on Tuesday, May 23 at the International Criminal Court (ICC), in The Hague in the Netherlands, against the Rwandan armed coalition-M23 for crimes committed in the east of the country. This request aims to prosecute and punish those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights laws, perpetrated between 2022 and 2023 on Congolese soil, according to the authorities.
It was Rose Mutombo, the Congolese Minister of Justice herself, who submitted the government’s request. Application filed with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The DRC therefore requests the opening of an in-depth investigation into “ the serious violations of international law and human rights by the agents of the RDF coalition (i.e. the Rwandan military forces) and the M23 “.
This is not the first time that the Congolese authorities say they have seized the ICC. Already last December, the Minister of Justice spoke to the Assembly of States Parties in The Hague, a few days after the kishishe events.
In this set of villages, located in North Kivu, in the territory of Rutshuru, the M23 are accused of killing civilians. More than 300 according to Kinshasa, 170 for the UN, between 30 and 50 according to human rights organizations, while the armed group evokes the death of eight people in the clashes.
In any case, this new move by the DRC comes a few days before a planned visit by ICC officials to the country. Prosecutor Karim Khan is announced in Kinshasa from May 28. According to the Congolese minister, he must also go to the provinces affected by the violence.