from JEAN KASSONGO in Kinshasa, DRC
DRC Bureau
KINSHASA, (CAJ News) – VICTIMS of war in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are still waiting for closure, justice and reparations, 25 years after the conflict.
Hundreds were killed and thousands injured during the six day war in the city that is capital of Tshopo, the north-central province.
The conflict pitted the Rwandan and Ugandan forces in the DRC. It started on June 5 in 2000.
Human rights groups are concerned of lack of criminal investigation or trial, thus no one has been held to account for crimes perpetrated in Kisangani.
With the DRC courts’ failure to pursue justice and the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) lack of jurisdiction over crimes committed in DRC before 2002, those suspected of criminal responsibility have evaded justice.
“It is utterly unacceptable that for 25 years, not a single person has been held to account for crimes perpetrated in Kisangani, not one,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.
The activist said this lack of criminal accountability for past crimes had led to a cycle of violence in the DRC, with similar actors, similar weapons and similar suffering.
“Justice cannot wait another 25 years,” Chagutah said.
“It is the responsibility of Congolese judicial authorities to investigate and, if there is sufficient admissible evidence, prosecute those suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes committed on DRC territory.”
In 2022, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Uganda to pay reparations, following a case brought by the DRC against Uganda and Rwanda.
The ICJ did not have jurisdiction over Rwanda.
In 2024, some victims finally started to receive compensation but the process was plagued by complaints of mismanagement and embezzlement.
– CAJ News