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‘It was an accident’: Cameroon army explains massacre in Southern Cameroons

18, February 2020

‘It was an accident’: Cameroon army explains massacre in Southern Cameroons 0

Cameroon’s army on Monday explained the incident in which 22 civilians were killed in the Northwest region, described it as an “unfortunate accident” caused by an explosion of fuel during a firefight.

Opposition parties had accused the army of orchestrating a massacre, but army spokesman Colonel Cyrille Atonfack Guemo described the allegations as “duplicitous”.

The United Nations said up to 22 civilians, 14 of them children, died in Friday’s incident, which happened in in the village of Ntumbo in Cameroon’s Northwest Region, one of two English-speaking regions that have been grappling with separatist violence since October 2017.

The army’s explanation

An army investigation, he said, found that the deaths happened after fuel was set ablaze during a gunfight with anglophone separatists.

Five civilians, a woman and four children, died, and “seven terrorists” were “neutralised”, Atonfack told AFP in Libreville by phone.

More than 3,000 people have died and at least 700,000 have fled their homes.

“It was quite simply an unfortunate accident, the collateral result of security operations in the region,” Atonfack said in a statement.

He said four soldiers and two gendarmes had been carrying out nighttime reconnaissance on foot near a home that had been “transformed into a fortress” with a stockpile of weapons.

They came under heavy fire, and exchanges caused “several containers of fuel to explode, followed by a blaze which spread several neighbouring homes”, Atonfack said.

Defense Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Rene Claude Meke said told state broadcaster CRTV the military has been professional in its fight against the separatists.

“We need of the support of the population in these difficult moments,” he said. “They should come to us, inform us and strictly respect orders and advice we give to them so that this crisis which has overstayed should come to an end.”

Aid workers narrate what happened

On Sunday, James Nunan, a local official with UN humanitarian coordination agency OCHA, told AFP that “armed men” had killed as many as 22 civilians, including a pregnant woman and 14 young children.

Eleven of the children were girls, said Nunan, head of OCHA’s office for the Northwest and Southwest regions.

Aid workers contacted by AFP said witnesses had told them that between 40 and 50 armed men, some wearing army uniform and some wearing masks, entered Ngarbuh, a district of the village, before shooting inhabitants dead and burning them.

“They fired on people and burned victims, their bodies are in a terrible state,” said an aid worker, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“People phoned us to say that soldiers had come and smashed down doors, opened fire on people and set homes on fire,” Ntumbo resident Louis Panlanjo, a member of a local association, told AFP.

“People took shelter in the centre of the village. There was about 800 of them.”

Opposition parties outraged

Bruno Ngeh, a 38-year-old teacher who escaped the attack, said he lost many family members including his wife’s aunt and her eight children. He said the military was responsible for the killings.

“Little babies, pregnant women were killed. How do you explain this?” he asked. “They never knew that they will be killed in their sleep by the very military that is supposed to protect them.”

A resident who wanted to remain anonymous told AFP by phone that 35 bodies had been recovered and the army was to blame.

The Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), one of the two main opposition parties, blamed “these crimes” mainly on the regime and the head of the security forces.

A key figure in the separatist movement, lawyer Felix Agbor Mballa, in a Facebook post also accused “state defence forces” of carrying out the killings.

Vice President Dabney Yerima, the second in command of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, the state claimed by the separatists, blamed the military for the deaths of civilians.

The Anglophone crisis

English-speakers account for nearly a fifth of Cameroon’s population of 24 million, who are majority French-speaking.

Years of grievances at perceived discrimination snowballed into a declaration of independence in October 2017 and a government crackdown.

The declaration has not been recognised internationally although the government has lately decentralised some of its powers.

The UN refugee agency said on Thursday that almost 8,000 people had fled into Nigeria from Cameroon in the previous two weeks to escape the fighting, bringing the number of refugees to almost 60,000.

Once considered a haven of stability in central Africa, Cameroon has for the last seven years seen the jihadist group Boko Haram kill soldiers and civilians in the north.

In the latest attack, three people were killed on Saturday when Boko Haram militants set fire to around 100 homes, looted shops and stole grain, security officials said.

Meanwhile, the much-delayed trial was due to begin on Monday of seven soldiers accused of killing two women and their babies in 2015. However, the trial in the capital Yaounde had not started by Monday evening.

The murders, which came to light through a video on the internet, were initially dismissed as “fake news” by the government, which later investigated the incident and arrested seven suspects.

Agencies with additional editing from Camcordnews

60,000 Southern Cameroonians run to Nigeria and here’s why

17, February 2020

60,000 Southern Cameroonians run to Nigeria and here’s why 0

Nearly 60,000 Cameroonians have fled to eastern and southern Nigeria in recent times, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

The UN agency adds that 8,000 Cameroonians have taken refuge in Nigeria in the last two weeks.

The Cameroonians are besieging Nigeria as violence flares between security forces and separatist insurgents back home.

The English speaking part of Cameroon wants to break away from the French controlled Cameroon because of alleged marginalisation.

However, this has been met with stiff resistance from the capital Yaounde; and soldiers have had to use brute force to quell protesting separatists.

The English-speaking militias seek to form a breakaway state called Ambazonia.

Reuters reports that the Cameroonian government has cracked down violently on peaceful protesters.

Cameroon President Biya has been accused of using force on protesters (AFP)

Cameroon President Biya has been accused of using force on protesters

The insurgency has forced half a million people to flee their homes; leaving President Paul Biya with his biggest challenge since he took power nearly 40 years ago.

The U.N. refugee agency “expects further arrivals as refugees inform that more people are still in remote border areas and could be on their way trying to reach Nigeria.

“Refugees reported fleeing violence and some even arrived across the border with gunshot wounds.

“According to new arrivals, most come from areas near the border and have trekked across savannah and forests to reach Nigeria.”

Special status rejected

In December, the Cameroon parliament granted special status to two English-speaking regions in a bid to calm the conflict, but the separatists said only independence is good enough.

The crisis has its roots in the split between the former German colony of Kamerun and the allied French and British victors at the end of World War One; following a ‘League of Nations’ decision.

Source: Pulse Nigeria

Cameroon Government’s initial silence on the Donga Mantung Massacre: Is it really golden?

17, February 2020

Cameroon Government’s initial silence on the Donga Mantung Massacre: Is it really golden? 0

The news of the massacres in the Donga Mantung Division of the Northwest region has been spreading across the world like wildfire and many people are surprised that the government is not seeking to provide explanations for this ugly situation that is giving the country a very bad name.

Close to 40 persons were killed by the country’s military and the United Nations and many human rights groups are calling on the government to investigate the matter with the objective of punishing those responsible for the carnage.

Despite these calls, the government has remained suspiciously quiet. Could the killings be part of a government plan to decimate the population of the English-speaking regions that account for 20% of the country’s population?

Many political analysts hold that the government’s decision to kill English-speaking Cameroonians and burn their homes is part of a carefully crafted policy to subjugate the population once and for all. This, in its view, will ensure that the vocal minority is hemmed in forever.

If this is really part of a government policy, then it is clear that the government has not really done its homework properly. Times have changed and the world is a different place from what it used to be in the 1960s when rogue governments could get away with crimes against humanity.

Unlike in the past, crimes could be reported in real time today due to the advent of social media and android phones that are enabling citizens to capture some of those crimes as they play out.

Besides, it will be hard, if not impossible, to take down an entire community, especially as half of the community is out of the country. Cameroon’s English-speaking minority is about 8 million people strong and most of the young educated men are professionals living abroad.

The government should understand that most of the opposition it faces comes from abroad and instead of killing children and pregnant women, it should seek to make peace with its English-speaking Diaspora that has made up its mind to change the order of things in Cameroon.

The government might has just issued a press release indicating that the death of 32 women and children is an unfortunate event and that those killed are collateral damage, but its initial silence cannot be deemed golden. 

The government is guilty of manslaughter. It has developed a policy of mass murder that will never lead to peace. The government of a well-run country is never in the business of proving a point. A true and honest government listens to its citizens and seeks to come up with solutions that can address the issues raised.

The government’s initial silence is proof of guilt and its belated press release simply speaks to its inability to admit guilt and seek corrective measures. There is dignity in accepting guilty and promising that it would no longer happen is usually a first step towards addressing the issues. Flexing one’s muscles all the time turns off even moderates. The government of Cameroon must start thinking of walking the path to dialogue to save its reputation or whatever is left of it.

By Dr Joachim Arrey in Canada

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Human Rights Watch shares the blame

17, February 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Human Rights Watch shares the blame 0

Human Rights Watch (HRW), the global human rights watchdog, has released a report on the ongoing carnage playing out in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions.

The report holds the country’s security forces responsible for some of the most atrocious human rights crimes taking place in the country’s two English-speaking regions.

Cameroon’s security forces are supposed to protect civilians, but they seem to be departing from their traditional role of protecting and serving the people. Their guns have become toys with which they play. Intimidation has become their hallmark and killing fellow citizens no longer generates guilt.

But the report also points a finger at armed separatist fighters who claim they are fighting for the total liberation of their territory, but have, over the last two years, been engaged in behavior that needs to be punished.

A conflict that started as protests by teachers and lawyers was poorly managed by the government due to arrogance and intransigence. Three years after, killing and kidnapping have become great sports in the Northwest and Southwest regions, with security forces playing an active role in these new activities.  

Below are some of the tales of agony that HRW obtained from victims of the violence that seems to have received the government’s seal of approval.

Violations by Security Forces

Twelve Bali residents told Human Rights Watch that soldiers, including members of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), and gendarmes began a three-day security operation in their village on January 17. Armed separatists had operated in the area since 2017. Witnesses said that security forces beat and killed at least four civilians, including two men with intellectual disabilities, Julius Ntali, 55, and Mumbat Charlie, 25, who appeared to have been shot, and his body burned as the house was set on fire.

A witness to Ntali’s killing said:

On January 18, there was a gathering in a house in Sang neighborhood for a funeral. I passed by and saw that Julius was there, eating. It was about 3 p.m. when the security forces stormed the area. They shot indiscriminately, and everyone ran away for their lives. Julius didn’t understand what was happening around him and was hit. We only found his body two days later when the area became quieter, since the military had left. His body was in a state of decomposition, but I saw a sign of a bullet in the head.

A witness to Charlie’s killing said:

On January 19, at least 10 BIR soldiers came to Mom neighborhood in Bali, where I live. They shot in the air around and burned the home where Charlie was living. I was in my house. I watched everything from my home, about 30 meters away. When the shooting finished and the burning was over, I went out and found Charlie’s body. He had been shot in the neck and in the head. His body was totally burned.

Several witnesses told Human Rights Watch that the security forces killed at least two other men in Tih neighborhood between January 17 and 20. However, Human Rights Watch was not able to independently verify this information.

Security forces beat at least four women, including a nursing mother with her baby and a 70-year-old woman with a physical disability, in a home in Sang neighborhood, Bali, where they were hiding at about 1:30 p.m. on January 19, during the military operations. One of the victims, a 34-year-old nurse, said:

The soldiers used wooden sticks to beat me and the other women. They asked us where the Amba boys [separatists] were. We said we didn’t know, and they kept hitting us. The beating lasted up to 30 minutes. A soldier slapped a nursing mother in the face. She had a 4-month-old baby with her.”

Soldiers, including members of the BIR, and gendarmes also beat a 46-year-old man in an abandoned school, the Bali Comprehensive High School, in Sang neighborhood on January 19, seriously injuring his face. He said:

I was in front of the Bali Presbyterian Church when a gendarme called me. He was with 30 other gendarmes and soldiers. He confiscated my phone and asked where the separatists were hiding. I said I didn’t know. He acted as if he didn’t believe me. So, the military pulled me and took me on foot to an abandoned school, one kilometer away. While we were walking, the military slapped and kicked me. At the school, they accused me of being an accomplice to the separatists, hit and punched me for about 25 minutes. They hit my nose badly and I bled profusely. I cried until they brought me back to the main road and left me there.

Security forces also burned and looted up to 50 homes in Bali. Witnesses said they believed that the military retaliated against civilians suspected of harboring separatists or supporting the SDF. Human Rights Watch reviewed satellite imagery taken before and after the attack and confirmed the destruction of buildings consistent with witness testimony.

Human Rights Watch also reviewed video footage featuring homes and businesses that were destroyed in Bali. This footage was both gathered from social media platforms and sent directly to Human Rights Watch. Verifying and geolocating these videos corroborated sites of damaged buildings that were consistent with the satellite imagery of those locations and with witness testimony.

A woman who fled to the forest when the security forces approached her neighborhood, Sang, described what she saw from her hiding place:

The military came on January 19 at about 1 p.m. They arrived on foot and started shooting everywhere. I ran away with my four children and hid nearby. I saw how the soldiers burned my home and my workshop; they destroyed everything.

The Bali residents interviewed said that the separatists who had been in town fled well before the soldiers arrived and there was no confrontation between the security forces and the separatists.

A 55-year-old resident of Bali whose home was burned down by the soldiers on January 17 said:

Dozens of Cameroonian soldiers came to Bali with armored cars and trucks. They targeted the homes of SDF leaders and civilians’ homes where they suspected the Amba boys [separatists] were hiding. The military came to punish and scare the population. As the military approached my neighborhood, Paila, I ran away and hid. My home was razed. I counted 28 soldiers burning it and transporting bags of items looted from it, including a TV and food.

The security forces also searched the Bali district hospital on January 19, causing some patients to flee out of fear. A medical staff at the hospital told Human Rights Watch:

I was on duty when six armed gendarmes entered our facility at about 1 p.m. They asked me where we hid and treated the Amba boys [separatists]. I responded that we only had patients. They wanted me to show them all wards. They entered all the units, including the maternity. I was scared of their weapons, and so were the patients, and some panicked and ran away out of fear.

Abuses by Armed Separatists

Kidnapping

On February 2, armed separatists kidnapped Joseph Tarh Pen, a CPDM member running for mayor in Santa, North-West region. In the days after he was kidnapped, a video circulated on social media showing Tarh, stripped naked and in the dirt, while accused of being a traitor. Human Rights Watch spoke with one relative and two friends of Tarh who identified him in the video. They said that the video was filmed after Tarh’s kidnapping in Piyin village, near Santa. Tarh’s relative said that two of Tarh’s brothers – who were contacted by the separatists to arrange a ransom payment – were also kidnapped, on February 3. The two brothers were released on February 8, while Tarh is still held by the separatists at time of writing.

Armed separatists from the group Restoration Forces led by a commander known as “General Man Pass Man” kidnapped the SDF mayor of Babessi, North-West region, along with four council members from the party on January 5, 2020 in Babessi. The Restoration Forces released them on January 22, following a ransom payment of 1,000,000 CFA (US$1,678). Human Rights Watch spoke with three of those abducted. One, a 49-year-old man, said: “They told us that they kidnapped us to prevent us from participating in the elections. When they let us go, they said we will be monitored all the days of our lives.”

The separatists had also kidnapped and tortured the Babessi mayor in June 2019.

In November 2019, the Restoration Forces kidnapped 20 SDF candidates in the town of Jakiri, North-West region. The officials were held in a small house near a separatist camp in Vekovi village. They were released on December 8, after ransom payments believed to be between CFAF 250,000 and CFAF 500,000 ($419-$838) were paid for each abductee.

“It was about 7 p.m. when two Amba boys [separatists] broke into my shop,” a victim from Jakiri said. “They pointed a gun at my forehead and told me to go with them. They told me I was being kidnapped because my name was on the list of those running for local elections.”

Burning of Property

Armed separatists burned down the home of Acha Kennedy, a candidate for the ruling CPDM, in Bamenda, North-West region, on January 12, 2020, and the home of the mayor in Bafut, North-West region, on January 15, witnesses said. A neighbor of Kennedy said:

At around 9:30 p.m. I opened the door and saw five motorbikes going down to the residence of Mr. Acha. I watched closely. They were Amba boys [separatists]. They had their guns and held tires of vehicles in their hands. They set them on fire and threw them on the roof of Acha’s home. That was how the house was set ablaze. We live in fear.

Witnesses said that a group of about 15 armed separatists – from a group known as “Nsei boys” operating in Mbesoh neighborhood, in Bamessing – burned down four homes belonging to two officials in Bamessing, North-West region, on November 20, 2019. One of the homes was used as a private health center.

A witness, the brother of one of the officials, said:

I used my brother’s home as a health center. I was there with a dozen of people waiting for consultations when the separatists came. They had guns, machetes, and knives. Some appeared to be high on drugs. They demanded we leave. Then, they set the home on fire. The roof was burned, as well as all my medical equipment.

Another of the official’s homes was burned on January 23. He said that he had also been threatened for sending his children to school.

A sister of the other official said that the separatists beat her when they burned her sister’s home. “They had tanks of 20 liters each full of petrol and kerosene, which they started pouring around,” she said. “Then, they set the house on fire. I broke into tears, and so two of them started hitting my back, buttocks, and feet using machetes and sticks.”

Obtained from the HRW report.

US Secretary of State Pompeo vows ‘collective’ approach to Africa troop presence

17, February 2020

US Secretary of State Pompeo vows ‘collective’ approach to Africa troop presence 0

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that the United States favoured a “collective” approach with its allies when deciding on troop numbers deployed in Africa against jihadist insurgents.

“We’ll get it right, we’ll get it right collectively, I’m convinced of that,” Pompeo told reporters in Dakar.

Pompeo said he had no specific announcement to make about any cuts in US troops deployed against jihadist groups in the Sahel region of Africa.

But he said the US would work closely with Senegalese and other forces in the region as well asits European partners, especially France.

“We have an obligation to get security right here, in the region, it’s what will permit economic growth and we’re determined to do that,” he said.

“When our review is done we’ll have a conversation with not just Senegal but all the countries in the region, we’ll talk through why we’re doing what we’re doing and we’ll deliver an outcome that works for all of us.”

Senegal Foreign Minister Amadou Ba said that the United States had informed his government of its “wish to withdraw combat troops”.

This, he said, would still leave an American military presence, notably in the areas of training and intelligence.

But he also insisted that Washington remained a crucial ally in the fight against jihadist violence that has plagued the Sahel.

“More than ever, Africa is faced with major challenges linked to insecurity and terrorism,” Ba said.

“It needs the United States of America as a strategic ally for a definitive return to peace and stability.”

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Children make up more than half of dead in Ngarbuh massacre

17, February 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Children make up more than half of dead in Ngarbuh massacre 0

A massacre in an anglophone region of Cameroon left up to 22 villagers dead including 14 children, the UN said Sunday, with an opposition party blaming the killings on the army.

Cameroon government army soldiers carried out the bloodshed on Friday in the village of Ntumbo in the Northwest region, James Nunan, a local official of humanitarian coordination agency OCHA, told AFP.

“Up to 22 civilians were killed, including a pregnant woman and several children,” Nunan said, adding that 14 children — including nine under age five — were among the dead.

Eleven of the children were girls, said Nunan, head of OCHA’s office for the Northwest and Southwest regions, which are home to the West African country’s large English-speaking minority.

Separatists in the regions have been fighting the central government for three years.

The Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon, one of the country’s two main opposition parties, issued a statement saying: “The dictatorial regime (and) the supreme head of the security and defence forces are chiefly responsible for these crimes.”

A key figure in the separatist movement, lawyer Agbor Mballa, in a Facebook post also accused “state defence forces” of carrying out the killings.

An army official contacted by AFP early Sunday denied the allegations, saying simply: “False”. No other official response was immediately available.

The three-year conflict between anglophone forces seeking to break away from French-speaking Cameroon has claimed more than 3,000 lives and forced more than 700,000 people to flee their homes.

Friday’s killings followed elections on February 9 that were marred by violence in the regions blamed both on separatists and security forces.

Armed separatists prevented people from voting, threatening reprisals, while government soldiers were a heavy presence.

Separatists kidnapped more than 100 people and torched property in the run-up to the elections, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday.

The government has not yet announced the results of the elections or turnout figures.

Reported by AFP with additional editing from Camcordnews

Death toll from China coronavirus jumps to 1,770

17, February 2020

Death toll from China coronavirus jumps to 1,770 0

The death toll from China’s new coronavirus epidemic jumped to 1,770 after 105 more people died, the National Health Commission said Monday.

More than 70,500 have now been infected nationwide by the virus, which first emerged in December in central Hubei province before spreading across the country.

Chinese authorities have placed about 56 million people in Hubei and its capital Wuhan under quarantine, virtually sealing off the province from the rest of the country in an unprecedented effort to contain the virus.

New cases outside of the epicentre have been declining for the last thirteen days

There were 115 fresh cases outside the central province, according to the commission on Monday — sharply down from nearly 450 a week ago.

Local authorities elsewhere in China have introduced measures to try and stop the virus spreading, including a rule in Beijing requiring people coming to the capital to self-quarantine for 14 days, according to official media.

Most cases are still in Hubei, where nearly 2,000 were reported Monday.

The number of reported infections ballooned on Thursday last week after Hubei authorities changed their criteria for counting cases, retroactively adding 14,000 cases in a single day.

Monday’s figures for new cases were around 100 higher than those on Sunday but still sharply down on those from Friday and Saturday.

A spokesman for China’s national health authority said that the slowdown was a sign the outbreak was being controlled.

However, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned it is “impossible to predict which direction this epidemic will take”.

International experts have arrived in Beijing and begun meeting with their Chinese counterparts over the epidemic, Tedros said on Twitter.

Global worries about its spread remain high and the epidemic’s reach was highlighted by the US announcing that more than three dozen Americans from a cruise ship quarantined off Japan were infected.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Things take a turn for the worse

16, February 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Things take a turn for the worse 0

The Southern Cameroons crisis that started in 2016 has taking a turn for the worse, as the Yaounde government has triggered its genocide mode.

On Friday, Febrauary 14, 2020, army soldiers committed their worst human rights crimes by murdering over 38 women and children in Cameroon’s English-Speaking community of Ngarbuh in Donga Mantung Division in the North West region.

Most of the victims, many of whom are pregnant women and toddlers, were either burned alive or shot dead by Cameroon government soldiers.

The initial reports early on Friday put the figure at 30, but by Saturday, more corpses were recovered in the bushes, pushing the number to close to 40.

Despite the outrage triggered by the inhuman killing of toddlers and pregnant women, the Yaounde government has remained silent about the killings which are not the first of their kind in the two English-speaking regions of the country, where an insurgency has been unfolding over the last three years.

Southern Cameroonian armed groups calling for the total liberation of their homeland have met with a violent reaction from the Yaounde government led by its 87-year-old dictator, Paul Biya, who has rejected calls by the international community for an inclusive dialogue that will restore peace to the once-upon-a time oasis of peace in a desert of chaos.

Since winning another term in office through foul means in 2018, Mr. Biya who has led the country for almost 38 years and has only succeeded to run the economy aground has vowed that there will never be any inclusive dialogue as long as he is in power.

In a response to the calls for an inclusive dialogue, the corrupt and inefficient Yaounde government hastily organized a major national dialogue which was everything but major, and promptly fabricated its own Diaspora which attended the unrecognized event and called for a special status for the country’s two English-speaking regions.

From every indication, it is clear that the special status called for death to all Southern Cameroonians living in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

The killing of more than 35 civilians on Friday by army soldiers comprising mostly of people of Beti extraction in a state-sponsored and pre-meditated genocide, has drawn condemnation from across the globe, including a call from the United Nations for a thorough and impartial investigation.

This callous act of unprecedented savagery commandeered by the country’s defense minister, Joseph  Beti Assomo, has left the world in total shock, with the Trump Administration mulling sanctions against the Yaounde government that has been conducting itself as a rogue regime.

 Back in Cameroon, there has been widespread condemnation of the act committed by government forces.  Many prominent voices are urging the world to stand up to this new rise in gross immorality and an attack on civilization.

The calls are getting louder, urging the world to ensure that the criminal regime in Yaounde that is killing its own people be held fully accountable for the gross human rights violations and war crimes.

It is being reported that the regime had sent two army generals to the two English-speaking regions of the country with the sole purpose of decimating the population.

Besides the United Nations, condemnations have also come from some Cameroonian political parties such MRC led by Professor Maurice who is the rightful winner of the 2018 presidential elections.

MRC expression of total disappointment with the government’s action comes as no surprise as the party has always called for an inclusive dialogue as the framework that can ensure Cameroon remains one and indivisible.

“Shocking images circulating on the social media are evident of grave crimes against humanity in general and human procreation in particular. These are undoubtedly criminal acts orchestrated by individuals who harbor an ignominious genocidal project” the party’s press statement stated.

Also, a renowned Buea-based human rights lawyer, Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla is one of those voices that have called for an investigation into the killings.

He directly accused government soldiers of carrying out the attack on civilians, stressing that those responsible for these crimes should be brought to justice.

“The gruesome murder of 27 civilians, including women and children by the State Defense Forces on 14 February 2020 in Ngarbuh, Donga Mantung Division of the North West Region in Cameroon must be investigated and the perpetrators of such egregious crimes brought to justice,” he said.

The government’s latest action seems to have prompted Southern Cameroonians across the world to cast their differences aside in order to face their common enemy – the Yaounde government.

Since Friday, Southern Cameroonian activists have been very busy condemning the Yaounde government and issuing declarations on the way forward.

While each of them speaks for their own group, the common denominator in their declarations is that French-speaking Cameroonians living in Southern Cameroons must pack up and leave, as their security can no longer be guaranteed.

Currently, there are massive fund-raising efforts taking place in Washington D.C., Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Toronto, Ottawa and London (UK) to arm the fighters on the ground as the Yaounde government only understands a tough language.

Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News Group on Sunday from the United States capital, a Southern Cameroonian who is participating in the fund-raising efforts said that the response had been encouraging, adding that the killings in the Northwest region came with something positive.

“They have broken down the firewalls that were dividing us and we are now trying to build bridges that will enable us to work together in order to give the Yaounde government a run for its money,” the official who elected anonymity said.

“We are urging all Southern Cameroonians to donate to any group of their choice. Our focus for now is on arming our boys and ensuring that the different factions work together,” he stressed.

“A few divisions in the past have hurt us and we have learned our lessons. We now understand that fighting against each other only makes the enemy stronger and more determined. We are learning to accept differences. We have also learned that making common cause will help us make a bigger impact,” he added.

Meanwhile a container full of arms was caught last week at the Tiko wharf. The weapons were hidden in bags of garri and rice and it is believed that they were destined for Ambazonian fighters in Fako Division.

A source at the Tiko customs post hinted that the weapons were discovered because of an informant who is close to one of the group that was expecting the weapons.

The source revealed that the government was seeking to keep everything under wraps, as publicizing it could embolden the fighters and their arms suppliers.

The informant also said that though the shipment destined for Fako fighters had been found out, the ones for other divisions might have reached their real destination.

He pointed to the sophisticated weapons the fighters were bearing, adding that the quality of their weapons had emboldened them and brought them some victories and recognition.

From every indication, Cameroon is in for tougher times. The massacres in the Northwest region have only helped to unite Southern Cameroonians and they are already mobilizing resources to provide a proper response to the government’s genocidal acts.

Some Southern Cameroonians are calling for the war to be taken to towns and villages on the border between Southern Cameroons and East Cameroon.

Some say if French-speaking Cameroonians do not get hurt, they will never be aware of the atrocities of their government.

The world has to intervene. Condemnation and long speeches will never stop the killings. Cameroon has been caught up in an orgy of killing and only the international community can bail it out, as both factions do not trust each other.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom and James Nkongho in Yaounde

Libya: Situation deeply troubling, UN warns

16, February 2020

Libya: Situation deeply troubling, UN warns 0

A United Nations (UN) official has warned that the situation in Libya is “deeply troubling,” a fragile ceasefire in the crisis-hit country has seen dozens of violations, and a UN arms embargo imposed on the country has become a “joke.”

UN Deputy Special Representative to Libya Stephanie Williams made the comments at a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on the sidelines of the 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Sunday and after a meeting of foreign ministers to follow up on a Berlin summit on Libya last month.

“The situation on the ground remains deeply troubling. The truce is holding only by a thread. It is the Libyan people that continue to suffer the most. The economic situation continues to deteriorate, exacerbated by the oil blockade,” the US official said, referring to the blockade of oil facilities by rebel forces in Libya.

He said more than 150 violations had been reported since the ceasefire was agreed last month.

Since 2014, two rival seats of power have emerged in Libya: the internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, and another group based in the eastern city of Tobruk, supported militarily by rebel forces under the command of renegade general Khalifa Haftar.

The rebel leader, who is primarily supported by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Jordan, launched a deadly offensive to capture the capital, Tripoli, the seat of the GNA, in April last year. Despite intense fighting, Haftar has so far failed to achieve his objective of ousting the GNA, and the offensive has stalled outside the capital.

PressTV-New deadly clashes hit Libyan capital after UN call for truce

Last month, officials from Turkey, Russia, Egypt, France, Italy, Britain, and the United States gathered in the German capital of Berlin to help establish a permanent ceasefire in Libya. Sarraj and Haftar were also present in the summit.

The final communiqué of the summit called on all the parties concerned in the conflict “to redouble their efforts for a sustained suspension of hostilities, de-escalation and a permanent ceasefire.” Participants also pledged not to interfere in Libya’s internal affairs and its conflict and agreed to “fully respect” the arms embargo imposed on the North African country by the UN in 2011.

However, Haftar refused to sign the joint communiqué.

Elsewhere in her remarks on Sunday, Williams condemned the ongoing breaches of the UN weapons embargo on Libya, saying it “has become a joke, we all really need to step up here.” She added that the embargo had been violated “by land, sea, and air, but it needs to be monitored and there needs to be accountability,” warning that the North African country was now awash with illegally-imported advanced weapons.

The situation in Libya was been compounded as a result of a move by Turkey, a Libyan government ally, to transfer allied militants from Syria to the North African country.

Maas said he had asked European Union (EU) foreign ministers to make a decision on Monday on their role in monitoring the UN embargo.

“Everyone needs to know that, if they violate the embargo in future, then they violate a UN resolution and that this can’t remain without consequences,” he said, without giving further details.

The top German diplomat also said that the next so-called 5+5 meeting on Libya would take place in Geneva on Tuesday.

Serraj and Haftar are also scheduled to hold their first “political dialog” on February 26.

The Italian capital of Rome is set to host the next UN-brokered international talks on Libya.

Source: Presstv

South Sudan’s rebel leader rejects president’s peace offer

16, February 2020

South Sudan’s rebel leader rejects president’s peace offer 0

Rebels in South Sudan have rejected a peace proposal by the president that would have seen the country returning to an original system of ten states plus three new regions.

President Salva Kiir on Saturday proposed that the county be divided in the original 10 states, as had been demanded by the rebels, plus the three “administrative areas” of Pibor, Ruweng, and Abyei.

The offer was however rejected by rebel leader Riek Machar, who objected to the idea of the three new areas.

Machar, who lives in exile, called on the president “to reconsider this idea of creating administrative areas.” It “cannot be referred to as reverting to 10 states (and) as such cannot be accepted,” Machar said.

When it gained independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan had 10 states, as set out in its constitution. The president increased the number of the states to 28 in 2015, and then to 32.

South Sudan president cuts number of states to 10, unlocking peace process

Kiir issued an order late Saturday relieving all governors of the 32 states of their posts and changed the number of the states back to 10, plus the three areas.

Among the three regions, Ruweng in the north, which is believed to be rich in oil resources, is claimed by both Kiir’s Dinka people and Machar’s Nuer tribe.

South Sudan was gripped by a bloody civil war only two years after independence in December 2013. The two sides have been involved in a cycle of attacks and retaliatory killings. Tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced so far.

Both sides have been under pressure from the international community to resolve their differences.

Source: Presstv

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