Human Rights and Freedom: Amnesty International and Human Right Watch Condemn Violent Activities in Cameroon

Violence has been rampant since late 2016 in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, where armed separatists are fighting for the independence of these regions inhabited by the country’s English-speaking minority. 

The separatists have targeted civilians; including aid workers, students, and teachers, while trying to force a boycott of children’s education.  Security forces have also committed various abuses, including the killing of civilians, arson, sexual violence and torture of people suspected of collaborating with armed separatist groups. 

Boko Haram attacks represent a persistent threat in the Far North region.  The Cameroonian government has also taken steps to limit freedom of expression and association, including the arrests of hundreds of supporters and members of opposition parties in September 2020 following peaceful protests.

It is this light that the two international human rights organizations made a joint declaration on Wednesday, September 22, 2021, one year to the day after the peaceful protests organized by the Cameroon Renaissance Movement and civil society organizations.

A year ago, on September 22, 2020, many activists and sympathizers of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) were arrested by Cameroonian security forces, during the demonstrations organized by this political formation under  the seal of the “white marches”.  Some of these staunch supporters of Maurice Kamto’s party have been released, but there are still around a hundred detained in Cameroonian jails, and considered by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as “political prisoners”.

“The African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Economic Community of Central African States and other regional and international partners of Cameroon should urge the government to ensure that  be held accountable for the violations committed by its security forces, and demand the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained and respect for the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly,” said Fabien Offner, Central Africa researcher at Amnesty.

The two NGOs are demanding their release, and made it known this Wednesday, September 22, 2021, in a joint statement, in favor of the first anniversary of these events.  For them, the Cameroonian authorities “should release, immediately and unconditionally, all those arrested for having expressed their political point of view or for having exercised their right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and put an end to the campaign of repression against peaceful protesters and government critics ”.

In addition, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe that the defense and security forces have committed abuses against Cameroonian citizens during these demonstrations in September 2020, and regret that these soldiers did not do so.

These NGOs also denounce the persistence of cases of human rights violations, citing as an example the arrest and arbitrary detention last August of tech-entrepreneur Rebecca Enonchong. “A year after violently suppressing peaceful protests, the Cameroonian authorities continue to resort to their old repressive tactics,” said Fabien Offner, Central Africa researcher at Amnesty International.

In another incident, on September 18, 2020, gendarmes arrested four members of the civil society collective Stand Up for Cameroon, who had attended a meeting at the headquarters of the opposition Cameroon People’s Party in Douala.  A year later, they are still arbitrarily detained at New Bell prison in Douala, awaiting trial in a military court, on charges of attempted conspiracy, revolution and insurrection.  On September 15, the military court in Douala postponed the opening of the trial for the sixth time to October 13. This declaration comes at a moment when Cameroon has joint the international Community to commemorate the international day of peace, observed every September 21. In the meantime, the Prime Minister Head of Government, Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute is on a peaceful mission in the Southwest region.

The Prime Minister this Wednesday, September 22, 2021, chaired a second meeting to assess the resolutions adopted at the end of the Major National Dialogue organized two years ago by President Paul Biya with the aim of putting an end to the various crises in Cameroon, particularly in the South-West and North-West Regions in the grip of a war of independence for about five years today.

It should be noted that at least 4000 civilians have so far been killed as a result of the crisis, close to 200, 000 Internally Displaced Persons, with more than 855,000 children out of school, according to UNICEF.

Ingrid KENGNE