 In September, Uganda paid the Democratic Republic of the Congo $65 million as war reparations. This follows an order by the International Court of Justice in February, ordering Uganda to pay $325 million for killings, loot and damage caused during its occupation of the DRC in the 90s. The amount paid in September is the first of five such installments. What was the case presented by the DRC and is this the beginning of ensuring justice for the victims? Kambale Musawuli of Centre for Research on the Congo explains. It's a historic day, right? It's a historic week actually, not to think about that today. Uganda has paid reparations to Congo, right? The first payment came. This comes from the history of conflict that we've had in the DRC. Since 1996, there has been a war in the Congo waged by U.S. allies around Uganda. They've invaded the Congo twice in 1996 and 1998. Up until today, they continue to support proxy rebel militias. But around 2003, the Congolese government at the time decided to take to court Uganda and run the action. They went to the International Court of Justice to sue these two countries for war crimes, for crimes against humanity, for preferring our Congo's resources. The court heard the case. In the end of the case, they dismissed the case against Rwanda. The reason they gave for dismissing the case is that they did not have jurisdiction to try Rwanda as a country at the ICJ simply because Rwanda has never signed the Rome Treaty. The United States is one of the countries also that have not signed the Rome Treaty. So the court found itself inadequate to look at the case for Rwanda. But for Uganda, Uganda is a party to the Rome Statute. So the ICJ was created from the funding documents of the Rome Statute. So then, given that Uganda signed the Rome Statute, the courts found itself adequate to actually try Uganda. They went through a vigorous process, judges, the lawyers from both countries. And in the end of the process, the court in 2005 found Uganda guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and preferring of Congo's resources and displacement of population and so on. So in 2005, at the time, there was a statement for ICJ that Uganda would have to pay about $10 billion of reparations. Those were the damages that the Congolese government was seeking for what they did in DRC. And from 2005 to now, there's been a lot of back and forth about the amount for reparation. So one, already the court in 2005 found Uganda guilty of preferring of Congo's resources, killing Congolese civilians, being an occupying force in DRC. Then about sometime last year, the case came back up because Uganda hadn't paid reparations to DRC and there was no final judgment saying what the amount will be. So the judges again heard Congo and Rwanda. And in the end, the court decided that the damages, the values for reparation will be upward of $300 million, about $365 or such. Of course, Uganda stated that they cannot pay it. But now, we see Uganda has made this first payment. So I'm not looking at the dollar amount of what Uganda is actually paying. I'm looking at the original reason why we are where we are. The Congo sued one of his neighbors, actually two of his neighbors. One was not, the case was not heard because of jurisdiction. The other, the country was found guilty. And being found guilty and being sentenced and judgment being disclosed, they are making that payment. So Uganda today is saying, yes, we invaded the Congo, we pay for Congo's resources and we kill civilians. So that's the only victory for justice seekers. We do believe that over $300 million is not enough for the crimes that are committed. But the fact that Uganda is making the payment is the acknowledgement from Uganda that they have committed crimes in the Congo. While Uganda has begun paying reparations, Rwanda has still not been brought to justice for its crimes during the same period. What attempts have been made to pressurize Rwanda and how is it that both these countries continue to support insurgencies and intervene militarily in the affairs of the DRC? It's very important also to understand this context. The ICJ International Court of Justice and the ICC, the International Criminal Court are two bodies coming out of the Rome Statue. So we know that at the ICJ, Uganda has been found guilty and they've been sentenced. There is a judgment and they are paying $65 billion from the amount given for damages for reparations for the RC. So in a normal situation, the International Criminal Court, the ICC should look into this case. So there is a civil suit and they also need to be a criminal suit. In the civil suit, it's already determined that Uganda has paid for Congo's resources. Uganda has committed crimes of war crimes that have displaced populations and so on. So the question should be asked, why isn't the ICC, the International Criminal Court, looking into Uganda for these same war crimes, crimes against humanity and pay for and Congo's resources? Because it's the same statute. That's one. The second one is the case against Rwanda. Rwanda did not get tried because of jurisdiction. But given that Uganda was found guilty at the ICJ, more than likely, they will find also Rwanda guilty if he was actually properly tried. So that means that for the past two decades, international bodies have had information about Congo's wars, about the invasions of Congo by its neighbors, Rwanda and Uganda. But these nations have continued to engage, temper, and interfere in Congolese politics through invasions, through war, through different Congo's resources, unabated. And that's almost like the most important element to look at, that how come Rwanda is not being held accountable? So you will look at Rwanda's partners internationally. For example, the United Kingdom, which has decided to send a refugee seeking asylum into Rwanda for processing. They are using Rwanda as a contractor for processing refugee seeking asylum in the UK. Why is the UK engaging with Rwanda at the level? The United States is the same. They have military agreements with the Rwandan government. They have not stopped any military training, any military support they provide to the Rwandan government. And they have the same information that we have. I believe this culture of impunity is what has caused the conflict in our Congo to continue up until today. Over 60 million Congolese people have died. It's almost as we're saying that people can come to the Congo, loot Congo's resources, kill Congolese civilians, and nothing will actually happen to them. Because of the cultural impunity, as just mentioned, work continues. We believe for peace and stability to happen in the ERC, we need to have justice. There need to be a case open back up at the ICC. There is no case against Uganda at the ICC for the crimes of Uganda. There need to be more international pressure on Rwandan Uganda's partners. I said that if you are not a stakeholder for peace in the ERC, we are not going to use our taxpayers' money to support this oppressive regime. And lastly, which is the call from the Congolese population, though we know there is an ICJ ruling and a judgment of overpricing the million dollars given for reparation, we still believe that we need to implement the recommendation of the UN Mapping Exercise Report. The UN Mapping Exercise Report that was published in 2010, October 1, 2010, said that what's happening in the Congo is a war crime, crime against humanity, and possible genocide if proven in the competent court. And this report calls for a mechanism for justice for the ERC. It's proposing a tribunal, an international tribunal for Congo. It's also proposing, if not that, we can look at a special chamber, mischambers created to look at the cases of crimes in the ERC. The Congolese people are calling for that. We believe that justice is non-negotiable using the word of Dr. Denimi Kwege, the Nobel Peace Prize. We must have justice to have peace of stability. The judgment against Uganda is a step in the right direction. The first payment is a step in the right direction. We know that it should be more, but we must continue, continue, continue to push for justice for the ERC. Without justice, there cannot be peace.