UPDATE ON DRC SUIT AGAINST UGANDA AND RWANDA IN

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001850 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL CG RW UG SUBJECT: UPDATE ON DRC SUIT AGAINST UGANDA AND RWANDA IN THE ICJ ¶1. (SBU) The GDROC filed suit in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1998 against both Rwanda and Uganda, demanding compensation for those two countries' military and economic interference in the eastern part of the Congo (North and South Kivu Provinces and Oriental Province, respectively). Rwanda has chosen to ignore the suit, but the Ugandan government acknowledged it. As recently as February 2004, Uganda asked the DRC to drop the suit in favor of diplomatic negotiations to establish some form of compensation. Local press articles October 2 and 4 noted that this issue apparently is again active, although the articles confined themselves to reiterating the history of how the suit came to be filed. ¶2. (SBU) PolCouns spoke October 2 with officials at the Ministry of Justice and in the Presidency, who said that the GDROC has just decided to apply to the ICJ to temporarily suspend (not/not drop) the suit, in order to facilitate compensation negotiations with Uganda. The Ministry official indicated that the suspension requested is for 90 days, although he wasn't sure if the ICJ authorized such short suspensions. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: A successful Uganda-Congo settlement of this issue may increase pressure on Rwanda to likewise try to reach a settlement, although, given that Rwanda has not even acknowledged the ICJ jurisdiction, such a settlement remains highly unlikely. MEECE