22, December 2022
Southern Cameroons Crisis: General No Pity’s breastfeeding girlfriend still in detention 0
Authorities in Cameroon have continued to hold a breastfeeding mother in detention a year after a court ordered her release on bail. An Appeal Court in the Southwest region of the country on December 15, 2021 granted bail to Antoinette Kongnso but she remains incarcerated one year after the court decision, together with her 14-month-old baby born in detention.
Lawyers say her continued detention is an abuse of the justice system in the country and is an example of the injustice felt by Cameroonians.
A former girlfriend of Mbashie Clement – a dreaded armed separatist fighter in the country known as ‘General No Pity’ — Kongnso was arrested “without a warrant” on October 2, 2021 in Buea, the headquarters of the Southwest region, one of two English-speaking regions of the country ravaged by a six-year-long bloody armed conflict.
Military crackdown
About 6,000 people have been killed after a protest by lawyers and teachers in the English-speaking parts of the majority French-speaking country over perceived and real marginalisation which resulted into a conflict following a military crackdown on protesters.
Militia groups have since sprouted and increased demands for the secession of the minority English speakers and the creation of an independent English-speaking country which they want called Ambazonia.
‘General No Pity’ heads one of the militia groups which the government has repeatedly accused of attacking and inflicting casualties on the military in the Northwest, another of the two English-speaking regions.
Though her relationship with ‘General No Pity’ ended long ago, Kongnso was accused of “failure to report acts of terrorism” of her former boyfriend and was arrested while she was eight months pregnant and initially detained incommunicado at local police headquarters before being transferred to the Buea Central Prison. She gave birth in November 2021.
The International Crisis Group and the US State Department have reported on retaliation against women and girls in connection with their relationships – family or romantic – with fighters on both sides of the conflict.
Granted bail
The military tribunal had earlier denied Kongnso bail but the Inquiry Control Chambers of the Appeal Court “which has exclusive jurisdiction to hear appeals on bail-related issues from the military tribunal” granted the bail following an appeal from her lawyers.
According to barrister Legenju Vitalise, one of the lawyers defending Kongnso, she was supposed to be released following the appeal court’s decision – given that no new charges have been brought against her.
“Her continuous detention is a clear testament that there is a breakdown in the rule of law in Cameroon”, barrister Legenju told The EastAfrican, adding that “her continuous detention is illegal and will remain illegal”.
The human rights lawyer explained that Kongnso was charged with failure to report acts of terrorism – a crime for which she will not be sentenced to more than a year in jail.
“Even if she was to be tried and sentenced, she would not spend over a year in jail. No right-thinking judge would sentence someone who fails to report what does not exist for over a year in jail,” barrister Legenju said.
Monitor Kongnso’s trial
The Clooney Foundation for Justice’s TrialWatch initiative announced on Thursday last week that it will monitor Kongnso’s trial as she clocked one year in jail following the bail pronouncement.
TrialWatch monitors criminal trials globally against those who are most vulnerable, including women and girls, and evaluates the proceedings against applicable regional and international standards to advocate for the rights of individuals who are unfairly imprisoned.
Citing Kongnso’s lawyers, the monitor said authorities have refused to free the breastfeeding mother because, among other things, they are insisting on a letter from the Ministry of Justice authorising the release.
Under the international and regional treaties that Cameroon has ratified, “maintaining a person in detention after release has been ordered by a court competent to exercise control over the legality of detention” violates the right to freedom from arbitrary detention.
“TrialWatch will continue to track the case and will release a further report in the coming months,” the monitor said.
Source: The East African
23, December 2022
Southern Cameroons Crisis: Amnesty International urges release of Abdul Karim Ali 0
Amnesty International calls on the Cameroonian authorities to urgently provide the legal basis for the detention of Abdul Karim Ali, a peace activist, who has been held without charge since 11 August 2022 and kept in inhuman conditions or release him immediately.
“In the absence of information from the justice system what we know is that Abdul Karim Ali was arrested after he denounced torture committed and broadcast online by the leader of a pro-government militia in the south-west region of the country. If this is the only reason for his arrest he should be released immediately and unconditionally since his detention would stem solely from the exercise of his right to freedom of expression,” said Fabien Offner, a researcher at Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa Regional Office.
According to Abdul Karim Ali’s lawyers, he was arrested on 11 August 2022 in Bamenda in the north-west without a warrant by gendarmes and was taken to the regional légion de gendarmerie where he was detained for 84 days, including being held incommunicado for several days, in violation of international and regional human rights norms. Being held incommunicado meant he was deprived of any contact with the outside world and denied the possibility of receiving visits from family and lawyers. He was detained in a cell with no window, deprived of food and water for several days, and had to use a single bucket both as a toilet and for bathing.
Abdul Karim Ali, 41 years old, was then transferred to Service Central des Recherches Judiciaires (SCRJ) of the SED (Secrétariat d’Etat à la Défense) in the capital city Yaoundé, where he is currently detained. He was taken to the military court building in Yaoundé on 7 November 2022, where he was kept in a mosquito-infested cell with others all day. He was returned to the SED late that night without establishing any charges against him or being taken into court.
Two others are currently detained at the SED with Abdul Karim Ali on allegations that they work as his drivers. Rabio Enuah is a cousin who was reportedly arrested in Bamenda on 23 August 2022 and detained in a cell at the légion de gendarmerie for 84 days before being transferred to the SED in Yaoundé. An acquaintance of Abdul Karim Ali, Sulemanu Yenkong, was reportedly arrested on 19 November 2022 in Nkwen, near Bamenda. He was detained in several locations, and held incommunicado, before being transferred to the SED on 28 November 2022. In both cases, their lawyers have reported that the gendarmes who detained them asked for ransoms in exchange for their freedom.
In the absence of information from the justice system, both of them should also be released immediately and unconditionally.
Amnesty International has learned that Abdul Karim Ali’s wife has received threats through anonymous calls, which have led her to flee their home. The calls warned her not to alert people outside Cameroon about his situation and asked her to bring her husband and family’s passports to the military who were detaining Abdul Karim Ali.
“The detention of Abdul Karim Ali is taking place in a period where the Cameroonian authorities continue to arbitrarily arrest and detain those who criticise the government or denounce human rights violations in the context of armed violence in Anglophone regions of the country. The authorities must immediately present a legally recognizable charge against Abdul Karim Ali or release him.”
Abdul Karim Ali was previously arrested on 25 September 2019 and taken to the SED. He was held, initially without access to a lawyer for five days, before finally being released weeks later, on 1 November 2019, without charge.
Distributed by APO Group