New UN report details rebel group's "grave" violation of international law

A UN report published Wednesday revealed that grave violations of international humanitarian law were committed by the Allied Democratic Forces ( ADF), a rebel group from Uganda, in the eastern Beni territory of Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the end of 2014.

These violations, which were both systematic and extremely brutal, may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the report.

Between October and December of 2014, at least 237 civilians were killed, including 65 women and 35 children, by ADF combatants in Beni.

At least 300 people, including at least 33 members of the Army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have been arrested in the course of the investigations conducted by the Congolese authorities into the Beni massacres.

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, welcomed these initial steps toward justice, but urged the Congolese authorities to redouble their efforts to hold to account all those implicated.

On the same subject, the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) on Wednesday reported that it deployed two attack helicopters in support of the Congolese Army's operations against the ADF in Beni.

A week ago, a Tanzanian convoy of MONUSCO's Force Intervention Brigade was ambushed by suspected ADF armed elements which resulted in the deaths of two peacekeepers.

"The UN Mission highlights that close cooperation protects the lives of civilians as well as Congolese soldiers and peacekeepers, and emphasizes the need to resume full military cooperation between MONUSCO and the Congolese Army in the fight against the ADF, but also against the Forces Democratiques du Rwanda, FDLR, and other armed groups," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. Endite