International Humanitarian Law and the Case of Eastern Congo: An Illusion or Reality?

Due to the Congolese wars, violence, war crimes and the sufferings of the civic lien population in the eastern provinces of the DRC continues. The Congo war is a complex combination of international and internal elements. This begs the question of how do the IHL Apply.’ And remain relevant and effective to situations of” mixed conflicts which do not fit into any neat legal category. The study investigated the implementation, applicability and effectiveness of IHL on the ongoing armed conflict in Eastern Congo. The study adopted explanatory research design. The targeted population for the study was the Democratic Republic of the Congo East conflict. Data was collected from published and unpublished sources as well as from key informants. Data was analyzed using content analysis and chi square. From the findings, the study concludes that there are major violations of IHL in Eastern Congo including recruitment of child soldiers. Deaths of 6.9 million Congolese. Mass raps, civilian mass and I DPs. The actors involved in the implementation of I HL in Eastern Congo which include; DRC government, seven foreign armies, militias, mercenaries and warlords. Others include; UN peacekeeping missions, UNSC, ICC, NGOs, and civil society, ICLGR, OAU and African Union. IHL is highly applicable in Eastern Congo conflict. However. existing challenges lender I HL less effective in resolving Eastern Congo arised conflict. The effectiveness of international humanitarian law in resolving ai med conflict ict in Eastern Congo is li igh ly I in ited. The complex nature of this arised conflict has made it di fficult to be c lassi fled either as international ot non-international armed confl ict. Thc laCI‹ of clear categorization lfas limited the applicability and effectiveness of the I HL that mainly focus on the international armed conflicts. The applicability, relevance and effectiveness of I HL in resolving the ‘mixed conflicts’ that do not fit into any neat legal category of IHL in iv DRC is questionable. The study recommends that I HL should be revised to enhance its applicability, relevance and effectiveness in resolving armed conflicts with both Internal and international actors’ involvement as in the case of Eastern Congo armed conflict. The international and local actors implementing I HL in eastern Congo should regularly review their approach to incorporate the emerging dynamics to’ the armed conflict. The international community should come up with an international independent body to implement I H L in Eastern DRC to mitigate the third state political influence.