Victims of Kisangani War still seek justice, 25 years on
The last batch of soldiers with the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) return through the town of Goli after withdrawing from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) embattled Ituri region on May 19, 2003. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Uganda to pay Kinshasa $325 million for damages caused by its military occupation of the Ituri region between 1998 and 2003.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has had conflict for the past 30 years, or more. But victims of the Kisangani war, between Uganda and Rwanda on Congolese soil 25 years ago, are yet to be compensated.
The six-day war broke out on June 5, 2000, and hundreds of civilians were killed and thousands more wounded. Victims, survivors of that war have groped in the dark seeking truth, justice, reparations and closure. It has been an endless search, compounded by renewed violence, with the participation of the two countries having morphed since.
