their relationship. There were reports that Uganda permitted Kinshasa to send arms to the Hutu FDLR via territory held by Uganda-backed rebels as Uganda, Kinshasa and the Hutus are all seeking, in varying degrees, to check the influence of Rwanda and its affiliates. Rwanda and Ugandan backing of rebels Rwanda backed rebels due to fears of Hutu rebels on its border. The Kinshasa government was suspicious of Kigali's influence over the region, as Rwanda has occupied the area numerous times and some witnesses confirm that Rwanda has profited from the looting of Congolese minerals. Consequently, Rwanda allegedly supported the continuing rebellion of General Nkunda in Congo. Nkunda was, however, arrested by Rwandan police in 2009. The DRC sought assurance that Kigali aligned forces have no conflict-mineral or territorial interests in eastern Congo. On 19 December 2005 the United Nations International Court of Justice ruled that the DRC's sovereignty had been violated by Uganda, and that DRC had lost billions of dollars worth of resources. The DRC government has asked for $10 billion in compensation. Though the ICJ has taken many steps to ensure that war crimes and crimes against humanity will be prosecuted, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank rewarded both Uganda and Rwanda with debt relief packages for improving their economic health during a time when much of their increased revenue was partially a direct result of illegally importing conflicted minerals from the DRC. In this case, international institutions such as the IMF and WB are allegedly at odds with international laws and charters. Both the IMF and WB have been accused of helping to facilitate the conflict in the DRC by rewarding combatants. Environmental impact The war has caused substantial environmental damage. The forests of Congo are a major biodiversity hot spot, housing The Congo Basin which is widely known as the second greatest tropical rain forest in the world and the largest forest in Africa. Animals and bushmeat trade On account of the war the Republic of Congo saw their elephant population halve in size, their hippo population go from 22,000 to 900 and their great ape population decrease by 77%-93% between 1998 to 2015. With up to 3.4 million people being displaced in Congo as a result of the civil war, many moved into Congo’s forests, where they hunted bonobos, gorillas, elephants and more as bushmeat for survival and cleared forest land that were