DR Congo Files New Case Against Rwanda at International Court of Justice

The Democratic Republic of Congo has filed a case against Rwanda at the International Court of Justice, accusing its neighbor of breaching international conventions on genocide prevention, racial discrimination, discrimination against women, and torture.

Congolese Justice Minister Guillaume Andali said on Friday that the filing seeks accountability for those alleged breaches. The application asks the ICJ to order Rwanda to cease the violations and award reparations to Congolese authorities and victims.

The ICJ, based in the Netherlands, will now examine the claims. This is the third time DR Congo has brought Rwanda before the court. Congo dropped an initial case in 2001, and the ICJ dismissed a second case in 2006 after determining Rwanda had not recognized its jurisdiction.

The accusations focus on Rwanda's alleged dispatch of forces and support for armed groups conducting operations on Congolese territory after the 1994 Rwandan genocide. About 800,000 people, mostly Tutsi, were killed by Hutu extremists during that genocide. An estimated one million Hutus then fled across the border into what is now DR Congo.

The M23 armed group captured large parts of eastern DR Congo, including Goma, beginning in January 2025. UN experts and Western governments state that Rwanda supports M23. Rwanda has long denied backing rebel groups in DR Congo and has not yet responded to the latest filing.

-sponsored peace deal in December 2025, though the conflict has continued.