DRC’s Cirimwami Joins ICC Race as East Congo Seeks Justice

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is backing professor and career magistrate Ézéchiel Amani Cirimwami in the race to become a judge of the International Criminal Court.

The candidacy is a major professional achievement for Congo. It also arrives at a sensitive moment, when the ICC is investigating alleged international crimes in North Kivu and demands for accountability are growing across the Great Lakes region.

For many Congolese, that timing immediately raises a larger question: could a Congolese judge at the ICC help bring senior regional figures, including Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, before the Court?

The short answer is that Cirimwami’s possible election would strengthen Congolese and African legal representation at the Court, but it would not give the DRC control over ICC investigations.

The nomination was made before the July announcement

The Vrije Universiteit Brussel announced the official nomination on April 20, while the University of Luxembourg confirmed it on April 24. The formal nomination period for the 2026 election eventually closed on May 10.

Cirimwami is one of 14 listed candidates competing for six judicial vacancies. The Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute is scheduled to elect the judges during its December 7–17 session in New York.

Candidates need a two-thirds majority of States Parties present and voting. The ballot is secret, and further rounds can be held until all six positions are filled.

Who is Ézéchiel Amani Cirimwami?

Cirimwami combines experience as a Congolese judge and prosecutor with academic work in international law.

He holds doctorates in law from UCLouvain and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His research examines international criminal law, humanitarian law, human rights, international courts and the legal duty of states to extradite or prosecute people accused of international crimes.

From 2019 to 2023, he worked as a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law. He later remained connected to the University of Luxembourg as a visiting scholar.

VUB describes him as an associate professor at the university and a visiting professor at UCLouvain and Belgium’s Royal Military Academy. He has also worked as international counsel and appeared before international courts.

The DRC presented him under List B, the category for candidates with recognised competence in areas such as international humanitarian law, human rights law and other fields relevant to the ICC’s work.

His profile is especially relevant to Congo because his scholarship is not limited to theory. It focuses on how international courts function, how states can be held to legal obligations and how accountability mechanisms respond to mass crimes.

Why the candidacy is so important for the DRC

If elected, Cirimwami would bring Congolese legal experience to one of the world’s most important criminal courts.

That representation matters because the DRC has been part of the ICC system since the Court’s early years. The country first referred its situation to the ICC in 2004, and the Court has prosecuted several cases connected to atrocities committed on Congolese territory.

It would also be a national-recognition story. Cirimwami’s candidacy places a Congolese legal professional among judges, prosecutors and international-law specialists from across the world.

But “representation” must not be confused with political control. An ICC judge does not serve as a government delegate. Under the Rome Statute, judges must act independently and cannot take instructions from the state that nominated them.

How this connects to East African security

The candidacy has a clear regional-security context because eastern DRC is already under active ICC scrutiny.

In October 2024, the Office of the Prosecutor renewed its investigative work in the DRC and made alleged Rome Statute crimes committed in North Kivu since January 2022 a priority. The prosecutor said the investigation would examine the responsibility of all actors, without limiting its work to one party or armed group.

The conflict has also become a major interstate security issue.

In Resolution 2773, adopted in February 2025, the UN Security Council condemned M23’s offensive in North and South Kivu with what it described as the direct support and participation of the Rwanda Defence Force. It demanded that the RDF stop supporting M23 and withdraw from Congolese territory.

This is why international justice is closely linked to regional peace. Diplomatic agreements may stop fighting, but durable security also depends on whether commanders, political leaders and armed groups believe serious crimes will carry consequences.

A credible ICC process can help document atrocities, protect evidence and increase pressure against future abuses. It can also support victims who fear that political settlements may ignore justice.

Does this mean Paul Kagame will be taken to the ICC?

There is strong public interest in whether senior Rwandan officials could face international prosecution. That interest is understandable given the UN Security Council’s findings, the ICC’s renewed North Kivu investigation and the DRC’s accusations against Rwanda.

What would his election actually change?

If elected, Cirimwami would serve a nine-year, non-renewable term as one of 18 ICC judges.

His election could:

• give the Court deeper expertise in international humanitarian and criminal law;

• increase professional representation from the DRC and the African region;

• bring knowledge of legal systems affected by prolonged conflict;

• inspire Congolese students, magistrates and researchers;

• reinforce the DRC’s diplomatic profile within international justice institutions.

It would not:

• guarantee an arrest warrant against any regional leader;

• allow Kinshasa to direct the ICC;

• make Cirimwami the judge in every DRC-related case;

• replace the prosecutor’s investigation;

• decide the DRC’s separate case against Rwanda at the ICJ.