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11, June 2020

Risk of Mass Atrocities in Cameroon ⁰

Civilians in Cameroon’s Anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions are at immediate risk of mass atrocities in a political crisis that emerged from the government’s real and perceived marginalization of Anglophone linguistic and cultural rights and identity.

Cameroon currently ranks number nine of countries at risk of mass killing in the Simon-Skjodt Center’s Statistical Risk Assessment. The situation has deteriorated significantly since 2017, when Cameroon ranked 36th. After Anglophone civilians launched protests in late 2016 alleging marginalization by the Francophone-majority government, state security forces responded violently, allegedly arresting, beating, and shooting demonstrators. Clashes ensued, with security forces reportedly killing over 20 people in a 12-day period in largely peaceful protests in September and October 2017. Shortly after, Anglophone separatists began fighting for independence for the territory they referred to as Southern Cameroons or Ambazonia.

The crisis emerged from the long-standing political grievances of the Anglophone community. Yet today, fighting between the two sides makes it difficult to discern motives. Security forces are reportedly targeting Anglophone civilians accused of supporting separatists. It is unclear to what extent security forces are also targeting the Anglophone linguistic and cultural identity. Meanwhile, armed separatists claiming to represent the Anglophone population are reportedly targeting civilians they perceive as supporting the government.

Since 2017, the crisis has resulted in:

More than 3,000 Cameroonians killed.
Approximately 700,000 internally displaced people and nearly 60,000 refugees in neighboring Nigeria.
Nearly two million Cameroonians in need of humanitarian assistance, a 15-fold increase since 2017.
Targeting of civilians by state security forces and Anglophone armed separatist groups.

With the government set on a military victory and armed separatists set on independence, there are no readily apparent pathways to a peaceful, negotiated resolution of the crisis. As long as this situation persists, civilians are at immediate risk of mass atrocities.

This policy brief provides an overview of the risks of mass atrocities in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions and provides recommendations to the Cameroonian government, armed separatist groups, and international actors to prevent atrocities and protect civilians.

BACKGROUND

The crisis in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions emerged from decades of lingering grievances of Anglophone citizens, who make up 20 percent of the population in a mostly Francophone country. After World War I, the colonial powers of France and the United Kingdom administered the former German colony of Kamerun as mandate territories and then as joint trustees, leading to the development of politically and culturally distinct Francophone and Anglophone regions. The French territory gained independence in 1960. Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) gave the British territory of Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons no option for independence in a 1961 referendum. Northern Cameroons joined Nigeria while Southern Cameroons joined the Republic of Cameroon, which became the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

Anglophones were promised a degree of autonomy under the new federal system. Instead, the Francophone government abolished federalism just a decade later and changed the name of the country to the United Republic of Cameroon. It instituted policies that economically and politically marginalized the Anglophone regions over the next four decades.

In October 2016, Anglophone teachers and lawyers launched protests over the imposition of French-speaking teachers in Anglophone schools and the “francization” of the Anglophone common law system. In November, security forces reportedly responded to the growing protests with violence, which fed Anglophone nationalism and prompted clashes between the two sides. Initially the government attempted to negotiate with the lawyers and teachers, but by January 2017, the government-sponsored negotiations broke down and leaders of Anglophone associations were arrested. On October 1 of that year an increasingly militant separatist movement declared an independent Anglophone “Ambazonia.” Violent conflict between armed separatists and state security forces, as well as pro-government militias, intensified and continues to date.(i)

ATROCITIES & HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Experts have asserted that attacks by security forces and separatists may rise to the level of crimes against humanity.(ii) In violation of their duty to protect civilians, Cameroonian security forces are waging a targeted campaign against civilians they perceive to support separatists. Security forces have been accused of arbitrarily arresting, detaining, and torturing civilians; firing indiscriminately into crowds; forcibly entering homes and killing inhabitants; and rounding up and shooting villagers. Security forces’ “scorched earth” tactic of burning and razing villages suspected of harboring separatists has resulted in more than 200 villages allegedly raided or partially destroyed. Sexual violence is reported to be widespread. According to civilian witnesses, attacks on civilians are frequently retaliation for the actions of armed separatists. Some experts say this could be part of a strategy to bring the crisis to an end by exhausting the civilian population so they stop supporting separatists. In one of the deadliest massacres of the crisis, security forces and allied Fulani militia reportedly killed nearly two dozen people, including at least 13 children, suspected of harboring separatists in Ngarbuh village in Northwest Cameroon in February 2020.(iii)

Meanwhile, armed separatists have been accused of attacking and killing civilians they perceive to be associated with or sympathetic to the government. Separatists have allegedly brutally attacked, shot, harassed, and kidnapped students, teachers, and administrators on their way to school to enforce a school boycott in the Anglophone regions. The school boycott, which some experts allege is an attempt to make the region ungovernable and thereby garner political recognition, is now in its third year, although some schools reportedly have opened in the regional capital cities of Bamenda and Buea. As a result of the school shutdown, more than 855,000 children have been out of school since 2017 according to the UN Children’s Fund. Separatists have also been accused of torture, arson, kidnapping, and abducting and attacking traditional chiefs accused of supporting the government. They have targeted government-owned and local businesses, burned schools, and transformed classrooms into armed bases.

On numerous occasions, the government has reportedly imposed internet shutdowns, threatened journalists, and restricted access for independent researchers in an effort to dispel attention to the crisis. These measures, in addition to threats posed by armed separatists, have resulted in the underreporting of attacks and uncertainty around the scale of the crisis.

RESPONSE

Both the government and separatists deny many of the reported violations, and neither side appears willing to make meaningful concessions that could lead to genuine dialogue. In September 2019, Cameroonian President Paul Biya launched a five-day national dialogue focused on the Anglophone crisis. Separatist leaders refused to attend because the Cameroonian government ignored their conditions for participating, including mediation in an external location and consideration of the terms of a separation. The dialogue resulted in a series of recommendations and the release of hundreds of activists, including prominent opposition leader Maurice Kamto, but failed to solve the Anglophone crisis. In December 2019, the government adopted legislation for a special status for the Anglophone regions, as part of an Omnibus Decentralization Law. Special status has been rejected by separatists and other Anglophone groups who claim that it falls short of even federalist demands. Mediation efforts led by Switzerland that began in June 2019 have produced limited results. Following intense international pressure, the Cameroonian government released a report in April 2020 which admitted that soldiers were responsible for civilian deaths in the Ngarbuh massacre, an important step in accountability but one that does not replace inclusive efforts to resolve the crisis.

Since 2019, the U.S. government has responded to the situation in Cameroon by taking a number of important steps, including: withholding military aid; reducing security assistance;(iv) ending trade preference for the country under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA); and calling for an independent investigation into the massacre in Ngarbuh village. A U.S. Congressional delegation visited Cameroon in July 2019, and members of Congress supported a resolution calling for dialogue and an end to violence, which was passed in the House and introduced in the Senate.

The U.S. has taken helpful measures to ensure consequences for the government’s targeting of civilians, but these initial actions cannot replace regional or multilateral initiatives and pressure to bring both parties to an inclusive process of dialogue and resolution. The absence of sustained and priority-level engagement of the UN, the African Union (AU), and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) lessens the positive impact of one-off actions of individual nations. Cameroon is not on the official agenda of the UN Security Council, and with the exception of a May 2019 Arria Formula meeting on the humanitarian situation, the Security Council has paid minimal attention. In February 2020, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights called for an independent investigation into the Ngarbuh massacre, as did the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. The AU has remained relatively quiet, but has lent support to the Swiss mediation efforts. The AU also joined the Commonwealth and the International Organisation of la Francophonie in a tripartite mission to Cameroon to reduce violence, however the mission did not visit any Anglophone towns or cities where the crisis persists.

RISKS OF FUTURE MASS ATROCITIES

Since the end of 2019, Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis has seemingly entered a new phase of increased attacks on civilians. The longer the crisis persists, the more civilians will be harmed. The current greatest risk facing civilians is that the crisis becomes more protracted as both sides refuse to seek a political solution and the capacity of separatist groups to commit violence increases. The death of President Biya in office could also produce instability that could escalate the crisis.

The following developments fuel the risk of mass atrocities:

1. Abuses by security forces and separatists are on the rise.

In the months leading up to the February 2020 legislative and local elections, separatists and security forces launched an unprecedented barrage of attacks on civilians. Separatists attacked candidates and voters who participated in what they called “sham” elections. Security forces, instead of protecting voters, burned several villages and committed dozens of killings, including the Ngarbuh massacre. It is uncertain how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect this rise in violence. It is possible that COVID-19 may divert attention away from the Anglophone crisis, allowing attacks on civilians to proliferate unchecked.

2. The separatist movement is fracturing.

There is no united separatist movement, but rather an increasingly disorganized collection of distinct groups, some of which are clashing. Some separatist groups are reportedly becoming increasingly brutal in their attacks on civilians. Security forces use this as justification to conduct more violent attacks on separatist groups and civilians accused of hosting or housing them in their communities. It is unclear the degree of control that separatist leaders in the diaspora have over armed groups on the ground.

3. Separatist groups are becoming better equipped and trained.

To replace the improvised or locally-produced hunting shotguns used at the beginning of the crisis, separatists are reportedly capturing more sophisticated weapons from Cameroonian security forces, in addition to smuggling weapons in from Nigeria. There have been recent reports of separatists producing homemade bombs and improvised explosive devices. Separatist groups may also be setting up training camps in Nigeria, according to some experts. Up to this point, external actors have been unwilling to fund a fragmented separatist movement, though some diaspora have allegedly crowdsourced funds for weapons for separatists. If groups become significantly better equipped, trained, and funded, their attacks might become more strategic and inflict greater damage on both civilians and security forces. This could lead security forces to double down and increase attacks on separatists and civilians. Additionally, there are some allegations that separatists have recently conducted attacks outside the Anglophone regions. If the allegations of separatist involvement in these attacks are proven, this would signal that separatists are capable of projecting force outside the Anglophone regions, which could cause violence to spread and escalate, putting more civilians (including internally displaced Anglophones in neighboring Francophone regions) at risk.

4. Security forces are becoming emboldened by a sense of impunity and more brazen in their attacks on civilians.

As the crisis persists and security forces are not held accountable, they are pursuing increasingly brutal attacks on civilians, including reportedly attacking former safe havens, such as hospitals, health facilities, and palaces of traditional leaders. As some separatist groups become more violent, security forces have more freedom to act with impunity.

5. Neither side appears willing to make the concessions necessary for a political solution.

Anglophone Cameroonians are increasingly leaning toward a common call for independence. Largely because of the government’s half-hearted response to Anglophone grievances, many Anglophones who were willing to discuss federalism early in the crisis now do not see a solution besides independence. Meanwhile, the Cameroonian government is determined to obtain a military victory over the separatists. At the end of 2019, President Biya reiterated his commitment to using military force against separatists, despite widespread international acknowledgment that the crisis requires a political solution. The government refuses to make meaningful concessions on key Anglophone grievances, including political autonomy and recognition of historical and structural inequities. Faced with increasingly sophisticated armed separatist groups, pursuing a military solution will only prolong the crisis.

6. The sudden death or departure from office of the aging president may leave a power vacuum that could further destabilize the Anglophone regions.

Despite his fragile health, President Biya, 87, has maintained a tight grip on power since 1982. He has failed to groom a successor for a peaceful political transition. An abrupt end to his rule could prompt a chaotic and possibly violent power scramble, which could further destabilize the Anglophone crisis. Separatists would likely take advantage of a power vacuum to wage further attacks, and the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), Cameroon’s elite security force which is allegedly loyal to Biya, could escalate its attacks on civilians without restraint. On the other hand, a shift in power could also bring fresh thinking and greater impetus for a negotiated resolution to the crisis.

7. Public events are potential triggers.

Narratives around holidays and public events like elections – including the idea that there can be national holidays or “free and fair” elections in the midst of the Anglophone crisis – have historically provoked outrage among separatists and led them to impose lockdowns. These lockdowns are often a pretext for further violence against civilians, as was the case in lead-up to the February 2020 elections. Though most public events, including Cameroon’s National Day on May 20, have been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, future public events could trigger such violence in the absence of efforts from the Cameroonian government toward an inclusive dialogue.

POLICY OPTIONS

Anglophone grievances are longstanding and deep-seated. Solving the crisis requires a good faith commitment by the state to directly address substantive grievances and a willingness by separatists to come to the table.

For the government of Cameroon

Cease the targeting of civilians by state security forces.
Embrace a credible mediation process that includes the voices of armed groups, civil society, and affected Anglophone communities.
End discriminatory practices against Anglophones and include Anglophone leaders and affected communities in discussions about fostering proper representation across the regions’ schools, courts, and other civilian infrastructure.
Launch a credible investigation into all abuses, supported by the AU and/or UN. This could include a truly independent office to investigate all atrocities. Ensure that perpetrators on both the government and separatist sides are held accountable according to international legal standards.
Improve access to the Anglophone regions for humanitarian organizations.

For Anglophone armed separatist groups and their civilian leaders

Cease the targeting of civilians and, should the government declare a ceasefire, respond to such ceasefire by stopping all hostilities against state institutions and individuals associated with them.
End the years-long shutdown of schools in Anglophone regions.
Participate in a credible mediation process that includes representatives of civil society and affected Anglophone communities.
Cooperate with any future international investigative mechanisms tasked with gathering information from the Anglophone areas.

For foreign governments

Undertake an assessment of atrocity risks and implement prevention and mitigation strategies, including the following:
Support and encourage the government and separatists to welcome external assistance in a credible mediation process.
Ensure no military assistance is directly or indirectly supporting the violence being perpetrated against civilians. Link security assistance to demonstrable progress by the Cameroonian government on protecting civilians, investigating human rights violations, and promoting accountability for such crimes.
Through the UN Security Council, General Assembly, Human Rights Council, or Secretary General, establish a formal investigation into the commission of atrocities in Cameroon.
Call for a Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cameroon through the UN or the AU.
Consider targeted sanctions against members of security forces and separatist leaders, including in the diaspora, who are committing, aiding, or abetting attacks on civilians.

For the African Union

The AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) should add Cameroon to its agenda and use the array of prevention tools available, including but not limited to activating the Panel of the Wise on the Anglophone crisis.
The AUPSC should request monthly updates on the crisis from their Continental Early Warning System and adopt appropriate actions in response to the early warnings received.
Appoint a Special Envoy to facilitate dialogue between the Cameroonian government and separatist groups. Ensure civil society and affected communities are represented.
If the government fails to immediately launch a credible and comprehensive investigation into the atrocities and crimes, initiate an AU Commission of Inquiry.
Pursue the Cameroon crisis under point two of the AU’s Master Roadmap of Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa by Year 2020, which is “consideration of cases of denials of early warning signs on looming crises.”

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Boko Haram in the Far North

As media, political, and military attention is increasingly focused on the Anglophone crisis, civilians in the Far North region fear being abandoned. Since at least 2014, they have been targeted by Boko Haram. The government declared war in 2014. The crisis has seen 2,000 civilians killed and nearly 300,000 Cameroonians displaced.

The tactics of the government have led to some reduction in the threat posed by Boko Haram, but this has come at a cost. Government forces are reported to have committed widespread human rights violations, including arbitrary killings, torture, and arrests. All civilians in Cameroon must be protected from the risk of atrocities.

COVID-19 in Cameroon

As of this writing, Cameroon has the highest COVID-19 caseload in Central Africa. Civilians in conflict-affected regions, particularly the nearly 700,000 civilians who are internally displaced as a result of the Anglophone crisis, are at disproportionate risk of contracting the virus. Thirty-four percent of the health facilities in the Anglophone regions are non-functional or only partially functional as a result of the Anglophone crisis, and attacks on healthcare workers by security forces and armed separatists have reduced their presence. Lockdowns, roadblocks, and checkpoints maintained by separatists and security forces will likely block humanitarian aid.

It is unclear how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the dynamics of the Anglophone crisis. In March 2020, one separatist group declared a ceasefire in response to the pandemic, but neither the Cameroonian government nor other separatist groups have followed suit. Attacks on civilians by both security forces and armed separatists are reportedly ongoing. Due to the distraction of COVID-19 and the inaccessibility of the Anglophone regions to international monitors and journalists, attacks on civilians, which are currently on the rise, could be covered up or under reported. Security forces and armed separatist groups should respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by ending attacks on civilians and pursuing a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the Anglophone crisis.

Culled from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

11, June 2020

The role of Institutional change in reviving Cameroon’s economy ⁰

Since late 2016, the Republic of Cameroon has been going through a devastating armed conflict that has worsened what was already a fledgling economy. Historically, this civil strife can be traced to constitutional crisis in the governance process of the entire nation (Konings & Nyamnjoh1997). The blatant disregard for the culture, traditions and customs of the Anglophones were fundamental threats to the rule of law that heightened tensions leading to the current socio-political impasse. A Transparency International report identified Cameroon’s judiciary system as the most corrupt in Africa. In the larger study of seven countries within the continent, one out of five persons interviewed admitted they had offered gifts to judges or related judicial matters. In Cameroon 80% of those interviewed perceived the judicial system is rather very corrupt (Koschel,2007).

Moreover, the dictatorship style of leadership and the unchecked power of the executive branch of government that undermines major cooperation and inclusion of the various regions have been counterproductive economically. According to Douglas North, social and legal norms and rules are foundations for the basis of institutions that underlie economic activities (North,1990).

This memo seeks to examine how institutional change can revive Cameroon’s economy. Institutional economics is defined as a study in economic history which focuses on the costs of human coordination and cooperation through time, which is essential in bringing about change in the society (North,1990). We will achieve this objective by looking at some principles of governance that can positively influence economic activities for growth and development. Among other things, this memo will consider the rule of law and economic growth, abuse of power, and social cohesion as essential elements in economic activities.

What is at stake?

In consideration of the fact that effective institutions promote economic growth by reducing transaction costs of operating in the economy, whereas ineffective institutions dis-incentivize market participants and lead to economic decline (North, 1990), how can Cameroon revive its institutions in order to foster economic growth?

Evaluation of Findings and Conclusions

The rule of law is essential for the regulation of markets, property rights, checks and balances of the executive branch of government, all of which are foundational to economic growth. In this regard, North indicates that formal constraints such as laws and a constitution are necessary in the harmonious functioning of every institution. In addition to these formal constraints, culture and ideologies make up informal constraints of the institutions. The absence of the rule of law often leads to anarchy and this is true of most countries that are going through civil wars. It has been established that civil war tends to reduce growth by around 2.3% per year; with civil wars (in his dataset) averaging seven years in duration, the typical war leaves a country 15% poorer than it otherwise would have been (Collier, 2005).

Collier’s findings further buttress the position that the ongoing civil war in Cameroon has led the nation to financially disastrous condition. In fact, “many countries in Africa without any system of good governance in place show an association between conflicts and poor law enforcement in protecting the natural resource base and in observing human rights” (as cited in Yiew et al., 2016. Pg. 3744).

According to a UN report, corruption, illicit trade and money laundering contribute to State weakness, impede economic growth and undermine democracy. These activities eventually create a permissive environment for civil conflict.” (UN Report,2004).

The absence of the rule of law has far reaching effects on the efficiency and effectiveness of institutions. Lessig (2013) explains that “institutional corruption is manifest when there is a systemic and strategic influence that undermines the institution’s effectiveness by weakening its ability to achieve its purpose, including to the extent relevant to its purpose, weakening either the public’s trust in that institution or the institution’s inherent trustworthiness.”(Lessig, 2013 p. 553).

Fr Wilfred Emeh is Doctoral Student in Public Administration at West Chester University, PA — Fr Wilfred Emeh is a Doctoral Student in Public Administration at West Chester University, PA

The downward slope regarding the rule of law is closely related to abuse of power. Prior to the ongoing conflict in Anglophone Cameroon, even to this day, the executive branch has abused power with impunity. Throughout our nation’s history, presidents have targeted their political opponents as we see it unfold in the ongoing conflict (Tumi, 2006). This is detrimental to the nation’s economy because abuse of power is a guaranteed source of dissension and frustration; some of the ruling elites must be aware of impending political instability from a culmination of these negative feelings (North, 1990).

Moreover, political scientists and legal scholars attest that institutional checks on executive discretion, including through independent judiciaries, are integral to the very concept of the rule of law. Such checks and balances are economically important because of the classic time-inconsistency problem (Kydland & Prescott, 1977). In the same vein, Haggard & Tiede maintain that “the rule of law, property rights, and contract enforcement cannot be credible unless there are effective limits on executive discretion” (Haggard & Tiede, 2011. p.674).

In consideration of the heavy toll of corruption in Cameroon, evident not only in the judiciary, but in the widespread of bribery in contracts, taxation of imports, and the embezzlement of state funds, the economy cannot thrive because: “A predatory government acting on its self-interest is prone to squander the wealth of the country and exploit the business community through unjust taxes and misappropriation of resources and profits. In the long run, these self-preservation strategies can eventually lead the ruling dynasty to its destruction.” (North, 1997, p. 154). The World Governance Indicators, specifically the indicator on control of corruption, placed Cameroon in the lowest 10 percentile, while also ranking it low (25 percentile or lower) for the remaining indicators (Broadman & Recanatini, 2001).

On the other hand, social cohesion and the prevalence of justice provide a favorable environment for businesses and investors. The inevitable result is security of life and property which in turn encourages integrity, hard work, entrepreneurship and technological progress, while its absence defeats economic motivation. In line with institutional economics, transaction costs of doing business escalates with the prevalence of injustices. And, in the end, more complex contracts and the alliance between business and politics become the norm, causing the economy to suffer (Khalid, 2015). Khalid further argues that the “crowding out” of investments is bound to emerge and tax collections will decline as enterprises reassess their risks and returns from operating in that economy (Khalid, 2015).

In reality, social cohesion does not only attract investors, but it equally provides a flourishing socio-political environment that boosts both investors’ and consumers’ confidence. It is within such environments that institutions and markets thrive. As Khalid (2015) points out, social cohesion and institutional efficiency consistently have an equal and important effect as does resources endowment in bringing about economic development and higher civilization.

Recommendations

In order to restore some credibility to institutions, there is urgent need to revisit the training of administrators and legal experts. It is well known that admissions into the National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) is fraught with political machinations, and for this reason, the performance of the graduates who run most of our institutions is mediocre. In this regard, Lasswell & McDougal (1943) insist on the vital role of training those who provide legal service in a democratic society because of the enormous influence on attitudes toward the law.

Transparency and accountability are foundational to economic activities. How can a nation regain the trust and confidence of its people who are distraught due to a lack of transparency and accountability? For years Cameroonians have been constantly disgruntled with parliamentarians and other community representatives who singlehandedly execute projects after having embezzled substantial sums of money. This lack of accountability and transparency hampers cooperation and coordination, both of which are essential in the chain of production and the wellbeing of all.

In conclusion, having been endowed with rich human and natural resources like other African countries, such as Rwanda, that have walked down the path of civil war, Cameroon has a potential for an economic future. However, our country cannot realize its full potential if the ruling government does not chart a new path marked by patriotism, the rule of law, and the common good. Such an aspiration can only succeed to the extent that government officials learn from history and rise beyond the inordinate desire for personal aggrandizement. It is important, in this regard, for all branches of government to be in sync with unwavering determination to implement changes that are most needed to restore the ethics and nobility of our nation’s institutions. There is no better way than relying on the tested and proved findings that have been clearly outlined in this memo.

Culled from Pan African visions

11, June 2020

“Wazizi was neither charged nor tried. He died for being a journalist” ⁰

Without free speech, there is no liberty. It is the duty of the mentally autonomous to demand and defend freedom of speech and expression. With this duty comes the realisation that it is also about speech they disagree with.

Last week’s confirmation from the government of the Cameroons that Samuel Wazizi, a journalist, with a local station, CMTV, Buea has died whilst in detention is inexcusable. Wazizi was neither charged nor tried. He died for being a journalist.

On the 8 June 2020, after unrelenting pressure from human rights organisations and international media, the regime in Yaoundé released information that Kingsley Njoka, another journalist who was abducted on the 15 May 2020, has been detained incommunicado at the Secretariat of Defense (SED) Yaoundé. Lawyers who were allowed to meet him observed that he was frail, pale and traumatized psychologically.

Cameroon is an obscured nation of 25 million inhabitants in the Gulf of Guinea. It’s been governed with an iron-fist by Paul Biya, the world’s oldest dictator. The country’s political and economic challenges are countless and growing. Although, blessed with natural resources, it is plagued by the Boko Haram insurgency in the north and a political unrest in the south.

It has a terrible human rights record and a scandalous record on press freedom. It is ranked 134th out of 180 countries and territories in RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index. It is obvious that freedom of speech is an offence in the country and this is incompatible with a free society. The criminalization of free speech results in fear and bondage existence. In Cameroon, there are reports of countless acts of brutality to proponents of freedom of speech and expression. This is unacceptable!

The death of Samuel Wazizi and the detention of Kingsley Njoka have employed little empathy from the regime in Yaoundé and their collaborators. The authorities and the country’s military fear no consequences from its citizens and the international community for their actions.

The ignorance or wickedness of those who enjoy freedom of speech and expression in western democracies but support the evil perpetrated by dictators such as Paul Biya is worrisome and must be condemned. Successive French Presidents have given Paul Biya carte blanche and he has not let them down.

Since taking power almost four decades ago, Paul Biya has been increasingly hostile in his attacks on free speech. He seeks to quiet his critics, whom he considers sinners in publicly exposing his voluminous shortcomings. His imprisonment and execution of many political critics, especially journalists and scholars has remained unreported and unpunished due to his meticulously designed web of state-sponsored intimidators and murderers.

It is impossible to envisage anywhere on this planet a group of organized lawbreakers working effortlessly in harmony and impunity than the police and gendarmes in Cameroon. It should marvel any discerning mind that such savagery as incommunicado detention is a regular occurrence in the twenty-first century. The Idea that small minded criminal elements could eliminate freedom of speech in a country exhibits an utter lack of appreciation of history.

The appreciation of the value of freedom of speech and expression by tyrants is one challenge that man has had to face over the centuries. Tyrants and bigots fear freedom of expression because it exposes their smallness and lack of humanity. Arbitrary and unlawful arrest, intimidation, murder and political imprisonment are tools used to stifle debates and they also give the oppressor a false sense of authority.

Despots must understand that people perceive things differently. The failure of any government to uphold freedom of speech and expression betrays its principal duty to the people. Man is a learning and growing animal. When man stops learning, he stops growing. The ruling class in Cameroon has made a conscious decision to not learn anything from history and thus their collective lack of growth is stunting the nation they govern.

Terror and oppression have never propelled man to growth and success. The great contributors to man’s progress since his appearance on this planet have been men and women who have been allowed to flourish in free societies. Man makes his greatest contribution to humanity when he is free to exercise his freedom of thought and expression. This explains the decline in political, economic and scholarly progress under the rules of tyrants.

The criminalization of free of speech and expression in the Cameroons exposes one of the reasons for its economic and academic backwardness despite being blessed with enormous natural and human resources.

The primary function of any organisation is to help men and women enjoy a more meaningful existence. If the leaders of any organisation, a business or country included, are not helping humans attain the aforementioned, they shouldn’t be in the organisation. The political leaders in Yaoundé need to take a look at themselves and make speedy decisions.

Wazizi has been murdered for being a journalist by a regime that exhibits an utter obliviousness of history and spotting the trend in a changing world. But the free speech he stood for will live longer than his murderers and their brutal and ignorant institutions.

By Asu Vera Eyere with additional reporting from Ewang Miriam Metchane

Cameroon Concord News Group

11, June 2020

Nigeria: Armed gangs kill dozens in string of attacks ⁰

Armed gangs killed 57 people in a string of attacks on villages in northwest Nigeria, residents said on Wednesday, as security forces struggle to curb violence in the region.

Roughly 150 gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on residents before looting shops and stealing cattle in a series of assaults on Tuesday in six remote communities in Katsina state, the sources said.

“We lost a total of 57 people in the attacks across the six villages,” a local leader told AFP on condition of anonymity as he feared for his safety.

In the worst-hit village of Kadisau the assailants – dubbed “bandits” by locals – shot and killed 33 people, local resident Mohammed Salisu said.

Salisu said he escaped by abandoning his motorcycle and hiding in a ditch before crawling into a nearby house where he hid among dirty laundry for the five hours the attack and looting lasted.

“They looted every shop in the village and took away over 200 cattle,” said Salisu, who lost seven cows to the attackers.

The attackers opened fire on a football pitch where young men were watching a local match, said Sada Audi, a resident of nearby village said.

Residents said 24 more people were later killed across the villages of Hayin Kabalawa, Garke, Makera, Kwakwere and Maiganguna.

The assailants left two dozen people with bullet wounds, inhabitants said.

Nigeria’s northwest has been wracked by years of violence, involving clashes between rival communities over land, attacks by heavily armed criminal gangs and retaliation strikes from vigilante groups.

The unrest, which experts say has been spurred by overpopulation and climate change, has seen an estimated 8,000 people killed since 2011 and 200,000 flee their homes.

Nigeria’s military last month said it had launched air raids to halt a spike of attacks in President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state of Katsina.

Authorities have carried out several security operations and local peace negotiations in the region but have failed to end the bloodshed.

Source: AFP

11, June 2020

Nobel laureate Mukwege quits DR Congo Covid-19 team, blasts govt response ⁰

Nobel winner Denis Mukwege on Wednesday said he had resigned as head of a coronavirus taskforce in an eastern province of DR Congo, blaming organisational problems, outpaced strategy and slow testing.

Mukwege, a DR Congo gynaecologist who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his work against sexual violence in war, was appointed on March 30 to lead a committee in South Kivu province.

Panzi Hospital, where Mukwege treats abused women, is also located in the province.

In a statement, he said there had been “weaknesses in organisation and clarity between the various teams in charge of the response to the pandemic in South Kivu.”

“We are at the start of an exponential… curve (in infections) and we can no longer apply a strategy that would be purely preventive,” Mukwege said.

“I have decided to resign… in order to devote myself entirely to my medical duties and to treat the influx of patients at Panzi hospital.”

He said he regretted that it took “more than two weeks” to get coronavirus test results from the national reference lab in Kinshasa — “a major handicap for our strategy based on ‘testing, identifying, isolating and treating’.”

Mukwege also criticised developments that he said had “reduced the effectiveness” of the anti-virus campaign.

They included a relaxation in vigilance by the public, hurdles in enforcing distancing and the return of thousands of people from neighbouring countries without quarantine.

Mukwege had pleaded in mid-April for partial confinement of people over the age of 60 and compulsory mask-wearing for everyone to help break the chain of virus transmission.

On May 9, he called for “emergency supplies” of tests “before the exponential curve (of infections) gets underway.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo has declared 4,390 infections, including 3,980 in Kinshasa and 89 in South Kivu and a total of 96 deaths.

Source: AFP

11, June 2020

Journalist Wazizi’s death in custody shines light on Cameroon’s war on media ⁰

In August 2019, Journalist Samuel Wazizi was arrested by the Cameroonian government and held without charge. More than 10 months after the arrest, the military confirmed Wazizi had died in their custody. Amid attacks, arrests and kidnappings of journalists, lawyers for the late Wazizi applied for the government to release his body. On 9 June, the High Court dismissed the application as colleagues and allies protested across the country.

When broadcast journalist Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe was arrested in August 2020, the circumstances surrounding his captivity remained a mystery to his family and colleagues. The Pidgin reporter, popularly known as Samuel Wazizi, had been reporting on the conflict in the country’s Northwest and Southwestern regions. While at the time of his arrest Wazizi was held without charge, Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) recently learned that, along with announcing Wazizi’s death, the government decided on a terrorism charge. This was 10 months after the initial arrest.

For many months after the arrest of Wazizi, president of the journalists’ association, Jude Viban, tried to acquire information on his colleague’s arrest and place of detention, to no avail.

“The government has not been transparent in the way the government has handled the issue about the arrest, detention, and death of our colleague,” Viban told Daily Maverick.

“All offices I went to remained mute – they kept sealed lips. Nobody told me exactly where and why our colleague was arrested.”

According to Viban, the lawyers for Wazizi presented in court on numerous occasions since August 2019 asking for the government to produce Wazizi to them – “alive or dead”.

After mounting pressure from local journalists, unions and international allies, the country’s Defence Ministry, on 5 June, finally revealed that Wazizi had died in their custody. While the announcement of the broadcast reporter’s death came just two months shy of a year after his arrest, reports reveal that he died just two weeks after the government took him into custody.

The Cameroon Journalists Trade Union (SNJC) has echoed the sentiment that the government has been evasive since the arrest of Wazizi and, to date, has kept details of his detention and death sparse.

Denis Nkwebo, president of the trade union, said the government was at no point transparent on the matter.

“No information ever filtered on the place and condition of detention. It has been opacity over 10 months just to be told Wazizi had died. When, where and how? Nobody knows.”

“[Samuel Wazizi] died as a result of severe sepsis,” said Ministry of Defence Colonel Cyrille Atonfack in a statement issued on 5 June. Atonfack also claimed that Wazizi’s family had been in constant communication with the reporter while he was held in military detention. This claim has been refuted by Wazizi’s lawyers and in a joint statement by the SNJC and the journalists’ association.

“I have been in contact with four of the family members and what they told me is that the government never contacted them,” said the journalists’ association’s Viban.

The news of Wazizi’s death comes amid a growing war against journalists in the West African nation.

Recently, BBC Pidgin reported that the seven Cameroonian journalists were held in governmental custody 2019 – a notable increase from just one journalist in 2015.

“The war in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon has been a very difficult moment for journalists – and it is, as I speak to you,” said Vidan.

“Journalists are habitually arrested and detained incommunicado. But we also have cases of journalists who have been beaten up, journalists who have been threatened [and] journalists who have had their work tools taken away,” he added.

As the Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists keeps up with its members in the country, Vidan said he knew of at least four journalists who are currently in detention for reporting on the conflict in Anglophone Cameroon.

In a subsequent article, BBC Pidgin reported on the arrest of freelance journalist, Njoka Kinglsey. Twenty-three days after his mysterious disappearance, Njoka’s family and colleagues finally came to know of his whereabouts.

According to BBC Pidgin, Njoka’s lawyers said he appeared frail and seemed traumatised when they saw him at the Defence Forces Headquarters where he is being held in the Capital, Yaounde.

A number of civil organisations have come out against the Cameroonian’s government’s war on journalism after the announcement of Wazizi’s death.

In South Africa, the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) issued a statement condemning the death in detention of Wazizi. “SANEF calls on the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, as well as the African Union to launch an independent investigation into the death of Wazizi and the subsequent cover-up by the army,” the statement reads.

Wazizi’s lawyers said they will be contesting the High Court’s decision to dismiss their appeal to independently confirm Wazizi’s death.

“On the totality of the foregoing, we have instituted an appeal against the decision. And giving the contradictory facts surrounding the death of Samuel Wazizi, we shall be taking steps to request for an inquiry into the cause of death,” wrote Nkea Emmanuel and Edward Lying Ewule in a media statement on 9 June.

Wazizi’s death has joined a list of growing social media calls for justice as his colleagues raise awareness using the hashtag #JusticeForWazizi. DM

Source: Daily Maverick

11, June 2020

Beaten and hosed, Kah Walla is fighting to unseat the world’s most vicious dictator ⁰

Edith Kahbang Walla’s presidential ambitions began with a confrontation. It was 2010, and the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) was planning to field its longtime chairperson for the third time in the following year’s election against President Paul Biya. Walla challenged her party leader to a primary. When he refused, she quit.

A decade later, the 55-year-old management consultant — better known as Kah Walla — is a leading face of the Cameroonian opposition. The rare woman in the country’s top political echelons, the president of the Cameroon People’s Party (CPP) has faced arrests, death threats and beatings. But that has only strengthened her resolve to end Biya’s four-decade dictatorship. Only Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Mbasogo has been president longer.

As the coronavirus outbreak hit Cameroon, Walla wrote an open letter to Biya, who rarely addresses the country, asking him to publicly reassure citizens. When the octogenarian finally appeared in public in mid-April, it was only for a meeting with the French ambassador.

Walla is trying to fill that leadership void. Ahead of Ramadan, which started on April 23, she visited mosques to spread awareness on social distancing and to distribute masks. Her campaign is distributing masks to women in different parts of Douala too.

At the same time, Walla is playing the long game. To defeat Biya, she knows that Cameroon’s institutions need to change first.

After polling sixth out of 23 candidates in 2011, when she contested for the CPP, Walla was expected to build on that momentum in the 2018 elections. Instead, her party boycotted the vote, accusing the electoral commission of partisanship. Walla wasn’t going to legitimize what she says was a staged exercise. The CPP also boycotted the 2020 parliamentary elections, insisting on reforms of the political institutions and electoral process, rather than holding local elections.

“There has not been anything that even vaguely resembles a free and fair election in Cameroon in all of our history,” Walla says. “The ruling party has made the admin [electoral commission] a branch of the party.”

Indeed, when Biya won a seventh term by a landslide amid allegations of widespread fraud in 2018, it was not news. President since 1982, he had been prime minister for seven years prior. Biya’s former justice minister, Maurice Kamto, who contested as the opposition coalition candidate in 2018, was detained for nine months at the Kondengui maximum-security prison in Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital.

Still, it appears that Walla worries Biya.

The house where she lives in the commercial capital of Douala with her partner and their seven adopted children was surrounded by police trucks on the eve of the 2018 election results to prevent her from attending a peaceful protest.

All of that has failed to deter Walla, whose life so far has been a lesson in commitment to Pan-Africanism and civil liberties. As a nurse training at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria — West Africa’s first medical college — Walla’s mother had promised her colleagues she would return there to give birth to her first child. In February 1965, she flew there to keep her commitment. As a child in a newly independent Cameroon, Walla would often accompany her mother to radio stations and listen to her speak about women’s rights on-air.

Walla’s civil servant parents were averse to partisan politics, and at home, Walla’s education focused on loyalty to nationhood and the rule of law rather than to government. “I grew up in an environment where it was very important to stand up for your rights and contribute to your community,” she says.

Those lessons in bridge building are central to Walla’s efforts to challenge Biya by uniting a divided nation. The next presidential elections are five years away, but she’s already preparing. The CPP organizes what it calls Black Friday campaigns during which attendees all wear black headgear, showing solidarity with political prisoners and the country’s Anglophone region, which has been fighting discrimination for decades. The key message, Walla says, is that the CPP is fighting an enemy common to all Cameroonians: Biya’s regime.

Challenging the dictatorship has costs. Walla has been kidnapped by the presidential guard, hosed during a protest, brutalized by security officials and arrested multiple times. It’s all far removed from the path she was charting when, after studying in Cameroon and the Ivory Coast, she went to the United States to earn two degrees, including an MBA from Howard University School of Business.

But after years of campaigning for political change from the sidelines, Walla took the plunge, joining the SDF in 2007 and winning elections to the Douala City Council that year. “She did what leaders must do: She raised her voice to be heard,” says Anne Doyle, a councilwoman in Auburn Hills, Michigan, who met Walla at a global women’s leadership conference in 2008.

Walla did that again, when she challenged the SDF leader. “He was shocked,” she says, laughing. But Walla was confident, says Ateki Caxton, the Yaoundé-based executive director of pro-democracy network NewSETA. She was seen as someone “not afraid to confront some of the very patriarchal orientations of the party,” Caxton says.

Patriarchy remains a challenge for Walla. “A lot of young people admire her party, but people still feel it’s not yet time to have a female president,” says Caxton.

And despite her support for greater Anglophone rights, Walla has received death threats from groups fighting for a breakaway republic of Ambazonia, comprising the country’s two Anglophone regions.

It is “unconscionable to opt for a fight that inflicts further violence” on people, Walla says. “I am very much for the cause, but I do not believe in secession, because as an African, I don’t believe that my identity begins with who colonized me, so I cannot see myself defining my future on the basis of being Anglophone or Francophone.”

So far, there’s little evidence that Biya’s grip over Cameroon is loosening. Still, Caxton believes Walla could be a “key actor in the post-Biya era,” whenever that may be. “She’s one of those people trying to break the glass ceiling, and in Cameroon, that glass ceiling is made of marble.” Walla has shown the patience and persistence to chip away until it’s her time.

Culled from Ozy.com

10, June 2020

For many African Americans, nothing has changed since civil rights movement ⁰

For three generations, black Americans have learned the same cautionary tale about the police. And many, speaking on the fringes of George Floyd’s memorial ceremonies, say that nothing has changed in the US since the mid-20th century struggle for civil rights.

“Some things have changed, but not enough has changed,” Norman Mitchell told AFP during a memorial service for Floyd at his former school, Jack Yates High, in Houston’s predominantly black Third Ward neighborhood.

He acknowledged political advances made for the African American community, such as the election of Barack Obama as the first black president in the history of the US, but at the same time recounted the discrimination he and his children continue to face because of the color of their skin.

“It took an individual kneeling on someone’s neck for eight minutes, 46 seconds for the world to see the issue that we’ve been fighting for the last 100 years,” said the 55-year-old.

“When I was a young man, my father used to tell me to be very careful when I went out because there was a possibility that I could be stopped by the police,” Mitchell added.

He said he “had this exact same conversation with” his sons, whose ages range from 17 to 32.

Floyd’s agony as a white police officer knelt on his neck in a Minneapolis street hit Mitchell’s youngest son particularly hard. He “did not think it was real until May 25, and he knew the stories we had been sharing for years,” Mitchell said, whose own brother was killed by a Houston police officer in 1991.

At 63 years old, Laura Allen was a child when marches and protests against police brutality started in the Texan city’s streets.

“I was three or four years old with my family down (in) the streets, and we’re having to march for the same civil rights that we did years ago,” she said.

“Not much has changed at all.”

The former Yates student — class of 1975 — slammed the inequality and “double standard” of police policies in Houston, where “almost every black male I know have been profiled.”

– Scared of cops –

Like many others, Allen has countless stories of arbitrary arrests and intimidation. In 1980, she was detained by park police “for carrying a glass.”

This year, she was pulled over during a trip to Alabama with her husband and daughter.

“As soon as we crossed the Alabama border, we were instantly stopped. They ask, ‘Is this your car?'” recalled the small, gray-haired woman.

Just as her father brought her to protests, so Allen accompanied her daughter, Leah, last week to a massive rally in Houston, where 70,000 people demanded justice for Floyd.

At 28, Leah Allen has the same distrust of police officers as her mother, since “you never know what could happen.”

“I’m very scared of cops,” she said, recounting how police officers have followed her or leered sexually at her.

Tragedy can strike at any moment. Syreeta Polley, 38, points to the death in 2016 of black motorist Philando Castile, who was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop near Saint Paul, Minnesota.

As with Floyd, his shocking final moments were caught on video.

Polley has taught her teenage daughter, Nia Madison, to “respect authority figures” and be “cautious.”

The 17-year-old has started driving, and the lesson is clear: “Make sure you’re prepared if you’re being pulled over,” said Polley.

“It’s 2020 and it’s a big step back, it pushes us back to the 50s and 60s and the stories my 92-year-old grandmother would tell,” Polley added.

Even the Houston police chief, Art Acevedo, admitted that “there is a lot of work to do” to change the police force’s mindset.

Houston-based rapper William James Dennis — or “Willie D” — hopes that Floyd’s death will serve as a catalyst.

The black community “can use (the death of George Floyd) as a short window of opportunity to move America forward,” the artist and activist told AFP on Tuesday, during Floyd’s funeral.

Source: AFP

10, June 2020

US: New York lawmakers vote to scrap police discipline secrecy law ⁰

New York lawmakers voted on Tuesday to repeal a decades-old law that shields police officers’ disciplinary records from the public. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said he will sign the bill into law amid nationwide protests against police brutality.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted that he will sign the bill into law this week amid nationwide protests against police brutality.

The bill is part of a package of police reform measures advanced by the Democratic-controlled Assembly and Senate in Albany this week as protests gripped the nation following the death of George Floyd, a black man, as a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.

On Monday, the legislature voted to ban the use by police of chokeholds. The practice had come under intense condemnation when an African-American man, Eric Garner, died after a white New York City police officer used a chokehold on him during a 2014 arrest.

Advocates for police accountability have long been pushing for the repeal of the contentious section of New York’s Civil Rights Law, 50-a, that prevented disclosure to the public of disciplinary records of police officers.

“The legislation that will be passed over the coming days will help stop bad actors and send a clear message that brutality, racism, and unjustified killings will not be tolerated,” New York Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement.

New York police unions have called the legislation an attack on police.

“The message has been sent very clearly to police officers by our elected officials: We don’t like you,” Richard Wells, president of the statewide union the Police Conference of New York, told reporters. “We don’t respect you. We will not support you. We want you to go away.”

He said the repeal of 50-a would enable criminal defense attorneys to cite old complaints against an officer in court to undermine the officer’s testimony.

The New York City Council was also considering a bill to criminalize the use of chokeholds, which has widespread support among lawmakers but is opposed in its current form by the mayor.

Source: REUTERS

10, June 2020

Transparency, Accountability Needed for journalist ‘Wazizi’ Case ⁰

Cameroon’s government should ensure that the investigation into a journalist’s enforced disappearance and death in military custody is independent, effective, thorough, and impartial, four Cameroonian and six international organizations said today. United Nations (UN) Security Council members should urge accountability for the death of the journalist, Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, known as Wazizi, when they are briefed on the situation in Cameroon during their June 12, 2020 meeting with the UN Office of Central Africa (UNOCA).

The police arrested Wazizi, 36, an English-speaking journalist at the privately owned broadcaster, Chillen Muzik and TV (CMTV), on August 2, 2019 in in Buea, South-West region, and transferred him to a military-run facility in the same city on August 7. On June 2, 3, and 4 Cameroonian and international media, as well as Reporters Without Borders and the Cameroon Trade Union of Journalists reported that they had learned Wazizi died in custody following torture, on an undetermined date.

“We are still shocked that authorities disappeared Wazizi and then covered up his death for 10 months, but we welcome the opening of an investigation and call on Cameroon’s government to make its findings public and ensure that all those responsible are brought to justice,” said Felix Agbor Nkongho, also known as Agbor-Balla, President of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA).

Wazizi’s transfer to the military facility on August 7 was the last time any of his family, friends, colleagues, or lawyers saw him, or learned anything of his fate from the authorities, making his continued detention an enforced disappearance. He was accused of “collaborating with separatists,” but his lawyers say he had not been charged with any offense before his disappearance.

The French Ambassador to Cameroon told the media on June 5 that President Paul Biya had assured him that an investigation will be opened into the Wazizi’s death. The declaration was made the same day that the military spokesman, Colonel Serge Cyrille Atonfack, announced that Wazizi had died of severe sepsis on August 17, 2019 at the military hospital in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital. No autopsy was performed, and it is not clear on what basis Atonfack made the statement.

Cameroonian authorities had not made any official statement about the death of Wazizi, nor had they responded to multiple request for information filed by his lawyers, international media groups such as Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and other journalists from Radio France International until June 5.

“It took the government 10 months after Wazizi was forcibly disappeared to acknowledge he died in custody, and authorities did so only following significant national and international pressure,” said Cyrille Bechon of the Cameroonian rights organization Nouveaux Droits de l’Homme. “Cameroonian authorities were responsible for his life and safety while in detention and must provide a full accounting as to the circumstances of his detention and death.”

Atonfack said that Wazizi’s family had been informed about his death, but family members refute that, saying they were never told and had been seeking information on his whereabouts since his arrest. On August 13, 2019 Wazizi’s lawyers filed a habeas corpus application before the president of the high court of the Fako division, Buea, South-West region. The application was dismissed on technical grounds. Another habeas corpus was filed on November 13, but even then, the government did not disclose that he was dead.

When he announced the death, Atonfack also alleged that Wazizi was active in one of the several separatist groups operating in the South-West region. His lawyers said that no evidence has ever been produced to support the accusations.

“If a person is arrested under the anti-terror law, due process should be followed, and evidence brought to court,” said Emmanuel Nkea, a defense lawyer. “But this has never been the case and the government is trying to cover up the facts.”

The circumstances of Wazizi’s death underscore the dangers faced by Cameroonian journalists, particularly those who report on and investigate the crisis in the Anglophone regions of the country. The organizations have repeatedly documented the vulnerability of reporters in Cameroon to harassment, intimidation, threats, torture, arbitrary arrest, and detention by Cameroonian security forces and authorities.

Under national and international human rights law, Cameroon’s authorities have an obligation to account for every death in custody and should conduct an effective, thorough, and independent investigation into Wazizi’s enforced disappearance and death. The investigation should be capable of establishing the facts surrounding Wazizi’s disappearance and death, including whether he died following torture or other ill-treatment in custody, and identifying all those responsible with a view to bringing them to justice. Failure to investigate and prosecute those responsible would violate Cameroon’s obligations to protect people from arbitrary detention and deprivation of life and to provide an effective remedy, the groups said.

The situation in Cameroon is expected to come up at the June 12 UN Security Council meeting with UNOCA. Cameroon’s international partners and UN Security Council members should publicly raise concerns about the grave human rights abuses in Cameroon, including against journalists, political opponents, and human rights defenders. The Security Council should also take the long-overdue step of formally adding Cameroon to its agenda so that it can more closely monitor the situation there.

“When it comes to the respect for human rights, the UN and Cameroon’s international partners should take a stand and speak out,” said Maximilienne Ngo Mbe, executive director of the Central African Network of Human Rights Defenders (Réseau des Défenseurs des Droits de l’Homme de l’Afrique Centrale – REDHAC). “They should demand accountability for Wazizi’s death. Ensuring a thorough, impartial and transparent investigation into Wazizi’s death is the very least the Cameroonian government can do to show its commitment to protecting the country’s fragile media freedom is not hollow.”

Action des chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture (ACAT)

Amnesty International

Cameroon Journalists’ Trade Union

Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA)

Central African Network of Human Rights Defenders

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

Human Rights Watch

International Federation for Human Rights, in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Nouveaux Droits de l’Homme

Culled from Human Rights Watch