DR Congo files genocide case against Rwanda at International Court of Justice

The Democratic Republic of the Congo lodged an application with the International Court of Justice on 26 June 2026, accusing Rwanda of committing genocide and widespread human‑rights violations in eastern Congo since 1996. The filing invokes the 1948 Genocide Convention, the Convention against Torture and other treaties, and seeks a ruling on Rwanda’s legal responsibility for massacres, extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, forced displacement and discrimination against multiple ethnic groups. Congolese authorities estimate that about 1.48 million victims have been identified by the national reparations body FONAREV. Rwanda has denied the allegations and has not issued a public response. The ICJ will first consider its jurisdiction before any substantive judgment. The case follows a broader diplomatic push by Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka’s government, which also asked Belgium to return over 500 human remains from the colonial era and celebrated a recent election to a UN Security Council seat. The legal action marks the DRC’s most significant attempt to hold a neighbour accountable through international courts and could shape regional security and reconciliation efforts.