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The Monitor (Kampala)
November 9, 2003
Posted to the web November 9, 2003
Frank Nyakairu
Kampala
The International Court of Justice at The Hague starts receiving "evidence", tomorrow, that Uganda committed acts of armed aggression against DR Congo.
Mr Ntumba Luaba, the Congolese minister of Human Rights, will make submission of evidence for three days.
He will also be burdened to prove that Uganda violated DR Congo's territorial integrity and is responsible for the atrocities committed during the five-year rebellion in that country.
>From November 10-12, Luaba will be making submissions at The Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, where the world court sits.
Attorney General, Francis Ayume is representing Uganda at The Hague. He told The Monitor last month that the two parties were considering all options including settling the matter out of court.
In an application for legal proceedings filed in June 23 1999, DR Congo states that: "Such armed aggression by Ugandan troops on Congolese territory has involved inter alia violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, violations of international humanitarian law and massive human rights violations."
It also accuses the Ugandan government of causing widespread deaths of Congolese nationals.
DR Congo alleges that Ugandan troops shot down a Congolese Boeing 727, killing 40 civilians at Kindu on October 9.
"Uganda has also violated the Convention on International Civil Aviation," the DRC application further reads.
The ICJ President, Mr Gilbert Guillaume, will hear the case. The hearing is expected to run from November 10 to 28.
Uganda and Rwanda entered DR Congo to support rebels who were fighting to topple the late President Laurent Kabila in 1998.
Angola, Zimbabwe, Chad and Namibia intervened to support Kabila's government against the rebels and their allies.
