3, August 2021
Southern Cameroons Crisis: Francophone soldiers killed two civilians, raped a 53-year-old woman 0
The independent international organisation Human Rights Watch has urged authorities in Cameroon to protect civilians caught up in a conflict pitting the central African country’s army against separatists in the west, denouncing atrocities committed by both sides.
More than 3,500 people have been killed and over 700,000 have fled their homes to escape the conflict that erupted in 2017 in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.
“Cameroonian security forces killed two civilians, raped a 53-year-old woman, destroyed and looted at least 33 homes, shops, as well as a traditional leader’s palace in the Northwest region on June 8 and 9,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
The organisation said it had interviewed several victims, their relatives and witnesses, as well as local journalists and civil society activists.
The alleged rape victim said her ordeal began when soldiers asked her and her husband where the separatist fighters were.
“We said we didn’t know,” she said, according to HRW. “They said my husband had a gun. We said we had no gun. They said they would kill us, and then one of them raped me.”
Her husband’s body was found three days later, shot in the mouth, HRW said.
Urgent need to protect civilian communities
“Cameroon’s security forces have an obligation to lawfully counter attacks by armed separatist groups, and protect people’s rights during periods of violence,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior researcher at HRW.
“But yet again, we learn that they have responded to the threat from separatist groups with attacks on civilians and serious human rights violations of their own.”
The defence ministry declined to comment on the report.
The statement also detailed killings — including of a 12-year-old boy — and kidnappings carried out by separatist fighters.
The abuses by both sides in the conflict “highlight the urgent need to protect communities at risk and to hold those responsible for abuses to account,” the statement said.
Other humanitarian groups including Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have also raised the alarm recently about the risks faced by civilians.
Members of the English-speaking minority in the western provinces of Cameroon have long complained of being marginalised by the French-speaking majority and 88-year-old President Paul Biya, in power for 38 years.
Their demonstrations escalated into conflict in 2017.
Source: RFI
3, August 2021
Japan: Cameroonian suspected in death of missing woman whose corpse found in mountains 0
Police have arrested a male Cameroonian national who is suspected in the death of a missing woman whose corpse was found in Nara Prefecture earlier this month, reports Mainichi Broadcasting System (July 29).
On the night of July 27, police apprehended the unnamed suspect as he tried to board a flight at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.
Thus far, police have accused the suspect of forging documents at his place of employment. However, police are building a case against him in the death of Junko Sasaoka, a 56-year-old nurse.
On July 23, police found the body of Sasaoka lying face-up in a grove of trees in the Nakamachi area of Nara City, Nara Prefecture.
Bloodstains and hair
Police said last week that her vehicle was found in a supermarket parking lot about 1.2 kilometers away from her home in Yamatokoriyama City, Nara three days before.
Bloodstains matching Sasaoka and strands of her hair attached to tape were found inside the vehicle, police said.
Police also said that security camera footage showed a man, believed to be a foreigner, leaving the vehicle in the parking lot. The same footage shows him then boarding another car driven by a second man, also believed to be a foreigner.
Police have also revealed about 30 million yen in cash disappeared from a bank account connected to Sasaoka before the incident.
Reported missing
Sasaoka was last seen when she commuted to a special home for the elderly in Osaka Prefecture on July 9.
Her sister reported her missing with the Koriyama Police Station on July 15. Police began searching for her the following day.
Police have not divulged how the Cameroonian is connected to the death of Sasaoka.
Source: Tokyo Reporter