The government of Cameroon still hasn’t reacted to a recent forensic investigation, led by the BBC and Amnesty International, which claimed to prove that a viral video showing the killing of unarmed women and children was carried out by Cameroonian soldiers.

The video which went viral in July, showed a woman carrying a baby on her back and another one holding a little girl by the hand. They are led to an uninhabited area by a group of soldiers. The one filming the act introduces his colleagues as they lead the women and children to their death; telling them they are members of the Boko Haram terrorist group. “You are going to die,” one of them says. The victims are stopped at some point, blindfolded and shot 22 times.

Back in July, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, government spokesman initially described the video as “fake news” propagated to tarnish the image of Cameroon’s military. Bakary said this in spite of early investigations by Amnesty International which identified the location where the video was shot and matched the military fatigues and weapons in the video to those of the Cameroonian armed forces.

The minister, however, disclosed about a month later that seven soldiers suspected to have been involved in the killings had been arrested. Government declared the incident was being investigated while the soldiers were held in pretrial detention.

Samira Daoud, deputy director of Amnesty International’s West Africa office cast doubts on government claims that investigations would be carried out so that the executioners are eventually court marshaled.

This month the BBC published a report of an extensive investigation it carried out in with Amnesty International, online investigation site, Bellingcat, and others. Going by the report, investigators used satellite imagery to identify the location and time of the killings. They also analyzed the video and with additional information from Facebook, identified three soldiers who they claim pulled the trigger. The soldiers identified were listed among the seven arrested by the Cameroonian government on Aug. 10.

According to the findings, the victims were killed in Karawa, Mafa in northern Cameroon sometime around March and April 2015. Since the release of the report on Sep. 24, the government spokesman who is usually quick to strike back at critics, has not responded to several requests by Quartz for comment.

The investigation report comes at an awkward time for the government as it is currently in campaign mode ahead of Oct. 7 elections. Aside the long-running difficulties with the Boko Haram Islamic terrorists, Cameroon is also dealing with the so-called Anglophone crisis with militant separatists in the northwest and southwest regions trying to create a new English-speaking country which borders Nigeria.

Ilaria Allegrozzi, Lake Chad Researcher at Amnesty International, told Quartz that video evidence is often vital to prove human rights violations and it can definitely be a very powerful tool for human rights defenders, and researchers.

She however noted that accountability cannot depend on video evidence; video documentation cannot become the minimum required evidence needed for concerned authorities to address human rights violations, said she.

“We urge the Cameroonian government to make sure an independent and impartial investigation is conducted on the case. We have seen in the past that all the cases documented with solid evidence by amnesty remained unaddressed and not dealt with. This is an indication of the climate of impunity looming in the country” she stated bluntly.

Source: Quartz Africa

As Cameroonian authorities investigate horrific crimes that appear to be have been committed by government soldiers in the Far North Region, the U.S. military is calling for accountability while it continues to provide training to its Cameroonian counterparts.

“The Cameroonian government has taken recent steps to increase transparency and address allegations of gross violations of human rights seriously, but the government has not yet released information specific to its investigations,” Pentagon spokeswoman Air Force Maj. Sheryll Klinkel said Thursday in an email to VOA.

The Pentagon is continuing to work with the State Department to “ensure the government of Cameroon holds accountable any individuals found to be responsible,” Klinkel added.

Cameroonian authorities arrested seven Cameroonian soldiers after two videos circulated on social media. One video showed what were alleged to be Cameroonian forces shooting two women and two small children, while another showed what appeared to be Cameroonian security forces shooting at least a dozen unarmed civilians during a counterterror operation in the Far North Region.

An investigation by the BBC used satellite imagery, Channel 4 News footage and clues from the video to assert the killings of two women and two children were committed in the Far North by Cameroonian soldiers between March 20 and April 5, 2015.

U.S. personnel sent

Former President Barack Obama deployed U.S. military personnel to the country about six months after that incident, in October 2015, to help in the fight against Boko Haram.

The Department of Defense still has about 300 military personnel in Cameroon as part of an international effort to stop the spread of violent extremism in West Africa.

In addition to what the Pentagon calls “building partner capacity” through basic military training and equipping, the Defense Department trains foreign troops on the law of armed conflict and human rights.

The Cameroonian Ministry of Defense also takes part in a U.S. government-funded program to train and establish 40 military legal advisers to advance human rights principles and promote security force accountability in the field commands across Cameroon.

Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, head of U.S. Africa Command, cautioned before the Cameroonian government arrests that partnership with the U.S. comes with responsibility.

“We want to have a strong military relationship with Cameroon, but their actions will go a long way toward how that will play out in the future, with regards to the transparency on some of these latest allegations,” Waldhauser said on July 31.

Source: VOA

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and 27 leading civil society organisations have called for Cameroon to be added to the formal agenda of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG). CMAG meets this week in New York and has the power to suspend Cameroon from the Commonwealth; it includes Secretary-General Patricia Scotland, and the foreign ministers of Australia, Barbados, Belize, Ghana, Kenya, Malaysia, Namibia, Samoa, and the United Kingdom.

Civil society is raising attention to indiscriminate killings, arbitrary arrests, detention without recourse to justice, torture, and asserts the Government of Cameroon to be in breach of the Commonwealth Charter, Latimer House Principles, and the Harare Declaration.

David White, CHRI’s London Head commented: ‘CMAG was set up to deal with serious and persistent violators of the shared principles, which is precisely the situation in Cameroon. This is a call from civil society for the the Secretary-General and CMAG to act in defence of the very values that bind our Commonwealth together.’

A video emerged earlier this year, showing some armed men in uniform brutally killing a group of women and children, and triggered uproar across the globe. It was alleged that the video, released by Channel 4, showed killing of civilians by Cameroon’s army over alleged links with dreaded terrorist group Boko Haram.

The Cameroon government denied the claim, saying that the video was not shot in the country and that the Army was being wrongly blamed for killing civilians. A statement was released by Cameroon Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, to deny the claims.

“The video that is currently going round is nothing but an unfortunate attempt to distort actual facts and intoxicate the public. Its sincerity can be easily questioned,” Bakary had said in his statement. While the statement came in July 2018, the government a month later said that seven members of the military were facing investigation.

BBC, however, decided to carry out a fact check of the video and the claims and counter claims around it. And the media group did so with the help of Google Earth. It based its investigation on three points – where exactly did it happen, when did it happen, and who is responsible for the atrocities. The BBC released its findings in a video titled ‘Cameroon: Anatomy of a killing’.

Where:

The first 40 seconds of the video captures a mountain range with a distinctive profile. BBC journalists spent hours to match the range with the topography of northern Cameroon, but it failed to give desired result. After a tip off from a source, they studied the topography of a particular region and discovered that the range was near a village named Krawa Mafa, few hundred meters away from the Nigerian border. Other details in the video, such as houses and dirt tracks, were matched with the topography of the village and found to be same.

When:

This was the trickiest part of the investigation done by BBC journalists. Several bits and pieces were put together to identify the range of period when the civilians were killed. A building was visible on the satellite imagery but only till 2016, which suggested that the killings took place before that period. Another building was spotted to have come up in March 2015. Then, a path was traced which appeared only between January and July. The journalists also analysed the shadow of walking assailants on basis of concept of sun dial. After the whole analysis, it was confirmed that the killings took place between March 20 and April 5, 2015.

Who:

The statement released by Cameroonian Minister of Communication Issa Tchiroma Bakary was used for this purpose. For instance, the minister in his statement claimed that the weapons in the video were not the ones used by the Cameroonian Army, but BBC analysis showed that one of the guns used was Serbian made Zastava M21, which is used by some sections of the country’s military. The minister also claimed that the dress worn by the assailants was one used for operations in forests. Bakary claimed that the soldiers in the said area wore desert-style uniform. But Cameroonian soldiers in the region in a Channel 4 video of 2015 were seen wearing forest-style camouflage, similar to those seen in the video.

The focus then shifted to a statement released by the government in August 2018, which named seven soldiers who were arrested and under investigation. The names mentioned in the video, such as Corporal Tchotcho, were matched with some Facebook profiles. A profile of Tchotcho Cyriaque Bityala, who was among the detainees named by the government. Two other soldiers, named in the government list, were identified in a similar manner.

The findings were shared by BBC with the Cameroonian government. Responding to it, the Bakary said, “Seven soldiers were arrested, disarmed. They are under investigation right now. I can confirm that all seven of them are in prison.”

Culled from ZeeNews

Cameroon’s Senate president, Marcel Niat Njifenji, 84, has died in a French hospital a few days after he was evacuated due to respiratory problems. Mr. Njifenji who was reappointed by his friend, classmate, and president, Paul Biya, as senator and Senate president has, for some time now, been suffering from a respiratory problem.

He was once the country’s deputy prime minister and a former managing director of the country’s only power utility corporation, SONEL, in the 1980s. Mr Njifenji has been accused by many of his collaborators in SONEL at the time of embezzling the funds of the state corporation which later faced serious management problems in the 1990s.

Mr. Njifenji who just started his second term as the Senate president has been one of the many reactionary elements who have ensured that no meaningful political change takes place in the country. He has also worked with members of the ruling party to ensure that the Southern Cameroons crisis that has resulted in the deaths of some 4,000 Cameroonians does not get addressed at the negotiating table.

Mr. Njifenji was supposed to lead a delegation to his native region to campaign for outgoing President Paul Biya’s reelection.

Mr. Biya, who is himself suffering from a heart problem and a distended prostate, has not yet been seen on the campaign trail although his surrogates are all over the place trying to convince the population that he will be campaigning soon.

Mr. Biya’s poor economic performance and his inability to steer a prosperous country to safer shores makes it hard for his candidacy to be sold to a population that is hankering for change. Mr. Biya has ruled the country for 36 years and his incompetence has not only left the country with a tough economic situation, it has also caused the country to deal with a civil war that might take decades to address.

Speaking to a member of the ruling party who elected anonymity, the Cameroon Concord News Group gathered that there was a huge division within the ruling party.

The ruling party member said that it was good for some of the old members to start quitting the scene in order to create room for the new generation that could easily deal with some of the economic and political challenges facing the country.

“I have just been advised of the Senate president’s death in a French hospital. I would like to use this opportunity to extend my condolences to his family,” he said.

“With people like Niat out of the picture, our country could start healing. He was one of those reactionary elements of the government who have been blocking efforts to address the Southern Cameroons crisis through peaceful means,” he added.

Mr. Njifenji will be succeeded as Senate president by Chief Tabetando of the Southwest region who has been Mr. Njifenji’s vice for more than four years.

He will surely not be missed by Cameroonians who have been calling for change at the highest level of the country’s political realm. The government is yet to make any official statement regarding his death and our call to his office has not yet been returned.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde

The Canadian government on Tuesday issued a travel advisory for Cameroon cautioning citizens on the security situation ahead of October 7 presidential polls. A summary of the safety and security tab read: Presidential elections are due to take place on October 7, 2018. Demonstrations could occur before, during and after the elections.

• Avoid areas where demonstrations and large gatherings are taking place
• Follow the instructions of local authorities
• Monitor local media for the latest information

The upcoming polls have been cited as a key test of the security apparatus in the country especially with threats from separatists elements that voting will not take place in the English-speaking regions – North-West and South-West.

Specifically on the situation in the two regions, the advisory said: “Since late November 2016, demonstrations, general strikes and clashes stemming from local tensions have led to casualties in the North-West and South-West regions.

“The security situation has deteriorated since the beginning of 2018. Kidnappings have occurred and foreigners have been targeted. A curfew is in effect from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

“Unofficial road blocks could be set up by armed groups. At any time, local authorities could impose movement restrictions. Telecommunications could be disrupted.”

It also warned against the Far North and Mayo-Louti Department and areas bordering Nigeria, Chad and the Central African Republic.

Cameroonians go to the polls to elect a new president. Incumbent Paul Biya is up against eight other candidates. The vote is the final process for a busy electoral year that has seen legislative polls being organised by the elections body, ELECAM.

Source: Africa News

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has issued a stark warning of growing chaos and confusion as the rules-based global order comes under a threat of breaking down.

Guterres told the 193-member UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday that trust in the global order and among states was “at a breaking point” and international cooperation was becoming more difficult.

“Today, world order is increasingly chaotic. Power relations are less clear,” said the UN chief.

“Today, with shifts in the balance of power, the risk of confrontation may increase,” warned Guterres while addressing the opening session of the UNGA.

“But it runs deeper … As guardians of the common good, we also have a duty to promote and support a reformed, reinvigorated and strengthened multilateral system,” Guterres said as he opened the world’s largest diplomatic gathering.

Guterres did not single out a country for criticism. But the remarks came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s speech at the assembly.

The US president later opened his speech by touting his domestic policies, including tax cuts and his push to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, before addressing his foreign policy priorities.

Trump boasted that his administration had accomplished “more than almost any” other in US history. The remark drew laughter from the audience of world leaders.

There are fears among UN diplomats that the world is being carved up into spheres of influence and a return to great power rivalry.

Since Trump took office last year, Washington has violated numerous international treaties and conventions. Trump has scrapped the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Paris climate agreement and cut funding to the UN.

“Those who see their neighbors as dangerous may cause a threat where there was none. Those who close their borders to regular migration only fuel the work of traffickers,” Guterres said. “And those who ignore human rights in combating terrorism tend to breed the very extremism they are trying to end.”

“And those who ignore human rights in combating terrorism tend to breed the very extremism they are trying to end.”

Guterres acknowledged that peace efforts were failing and that respect for international humanitarian norms was unraveling. “The Rohingya people remain exiled, traumatized and in misery, still yearning for safety and justice.”

The so-called two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become “more and more distant” while the nuclear threat “has not eased”, the UN chief said.

Trump’s recognition of occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” has already led Palestinian leaders to cut off contact with the White House.

“There is outrage at our inability to end the wars in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere,” he said.

Guterres also urged leaders to tackle climate change with a greater sense of ambition and urgency. “If we do not change course in the next two years, we risk runaway climate change.”

The Trump administration withdrew from a global accord to reduce emissions last year.

Source: Presstv

Cameroon’s monarch, Paul Biya, will be in Maroua on Saturday, September 29, 2018, to help give his sluggish presidential election campaign a shot in the arm. Mr. Biya, who has ruled the country for 36 years, is running for reelection against a backdrop of a declining economy and total dissatisfaction with his performance across the country.

The Far North region remains one of the poorest regions of the country, with huge numbers of illiterates and highest disease load.  The entire northern region lacks good hospitals and maternal and child deaths are among the highest in the country. The region is bereft of infrastructure and many people in the region are simply scraping a living.

Mr. Biya dismal economic performance is working against him and the abuses of his soldiers in that part of country when it comes to counter-terrorism are things that might likely put off the people of Maroua. It should be recalled that numerous videos have emerged of Cameroon soldiers killing women and children or even killing all able-bodied young men in certain villages in the Far north region.

From Maroua, the Monarch will be heading to Buea where he will be facing some of the toughest challenges.  The Southern Cameroons crisis that is into its second year has radicalized almost all Southern Cameroonians and Mr. Biya’s snobbish attitude has put off all the people in the two English speaking regions.

The Southern Cameroons crisis which is into its second year has intensified with government troops stationed all over the two English-speaking regions. Buea, the Southwest regional capital, is awash with soldiers and gendarmes who have been deployed to scare any Southern Cameroonian fighters who may want to disrupt preparations for the arrival of the country’s president, Paul Biya, who is also known as the monarch presiding over a criminal syndicate that has ruled the country for more than three decades.

Yesterday, two young men returning from work in Buea were gunned down by army soldiers who have unfortunately become trigger-happy. The two young were responding to calls by the region’s governor for people to go about their businesses without fear.

Similarly, a popular taxi driver in Buea was also gunned down by a soldier. It has become systematic for soldiers to kill able-bodied young men in order to intimidate the local population. Other killings have also been reported in Kumba, Bali and Bafut and this is becoming a daily affair. Most of these killings are committed by army soldiers following instructions by the Defense Minister, Joseph Beti Assomo, and Territorial Administration Minister, Paul Atanga Nji.

Mr. Biya, who has not visited the region in years, will be heading to Buea before Election Day on October 7, 2018. The visit will be within the framework of presidential campaigns that are underway in the country. While other candidates are busy canvassing for support, Mr. Biya has been hiding at the country’s presidential palace in Yaoundé, encouraging his surrogates to act on his behalf as his performance over the last three decades is dismal.

Since 1992, Mr. Biya and his party have never won any election and it is rumored that results of the upcoming election are already known. The country’s election body and the Constitutional Council that releases the results are dominated by Mr. Biya’s loyalists.

By Kingsley Betek and Asu Vera Eyere