The International Criminal Court has launched a call for witnesses to present facts on the ongoing conflict and security crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Reports from The Hague reveal that the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s investigation addresses the crimes committed in the North Kivu region of Eastern DR Congo.
The ICC wants to tackle the crisis which has been ongoing since January 2022 with the court prosecutor now taking even keener interest following the recent deteriorated security situation in the region.
In a statement, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Asad Ahmad Khan (KC) has said the investigation is being pursued with urgency with investigators working on reviewing the recent months of clashes between the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) and the March 23 rebels.
The investigations also bear on ‘the serious escalation of violence,’ in the eastern region of DR Congo particularly in Goma, the city which was recently annexed by a coalition of rebel forces.
According to the statement it seems the ICC wants witnesses to help the court persecute the perpetrators of the war-crime.
M23 was formed in 2012 after more than 300 soldiers, mostly former members of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), defected and turned against the DR Congo government.
The rebels left citing poor conditions in the army and the government’s unwillingness to implement the 23 March 2009 peace deal.
In the ongoing war in the DRC, the M23 have joined forces with the Congo River Alliance in fighting against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and have so far succeeded in taking over the mineral rich Goma.
Fighting has become rampant in the streets, with local hospitals overwhelmed by wounded civilians.
There have been power outages plunging the city into darkness.
Heavy firing resulting in killings and injuring many are the order of the day in Eastern DR Congo.
Many people have fled from the precinct while a number of UN peacekeepers have either lost their lives or been wounded in the fighting.