[JURIST] The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) [TRAC backgrounder] committed “grave violations of international humanitarian law” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) at the end of 2014, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported [text, PDF; press release] Wednesday. The report claims that the ADF, a Ugandan rebel group, has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Beni territory of the North Kivu province during a three-month period at the end of last year. It is estimated that the ADF have attacked 35 villages, resulting in 237 civilians killed and 47 wounded. UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the DRC Martin Kobler said, “[i]n light of the magnitude and the persistence of the attacks by ADF combatants, I call upon the Congolese authorities to take, as soon as possible, all the necessary measures to put an end to the massacres of civilians.”

The DRC has been the site of considerable human rights abuses committed by both government forces and various rebel groups. In December the International Criminal Court upheld the conviction [JURIST report] and 14-year prison sentence of former DRC militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo [BBC profile]. Lubanga was convicted [JURIST report] in March 2012 for the war crimes of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 and using them to participate actively in hostilities. In November Human Rights Watch released a report accusing police officers in the DRC of executing [JURIST report] 51 youths and causing the disappearance of 33 others. The UN issued a report [JURIST report] in October that addressed the human rights violations taking place in connection with Operation Likofi. In July the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict presented a report outlining the situation of the child in the DRC, which found the recruitment of child soldiers [JURIST report] persists. In June the head of the UN Mission in the DRC strongly condemned [JURIST report] an outbreak of deadly violence in the eastern areas of the DRC, sparked by a confrontation over cattle.