3, June 2020
Ambazonia Interim Government weighs in on Samuel Wazizi affair 0
Interim Government of Ambazonia Statement on Samuel Wazizi
On the 2nd of August 2019, Samuel Wazizi, a Southern Cameroons journalist with CMTV, was abducted by police in Buea, Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia). He was handed over to the French Cameroun military five days later. Since then, his family and lawyers have not been granted access to him nor has any information about his whereabouts been made public. Several attempts by his lawyers and international organisations to make contact were declined. He was not charged for any crime or brought before any competent law court.
Yesterday, the Interim Government of Ambazonia was informed that he has been murdered in custody. This, we find unacceptable and a flagrant disregard of international law, norms and conventions. The deliberate attack on journalists and the press as a mechanism to prevent the dissemination of information by the regime in Yaoundé is unacceptable and unlawful. The French Cameroun authorities must be cognizant of their international obligations to protect the rights of journalists and civilians without prejudice.
French Cameroun has rapidly earned an unenviable reputation as one of the worst countries in the world on press freedom. The international community must act now.
The Interim Government of Ambazonia is hereby calling on the government La Republique du Cameroun to make public vital information on the whereabouts of Mr Samuel Wazizi without any further delay.
Sincerely,
DabneyYerima
Vice President, The Federal Republic of Ambazonia
CC
The United Nations
USA State Department
The African Union
The EU Commission
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland
4, June 2020
Yaounde silent on reports that detained journalist died in military custody 0
Journalists and activists in Cameroon are calling on the government to respond to media reports this week that the military has killed in detention journalist Samuel Wazizi. The military detained Wazizi about a year ago for allegedly supporting anglophone separatists and he has not been seen in public since.
Lawyer and rights defender Christopher Ndong says he has reliable information that Cameroonian journalist Samuel Wazizi died in a military hospital in Yaoundé of wounds inflicted on him by the military.
“The brutal torture that was exerted on Wazizi by military officers is a condemnable act,” said Ndong. “He was arrested and badly tortured and when he fell ill, they took him to a military hospital in Yaoundé, where he finally died. And so, we are asking for an independent investigation to detect all the culprits so that they should be brought to book and punished.”
Ndong says does not know when Wazizi died but most local media have this week been reporting his death as confirmed and that military officials are refusing to release his body.
Cameroonian activists and journalists are calling on the government to respond to the reports and explain the circumstances, if Wazizi is in fact dead.
Ambe Macmillan Awah is president of Cameroon’s Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ).
He says Wazizi’s death in prison would prove how officials continue to abuse the media.
“Cameroon is a state of law and our laws provide for journalists to be tried. So, we keep asking, why was the law not applied? We are calling on the competent authorities to investigate and bring all the perpetrators to book,” said Awah. “Nobody is above the law.”
Samuel Wazizi, whose legal name is Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, worked for Chillen Music Television.
Police arrested Wazizi last August for allegedly supporting anglophone separatists in Cameroon’s English-speaking western regions and turned him over to the military. He hasn’t been seen since. The military claims Wazizi was hosting rebels on his farm.
After Wazizi’s disappearance, authorities threatened to go after any journalists reporting on alleged military abuses or giving a voice to the rebels.
Yaoundé-based freelance journalist Ndi Eugene Ndi says it is becoming impossible to report in Cameroon’s English-speaking west regions under such pressure.
“If you do a report which seems like giving some little credit to the separatists, you should be sure of meeting a military court,” said Ndi. “It is not easy. We are not safe.”
Cameroon’s Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) says Wazizi was being held in a prison in the capital, Yaounde.
Both a military spokesman and a government spokesman refused to comment on Wazizi and the reports of his death.
Source: VOA