Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
This case involves the 1998 invasion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the
Republic of Uganda and the numerous atrocities that soldiers of the Ugandan Armed
Forces committed whilst occupying Congolese territory.
In 1996, Rwanda invaded the DRC (then Zaire) to fight rebel groups that had fled there.
She was quickly joined by Uganda, Burundi and a coalition of other African countries
who eventually joined together to overthrow the longtime dictator of the DRC, Mobutu
Sese Seko. He was replaced by Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who soon faced the problem of
his foreign allies refusing to leave the country. His July 1998 order to expel all Ugandan
and Rwandan forces from the country was ignored, and the rebel forces that the two
countries backed re-started conflict. It was this foreign occupation and the subsequent
atrocities that foreign troops committed that led the DRC to file a case before the
International Court of Justice in 1999.
According to the DRC, the acts of armed aggression that Uganda has conducted
constitute a violation of its sovereignty and of human rights as defined by international
law. In particular, the DRC accuses Uganda of violating the United Nations Charter, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Geneva Convention, among other
treaties. Uganda claims that its troops were occupying certain parts of the DRC for
security reasons, as many anti-Uganda rebels had exploited the anarchy in the DRC
and used it as a base to conduct their operations. Uganda and the DRC are both
members of the United Nations.
Bibliography
“CASE CONCERNING MILITARY AND PARAMILITARY ACTIVITIES IN AND
AGAINST NICARAGUA.”Icj.org, UnitedNations, 2019,
www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/70/070-19860627-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf.
Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States
of America). Merits, Judgment. I.C.J. Reports 1986, p. 14.