The International Criminal Court (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor announced Monday that it will reopen criminal investigations into political violence in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC said that his decision followed a referral from the DRC to the ICC, requesting that the court investigate actions of armed groups in the region. The referral invokes Article 14 of the Rome Statute, which allows countries under ICC jurisdiction to request an investigation into alleged international criminal conduct and whether “one or more specific persons should be charged with the commission of such crimes.”
The investigation will specifically focus on alleged crimes in North Kivu from January 2022 to the present. The DRC filed its referral to the court in May 2023 and the ICC began a preliminary examination June 2023. The referral marks the country’s second appeal to the court within the last two decades. After its first referral in 2002, the ICC opened investigations into the region in June 2004.
In his press release, Khan KC explained that alleged violence in the region has maintained a similar character:
I have determined that the latest episodes of violence in North Kivu since 2022 are interconnected with patterns of violence and hostilities that have plagued the region since at least 1 July 2002, the start of the Court’s jurisdiction in the DRC. Therefore, any alleged Rome Statute crimes committed in North Kivu since 1 January 2022 would fall within the remit of the ongoing investigation opened in June 2004.
A memorandum of partnership between the ICC and the DRC signed in June 2023, and an implementation mission spearheaded by ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang, outline the approach to address the volatile situation in North Kivu. The plan conforms with the office’s Policy on Complementarity and Cooperation and aims to utilize the ICC’s investigatory resources “on the one hand and efforts to support domestic accountability on the other.”
Following this strategy, Khan KC praised steps taken by the DRC to establish a domestic judicial infrastructure equipped to handle the alleged international crimes:
I welcome the decision taken by the DRC authorities to set up a steering committee to work on the establishment of a special criminal court for the DRC… [M]y Office stands ready to provide technical assistance to the DRC… as we seek to increase the impact of our collective actions in the fight against impunity for international crimes.