THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CBS) -- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday fixed the amount of money the Democratic Republic of Congo should pay Guinea to compensate for the arrest and arbitrary detention and expulsion of a businessman in late 1995.
The case relates to the 1995 arrest and detention of Ahmadou Sadio Diallo, a Guinean businessman living in Kinshasa and his eventual expulsion from Congo in 1996.
The Hague-based court in 2010 ruled Congo is under obligation to pay compensation to the Republic of Guinea, but the UN's principal judicial organ at the time did not rule on the amount of compensation. It instead ordered the two parties to come to an agreement within six months.
Guinea asked for $11.6 million, while Congo said it was prepared to pay $30,000. In a ruling on Tuesday, the court decided Congo should pay a total sum of $95,000 to Guinea.
"For these reasons the court by 15 votes to 1 fixes the amount of compensation due from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Republic of Guinea for the non-material injuries suffered by Mr. Diallo at USD 85.000," registrar Philippe Couvreur told the parties.
The court ruled Congo should pay an additional 10,000 US dollars for non-material injuries suffered by Diallo in relation to his personal property, bringing the total amount of compensation to $95,000.
The court also specified the date for the compensation.
"..unanimously decides that the total amount of compensation due under points 1 and 2 of the above, shall be paid by the 31st of August 2012, and that, in case it has not been paid by this date interest on the principal sum due from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Republic of Guinea will accrue as from the 1st of September 2012 at an annual rate of 6 percent," Couvreur said in the ruling.
Speaking after the ruling, the chief representative of the Guinea delegation to the court said the ruling sent out an important message to other states.
"What's interesting is that this decision shows that a state cannot behave without consequences towards a citizen of another country; that is what's fundamental in this judgment," Muhamed Camara, member of Guinean delegation at the court said.
The court also said the expulsion had violated the African Charter on Human Rights because Congo had never given a motivation for Diallo's expulsion.