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Football: Brazil and Argentina ordered to play World Cup abandoned qualifier

14, February 2022

Football: Brazil and Argentina ordered to play World Cup abandoned qualifier 0

FIFA on Monday ordered Brazil and Argentina to replay a World Cup qualifying match halted in Sao Paulo in September over alleged Covid-19 quarantine breaches by the visitors.

Brazilian health officials stormed the pitch seven minutes into the clash on September 5 between the South American giants at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, stopping the match and triggering a melee involving team officials and players.

“After a thorough investigation of the various factual elements and in light of the applicable regulations, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided that the match should be replayed on a date and at a location to be decided by FIFA,” said a statement from world soccer’s governing body on Monday.

The two nations are undefeated in South American qualifying and are sure to finish in the top two places in the 10-team group, although both have three games to play, including the rematch. The top four teams qualify automatically for the World Cup in Qatar.

Hours before the on-pitch drama in September, Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) said four Argentine players based at English clubs at the time should be placed in “immediate quarantine” for breaching Covid-19 protocols.

According to ANVISA, the Premier League players — Cristian Romero and then club-mate Giovani Lo Celso of Tottenham, and Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia — provided “false information” upon entering Brazil.

On Monday, FIFA said that “the abandonment of the match stemmed from several deficiencies of the parties involved towards their respective responsibilities”.

FIFA banned the four Argentine players for two matches each for “not complying with the FIFA Return to Football International Match Protocol.”

It also handed a series of fines to the two national football federations.

The Brazilian Football Association must pay 500,000 Swiss Francs (540,000 dollars, 477,000 euros) for “infringements related to order and security”.

The Argentinian Football Association was fined 200,000 Swiss Francs for “its failure to comply with its obligations in relation to order and security, the preparation of and its participation in the match.”

Both federations were also fined 50,000 Swiss Francs for the abandonment of the match.

Source: AFP

New Bishop takes up duties in Bafoussam Diocese

14, February 2022

New Bishop takes up duties in Bafoussam Diocese 0

The Holy Father Pope Francis has appointed a new bishop to take over the diocese of Bafoussam in French Cameroun.

Paul Lonlsie Keune has been installed to the new role as the fifth residential bishop succeeding Bishop Emeritus Dieudonné Watio.

The Man of God said that he was grateful to the Holy Father for his affirmation and trust.

The National Episcopal Conference has congratulated Bishop Keune saying he is a man of enthusiasm, great pastoral experience and vitality.

The installation ritual took place on Saturday February 12, 2022 at the St Joseph Catholic Cathedral in Bafoussam with a high Pontifical Mass that was celebrated by His Excellency Julio Murat, Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files

Ngarbuh Massacre 2 Years On: “Victims await justice amid French Cameroun military impunity”

14, February 2022

Ngarbuh Massacre 2 Years On: “Victims await justice amid French Cameroun military impunity” 0

The trial of 21 people accused of involvement in the killings of 21 civilians in Ngarbuh, in Cameroon’s North-West region, on February 14, 2020, has dragged on for 14 months, Human Rights Watch said today. The slow pace raises concerns about the justice system’s efficiency and ability to deliver justice to the victims. The lack of progress is compounded by the limited opportunity for access and participation by victims’ families, the lack of probative witnesses, and the fact that senior officers with command responsibility have not been arrested or charged. The only witnesses so far did not see the killings and claimed the victims were separatist fighters.

“When the trial started, it was welcomed as a step toward justice and tackling impunity for military abuses in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “But two years after the massacre, victims and their families are still awaiting justice, while security forces have continued to commit serious human rights violations.”

The Ngarbuh killings were one of the Cameroonian security forces’ worst atrocities since the crisis in the country’s Anglophone regions began in late 2016. The government initially denied that its security forces were responsible. But following international pressure, President Paul Biya established a commission of inquiry on March 1, 2020. The government then admitted that its security forces bear some responsibility and announced the arrest of two soldiers and a gendarme in June 2020.

Human Rights Watch research concluded that government forces and armed ethnic Fulani killed 21 civilians in Ngarbuh, including 13 children and a pregnant woman, burned five homes, looted scores of other properties, and beat residents in a reprisal operation against the community suspected of harboring separatist fighters. Ethnic Fulani living in and around Ngarbuh are also known as “Mbororo” and are mainly pastoralists.

The Ngarbuh trial started on December 17, 2020, before the military court in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital, and has had 15 sessions. The next is scheduled for February 17, 2022. The defendants include two soldiers: a sergeant and a first-class soldier of the 52nd Motorized Infantry Battalion (Battalion d’intervention motorisé, BIM), a gendarme, a former separatist fighter, and 17 ethnic-Fulani vigilantes, who remain at large. They have been charged with murder, arson, destruction, violence against a pregnant woman, and disobeying orders.

The court is about 450 kilometers from Ngarbuh, making it difficult for family members of victims to attend. Family members’ lawyers expressed concern about the issue in March 2021. Since then, only two relatives of victims have testified before the court.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, has said that “all investigations must be prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent” and that failure “transparently to take all necessary measures to investigate suspicious deaths and all killings by [s]tate agents and to identify and hold accountable individuals or groups responsible for violations of the right to life constitutes in itself a violation by the [s]tate of that right.”

Under international standards, including the United Nations Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death and jurisprudence from human rights bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights, for an effective investigation to be transparent, victims and their families need to have reasonable access.

Lawyers for the victims and their families told Human Rights Watch that sections 177 and 189 of Cameroon’s Criminal Procedure Code provide the possibility that a magistrate could go to Ngarbuh and collect testimony from witnesses. But instead, lawyers said, courts have used section 336 of the Criminal Procedure Code to allow criminal proceedings to be heard and determined without witnesses present.

International standards also require an effective investigation to identify and collect evidence from probative witnesses, to take all feasible steps to identify and locate those allegedly involved in the crime, and to hold to account all those responsible, such as those with command responsibility.

Instead, family members’ lawyers said that the prosecution has presented testimony from people who did not witness the killings and whose testimony is at odds with witness accounts provided during the preliminary investigation, as well as reports on the massacre by the United Nations and local and international human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch.

“Testimonies of administrative and military authorities, who serve as prosecution witnesses in this case, try to show that those killed in Ngarbuh were separatist fighters and not civilians,” said Barrister Menkem Sother, one of the family members’ lawyers. “It looks like the goal of the investigation will be to show that the Cameroon security forces only killed separatist fighters in Ngarbuh, and that the killing of any civilians was the work of vigilantes.”

The judicial authorities also appear to have made no effort to locate the accused vigilantes. According to family members’ lawyers, investigators had the telephone number and location of at least one vigilante, but apparently made no attempt to trace and apprehend him or to explain why they didn’t.

In the Anglophone regions, vigilantes work in tangent with local authorities and security forces and receive material support from the government in the form of motorcycles, first aid kits, flashlights, and metal detectors. As a result, the sub-divisional officers, including the one in Ndu, which includes Ngarbuh, should normally have a list of the vigilantes working in their areas.

The prosecution strategy also omits accountability for the authorities who had direct supervision over the suspects and the units and personnel who conducted the military operation in Ngarbuh. This includes the commander of the 52nd BIM, who acknowledged that he authorized a reconnaissance operation to Ngarbuh, and the Ndu sub-divisional officer. The 17 vigilantes would have been operating under his supervision. According to family members’ lawyers, the suspects all stated that the operation in Ngarbuh had been authorized by the Commander of the 52nd BIM and the Ndu sub-prefect.

Lawyers for the victims also said that the judge in charge of the case also sits on the court of appeals, to which complaints about the trial and requests for review will be referred. “If the parties are not satisfied with the judgment and the case is referred to the appeals court, the review will be carried out by the same judge,” said Barrister Richard Tamfu, one of the family members’ lawyers. This is a blatant violation of the right to appeal to an impartial tribunal. As set out in the Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa, judicial impartiality is compromised if “a judicial official sits as member of an appeal tribunal in a case which he or she decided or participated in a lower judicial body.”

As the trial goes on, Cameroonian security forces continue to commit serious crimes in the Anglophone regions, underscoring a climate of impunity that has fueled the crisis in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions for the past five years. Armed separatist groups have also committed abuses, including killings, kidnappings, torture, and widespread attacks on education. This highlights the urgent need for effective investigations that meet international standards into all serious abuses.

“The lack of justice for the killings of civilians in Ngarbuh and the recurring military abuses are avoidable consequences of the failure to ensure effective investigations and prosecutions,” Allegrozzi said. “Cameroonian authorities should rein in their security forces, ensure an end to abuses, and guarantee that those most responsible for the Ngarbuh killings, as well as other serious abuses, are held to account in fair and effective trials.”

Culled from Human Rights Watch

Key Canada-US bridge reopens after police remove protesters, vehicles

14, February 2022

Key Canada-US bridge reopens after police remove protesters, vehicles 0

North America’s busiest trade link reopened for traffic late Sunday evening, ending a six-day blockade, Canada Border Services Agency said, after Canadian police cleared the protesters fighting to end COVID-19 restrictions.

Canadian police made several arrests on Sunday and cleared protesters and vehicles that occupied the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, after a court order on Friday.

The blockade had choked the supply chain for Detroit’s carmakers, forcing Ford Motor Co, the second-largest U.S. automaker, General Motors Co and Toyota Motor Corp to cut production.

The bridge carries about $360 million a day in two-way cargoes – 25% of the value of all U.S.-Canada goods trade. A Windsor Police official told reporters that 20 to 30 arrests had been made. Police also seized vehicles within the demonstration area, according to an earlier statement.

Police stepped up their presence on Sunday with more than 50 vehicles, including cruisers, buses and an armoured car, as the number of protesters dropped to around 45 from roughly 100 on Saturday. Windsor Police tweeted “there will be zero tolerance for illegal activity”.

In Ottawa, counter protests started blocking vehicles trying to join the protests on Sunday, with residents losing patience over the three-week-old demonstrations.

In the western Canadian province of British Columbia, the Pacific highway border crossing in Surrey was temporarily closed on Sunday afternoon, for a second day, by a group of about 200 protesters, according to a Reuters photographer on the scene. A small group of protesters gathered on the U.S. side of the border, blocking incoming vehicles.

The “Freedom Convoy” protests, started in the national capital Ottawa by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, entered its 17th day on Sunday. But it has now morphed into a rallying point against broader COVID-19 curbs, carbon tax and other issues, with people joining in cars, pick-up trucks and farm vehicles.

“We’re fed up, we’re tired. We want Ottawa to be boring again,” said an Ottawa resident at a counter protest in front of the city’s police headquarters.

The Canadian government had discussed whether to invoke special emergency powers to deal with the protests in the capital, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair told CBC News on Sunday. Blair said the lack of police enforcement in Ottawa was “inexplicable.”

The rarely used Emergencies Act would allow the federal government to override the provinces and authorize special temporary measures to ensure security during national emergencies anywhere in the country. It has only been used once in peacetime – by Trudeau’s father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau – in 1970.

Strangling bilateral trade, protests have spread to three border points, including in Alberta and Manitoba. Canadian police have said the protests have been partly funded by U.S. supporters, and Ontario froze funds donated via one U.S. platform GiveSendGo on Thursday.

The estimated loss so far from the blockades to the auto industry alone could be as high as $850 million, based on IHS Markit’s data, which puts the 2021 daily flow in vehicles and parts at $141.1 million a day.

“Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end,” Windsor City Mayor Drew Dilkens said in a tweet.

In Europe, a convoy of 150 cars protesting COVID-19 restrictions left Paris on Sunday morning and headed towards Brussels, protesters told Reuters.

Source: REUTERS

French Cameroun police charge the Lamido of Garoua with murder

14, February 2022

French Cameroun police charge the Lamido of Garoua with murder 0

The Lamido of Garoua who is also a very powerful political and traditional figure in the North region has been arrested and charged with murder.

His Majesty Ibrahim El Rachidine was charged by the police for the death of Ali Youssouf, a family relation to the Monarch reportedly killed inside the palace on January 31 2022.

A source at the Garoua police station hinted Cameroon Concord News that a total of 9 vigilante members providing security for the Lamido have also been arrested and have been arraigned before the Military Tribunal.

Our source said the Lamido’s men arrested were found with guns, axes and other items.

The CPDM government had from the very beginning ignored calls for a proper investigation into the murder of the outspoken young royal. But pressure came to bear from the local population and the media.

By Rita Akana

Africa Cup of Nations hero Sadio Mané to have stadium named after him in Senegal

12, February 2022

Africa Cup of Nations hero Sadio Mané to have stadium named after him in Senegal 0

Mayor of the Senegalese region of Sedhiou, Abdoulaye Diop, has confirmed plans to name the city’s new stadium after Liverpool star Sadio Mané as a reward for his performances at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

The 29-year-old scored the winning spot-kick that helped Senegal beat Egypt 4-2 in the penalty shoot-out after a goalless draw at the end of extra-time, and it sealed the country’s first Afcon title.

Mane played in all of the Teranga Lions’ games in Cameroon and he contributed three goals with two assists.

The Afcon success capped Mané’s achievements as an indigene of Sedhiou, a region in the South-West part of Senegal, having also won major titles at Liverpool which include the Fifa Club World Cup, Uefa Super Cup, Uefa Champions League and the Premier League.

“Sadio Mané has honoured all of Senegal, the Sedhiou region and the entire Casamance area,” Diop said, per Sports News Africa. “I have decided to name the Sedhiou stadium after him.

“In doing so I wish to convey the gratitude of all the sons and daughters of the region towards him.

“He has made all of mankind aware of Bambali and Sedhiou, the region’s main town. This is a gift that Sadio Mané truly deserves.”

Following their triumphant arrival from Cameroon, Aliou Cisse’s men were hosted in a classy reception by Senegal President Macky Sall in the Presidential Palace on Tuesday.

President Sall conferred the country’s highest order upon each player which makes them Grand Officers of the National Order of the Lion.

In addition to the honour, each of the players and members of the coaching crew received a bonus of 50 million franc CFA (AUD$121,860) and a 200 square metre plot of land in the nation’s capital, Dakar.

Source: Sporting News

Southern Cameroons Crisis: US Foreign Affairs Committee passes resolution calling for respect of human rights

12, February 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: US Foreign Affairs Committee passes resolution calling for respect of human rights 0

This week, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a resolution introduced by Congressmember Karen Bass, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, condemning ongoing violence and human rights abuses stemming from Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis.

“The ongoing crisis and violence taking place in Cameroon at this very moment is something that deserves the attention of the world,” said Congresswoman Bass. “Since the first introduction of a similar resolution in 2019, the violence and unrest has continued. Both the government and armed groups must be held accountable for their role in the violation of fundamental human rights. This resolution we passed reaffirms that the United States continues to hold the Government of Cameroon responsible for upholding the rights of all citizens and also calls for all parties to immediately exercise restraint and ensure that protests are peaceful. It also urges the Secretary of State to hold individuals accountable for these human rights violations in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon. I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this important resolution when it comes up for a vote on the House Floor.”

“This bipartisan resolution condemns the terrible abuses perpetrated by the Government of Cameroon against the northwestern Anglophone population and simultaneously calls on those Anglophone groups that have responded to this abuse with violence of their own to seek dialogue and a peaceful resolution for their differences,” said Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Ranking Member of the Africa, Global Health and Global Human Rights subcommittee. “Chairwoman Bass and I share a grave concern about the horrific human rights violations in Cameroon. In 2018, I chaired a hearing on the human rights abuses there, and her resolution today similarly brings attention to ongoing atrocities in the country. We will continue to press the government to respect the rights of English-speaking Cameroonians.”

“There’s a deep bond shared not only between the sister cities of La Crosse and Kumbo, but also between the whole of Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District and Cameroon,” said Congressman Ron Kind (R-WI). “The devastation that our Cameroonian friends are experiencing as a result of the ongoing violence is heartbreaking. In recent years, I’ve had the opportunity to visit and speak with officials on the ground, and I’m proud to see the House Committee on Foreign Affairs continue its important work to call for an inclusive dialogue to achieve peace by passing my and Chairwoman Bass’s bipartisan resolution.”

The resolution is calling on the Government of Cameroon and all armed groups to respect the human rights of all Cameroonian citizens, to end all violence, and to pursue a broad-based dialogue without preconditions to resolve the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions.

Culled from Bass.house.gov

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Vice President Yerima condemns attack on school in Manyu

11, February 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Vice President Yerima condemns attack on school in Manyu 0

The Attack on Queen of the Rosary High School (QRHS), Okoyong, Manyu

Fellow Ambazonians,

The Interim Government of Ambazonian is informing Southern Cameroonians that last night, 10thFebruary 2022, unidentified armed men raided Queen of the Rosary High School (QRHS), Okoyong, in Manyu County.

The assailants set fire on dormitories and administrative buildings while students were asleep. Ambazonia Intelligence Services have now confirmed that no student was killed, but some few sustained minor injuries. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the children put through this ordeal.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia condemns this cowardly act firmly and warns that it will take steps to disarm rogue gangs operating with impunity in Ambazonia. Our legitimate fight is against the invading army of La Republique du Cameroun, not against our student population.

Any attack on a school in Southern Cameroons is shameful, distasteful, outrageous, and unacceptable and the perpetrators of these sorts of crimes do not represent our cause and people.

Cooperation between our Ambazonian self-defense forces and local communities in Ground Zero is vital for our success. We must confront the dangerous enemy we all face with unity and purpose. This requires wisdom and self-restraint.

I take this opportunity to reiterate the position of your Interim Government that school campuses are no go areas for any Southern Cameroons group, be they Amba fighters.

Thank you

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Renowned Cameroonian journalist turns 72 in Kondengui prison

11, February 2022

Renowned Cameroonian journalist turns 72 in Kondengui prison 0

As Cameroonian journalist Amadou Vamoulké “celebrates” his 72nd birthday today in so-called “preventive” detention, in which he has now spent more than 2,000 days, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its appeal to the UN to do everything possible to obtain his release given his extremely fragile state of health and urgent need of treatment.

As well as spending his birthday like most days, in the main prison in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital, Vamoulké is also due to spend part of it at the Special Criminal Court (TCS) for his 99th appearance there since his arrest in July 2016. Because of the imminent threats to his health, RSF has referred the case to the urgent attention of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, nearly two years after an initial urgent appeal that went unanswered.

RSF has asked the Special Rapporteur to intervene as soon as possible in favour of an emergency evacuation for medical reasons, and has provided details of Vamoulké’s extreme vulnerability due to his age, his poor conditions of detention and the serious neurological illness diagnosed in September 2019. And RSF reminds the Special Rapporteur that, despite medical reports attesting that Vamoulké’s condition requires urgent and appropriate care that cannot be provided in Cameroon, he has repeatedly and deliberately been refused such care by the Cameroonian authorities.

“As Amadou Vamoulké spends another birthday in prison, we urge the UN to press the Cameroonian authorities to release him before it is too late,” said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk. “The authorities continue to ignore repeated calls for this journalist’s release despite the extreme fragility of his state of health, his age and his imprisonment during a global pandemic. The rapid spread of Covid-19 in Cameroon’s overcrowded prisons and his status as a vulnerable person with regard to this virus expose him to the possibility of irreparable damage to his health and constitute grounds for his immediate release.”

Vamoulké has spent more than five and a half years in “provisional” detention since his arrest on 29 July 2016 on the basis of claims that he misspent government funds as director-general of the state radio and TV broadcaster CRTV. Despite nearly 100 hearings, all adjourned, prosecutors have been unable to produce any evidence or testimony to support these allegations.

RSF has taken many initiatives with both Cameroonian and international authorities with the aim of obtaining this journalist’s release. Following an RSF referral, his detention was deemed to be arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in June 2020. In this decision, the Working Group also said he had been deliberately denied medical care and announced that it was submitting the case to the Special Rapporteur on the right to health because of the urgency of his medical situation. RSF had already contacted this Special Rapporteur in May 2020. However, despite these requests and the urgency of the situation, no response has so far been provided by the Special Rapporteur. Cameroon is ranked 135th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

Culled from RSF

CPDM Crime Syndicate struggling to contain deadly cholera outbreak

11, February 2022

CPDM Crime Syndicate struggling to contain deadly cholera outbreak 0

Cameroonian health authorities say at least 1,300 cholera cases have been detected, with nearly three dozen people dying as a result of the outbreak within the past two weeks. Cameroon’s Public Health Ministry says water shortages and poor hygiene have spread the bacterial disease throughout half the country.

Cameroon says the lives of thousands of its citizens are at risk. Manaouda Malachie, the state minister of public health, said five of the country’s 10 regions have been affected by an ongoing cholera outbreak in a press release published Wednesday.

The statement says Bakassi, a southwestern peninsula near the Nigerian border, Cameroon’s commercial hub and coastal city Douala, and Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, are the worst hit by the outbreak. Other locations affected are Buea,Tiko and Mutengene, southwestern commercial towns, as well as Maroua and Garoua on the northern border with Nigeria.

Kelvin Fosong, a community health worker, said he was sent from Buea to Mutengene this week to help civilians affected by the outbreak.

“Since the outbreak, we have engaged ourselves into community sensitization, most especially in the quarters where deaths were reported. We have been there visiting homes, disinfecting toilets, public taps and water points. We teach them (civilians) how to take care of their environment with the help of some doctors (health workers),” Fosong said, speaking from Mutengene.

Cameroon’s public health minister said 32 of the 1,300 people affected by the outbreak have died within two weeks, and added that the figures may be higher. The government reports that about 70% of the country’s 26 million people visit African traditional healers and go to hospitals only when their health conditions get worse. The government says it is difficult to gather statistics from African traditional healers in the country’s towns and villages.

Linda Esso, director of epidemics and pandemics at Cameroon’s Public Health Ministry, said after the first cases were reported, the government started telling people to go to the nearest hospitals if they experience watery diarrhea, vomiting or dehydration. She said civilians should follow basic hygiene practices such as washing their hands with soap, and using and cleaning latrines after defecation.

Esso warned against eating uncooked raw food and unwashed fruits or drinking water that has not been boiled. She said keeping latrines dirty increases the risk of cholera.

Mathias Ngund, the most senior government health official in Buea, an English-speaking southwestern town where 30 cholera cases have been reported with three deaths, said the lack of clean drinking water is exacerbating the spread of cholera in Buea. He said he has informed the government that the provision of water is an emergency need.

“We went to all the houses of suspected cases, we disinfected them and also we have had coordination meetings with the administrative authorities to respond to the outbreak,” Ngund said.

The central government in Yaounde said it will provide clean drinking water to arid towns and villages in Cameroon but did not say when. Authorities are encouraging civilians to boil water from wells and streams before drinking it.

Cameroon said a cholera outbreak in November claimed 13 lives, with several hundred people infected, as it prepared to host the African Football Cup of Nations, or AFCON. Cameroon hosted AFCON from January 9 to February 6. The government had promised to stop its spread before the continental football event that brought several thousand football fans, players and match officials to the country.

Source: VOA

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