21, June 2018

Language, identity and the growing risk of atrocities in Cameroon ⁰

Violence between the security forces and armed separatists in Cameroon continues to escalate, increasing the risk of potential mass atrocity crimes. On 26 May the bodies of at least 29 people, including children, were discovered in the town of Menka in the northwest of the country, highlighting the increasingly violent and insecure environment within Cameroon’s Anglophone regions.

Peaceful demonstrations over the alleged marginalization of Cameroon’s English-speaking minority began in 2016. According to an Amnesty International report released on 11 June, government forces used live ammunition against protesters, arbitrarily arrested and tortured detainees, and have destroyed a number of villages in the restive Anglophone regions. In response, armed Anglophone separatists have killed at least 44 military personnel, burned down schools and attacked teachers for not participating in a separatist boycott. Over 20,000 Cameroonians have fled to neighboring Nigeria.

In order to prevent any further armed conflict and address the growing threat of potential mass atrocity crimes, the government of Cameroon should immediately initiate a dialogue with Anglophone community leaders and constructively address the historic grievances of the English-speaking minority. The government must also ensure that the universal right to freedom of expression and assembly are respected. The security forces must end the use of disproportionate and deadly force against peaceful demonstrators and ensure that the human rights of all Cameroonians are protected, regardless of language or identity.

All perpetrators of grave human rights abuses in Cameroon, including members of armed separatist groups and the military, must be held accountable for their actions.

Source: Reliefweb

21, June 2018

Russia 2018: Lucky Diego Costa goal sees Spain past tenacious Iran ⁰

A lucky Diego Costa goal handed World Cup hopefuls Spain their first win of the World Cup although tenacious Iran came close to causing a major upset on Wednesday.

The victory in Kazan puts the 2010 winners on course for the last 16. Costa, who scored twice in a 3-3 opening draw with Portugal in Sochi, courted controversy early in the Group B encounter when he stepped on the toes of Iran ‘keeper Ali Beiranvand as he waited to kick the ball out.

His gesture went unpunished, and the Atletico Madrid striker required another stroke of luck on 54 minutes when his shot came off Ramin Rezaeian to beat Beiranvand after he had been sent through by Andres Iniesta.

The entire Iranian bench poured onto the pitch when Saeed Ezatolahi fired an equalizer for Team Team Melli just before the hour.

But the thousands of Iranian supporters that filled the stadium with the sound of vuvuzelas throughout were left disappointed when it was ruled out for offside.

Iran’s goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand (R) dives to save the ball during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group B football match between Iran and Spain at the Kazan Arena in Kazan on June 20, 2018.

Spain coach Fernando Hierro welcomed Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal back into the starting line-up following his recovery from a hamstring injury suffered in the Champions League final win over Liverpool.

With Lucas Vazquez replacing Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke, it gave La Roja a distinctively Real Madrid feel.

By the end of a pulsating opening half in which Iran’s defense thwarted the few real chances La Roja were able to create, Hierro’s men left the pitch looking rather red-faced.

Costa got so frustrated with Iran’s defensive tactics that he approached Beiranvand and provocatively stepped on his toes, leaving the ‘keeper in visible pain.

It went unpunished by Uruguayan referee Cunha, who had awarded France a historic first VAR-assisted penalty that saw Antoine Griezmann score Les Bleus’ opener in a 2-1 win over Australia.

Spain resumed in more positive fashion after the break, Beiranvand forced to produce heroics twice in the space of four minutes. But Iran refused to buckle, Carlos Queiroz’s men coming close in the final minutes when midfielder Mehdi Taremi headed just over.

Shortly after the restart an Isco corner was flicked on by Costa to Gerard Pique but his effort was cleared off the line. Sergio Busquets’ drive from 20 yards was then parried by Beiranvand, who palmed the rebound away before Lucas Vazquez could pounce.

Some great vision from Iniesta, and a slice of luck, however broke Iranian hearts when Costa spun and latched on to the ball before seeing his shot rebound off Rezaeian and into the net.

Spain, however, were still flattering to deceive. On a rare counter goalkeeper David De Gea was left irate when Taremi rose to head a meter wide.

Moments later, the stadium erupted when Ezatolahi fired through a packed Spain area to beat De Gea but the assistant referee’s flag was up.

In the final quarter hour Iran battled for a late equalizer, but after V

Iran’s midfielder Ehsan Hajsafi (L) and Iran’s goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand react after conceding a goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group B football match between Iran and Spain at the Kazan Arena in Kazan on June 20, 2018.

Vahid Amiri showed class to nutmeg Pique deep on the left and fire over an inviting cross,

Taremi’s thundering header flew just over the bar as a relieved De Gea looked on.

Culled from Presstv

20, June 2018

Zambia: 10 killed in copper mine dump collapse ⁰

Ten people were killed and another 10 injured after a dumping site for copper mining waste collapsed in the town of Kitwe in Zambia’s Copperbelt province, police said on Wednesday.

“The incident happened this morning and at least 10 people have been confirmed dead,” Copperbelt police chief Charity Katanga said by phone from Kitwe, 400 km (248 miles) north of the capital Lusaka.

Zambia is Africa’s second largest copper producer and houses operations of many global mining companies including Vedanta, Barrick Gold Corp and Glencore.

Glencore’s Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) has been forced to halt production in recent years due to similar fatal incidents in the copper-rich area, which is also known for illegal mining around the dumpsites.

The latest incident happened at Black Mountain where artisanal miners have taken to re-mining the waste site for copper and other metals.

In February the government’s mining investment arm gave a 10 percent stake in the waste site to small-scale miners to empower surrounding communities riven by unemployment and poverty.

There remain, however, serious concerns about safety measures at the site which continues to suffer periodic collapses.

(Source: Reuters)

20, June 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis Shut Down Schools ⁰

It is a bright Tuesday morning, with children hawking goods to drivers and passersby on the congested streets of Yaounde. The number of these sidewalk sellers is increasing with the ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest and southwest regions, where fighting between armed separatists and government troops has shut down schools and sent thousands of children fleeing to safer ground.

Among the sidewalk peddlers is 16-year-old Delphine Tabe. She says she has been a hawker for more than a year since she fled from her village in Lebialem, an administrative unit in the southwest.

“I am selling boiled groundnuts to have money and help my mother who is in the hospital. She was beaten by Cameroon gendarmes after a military man was killed in our village. My mother almost died. Our school was burned and students were beaten. Since that day in May 2017, we escaped to Yaounde and we do not have money to go to school.”

Delphine says her chances of pursuing her dream – becoming a teacher – are gradually slipping away as she has no one to sponsor her education. Instead, she has to look for money to help her sick mother.

In the kitchen at the house where Delphine lives in Yaounde, food is being prepared for 32 people. Emmanuel Nembo, a 52-year old government worker originally from Lebialem, says that a year ago, he had only five mouths to feed.

The number exploded as people from the southwest fled their villages and pleaded for him to feed and shelter them.

Emmanuel says he is praying for the crisis to stop because many have been coming and he can no longer offer help.

“We are stretching an olive hand of peace. Those in the bush should give a chance. Come back home, to their homes so that they could meet their mothers, brothers and sisters,” he says.

Many schools have been closed in the northwest and southwest areas since November 2016, when lawyers and teachers began a strike to stop what they see as the overbearing use of French.

Separatists took over the movement, and began pushing for the regions to become independent.

Since then, several dozen schools have been torched, and armed men have kidnapped or killed a number of teachers. Many students in the regions can no longer attend the few schools that are still open, for fear of the unknown.

The United Nations estimates that more than 100,000 people, a majority of them children of school age, have fled the violence in the English-speaking regions for safer locations. Tens of thousands have crossed over to Nigeria, and no one knows when any of them will ever return to school.

Source: VOA

20, June 2018

The war in Southern Cameroons has devastated its economy: But Cameroon army generals have found ways to get rich ⁰

The services industry is no longer booming in Southern Cameroons. However in many neighbourhoods in the old city of Buea, a dozen bars with strong ties to the Cameroon government army still open. Every day they are packed with secret servicemen and women including informants enjoying a few drinks with their food interrupted sometimes by gun fire between Ambazonian freedom fighters and soldiers loyal to the regime in Yaoundé. Less than a kilometer away precisely in Muea, Ambazonia Self-Defense Council Restoration Forces are fighting Cameroon government troops in a war that will determine the future of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

On first glance the Ambazonian capital city of Buea appears isolated from the conflict currently engulfing much of Southern Cameroons but it is that very conflict that enables this illusion of normalcy. Southern Cameroons is enduring its second year of crisis, and most people living in the Francophone government-controlled areas like Buea and Limbe continue to suffer from a crippling economic crisis likely to linger long after the guns fall silent. By the end of this year, the economy of the two Cameroons will have shrunk 10-fold. President Biya is aware.

Senior economic reporters have opined that there simply isn’t much coming into or going out of Southern Cameroons. The destruction of some 97 Southern Cameroons farming communities centered in the Southern Zone have led to an almost 90 percent decrease in food production. The regime in Yaoundé in indeed confused. To adapt to this new reality, many Southern Cameroonians are implementing desperate measures: selling their property, taking on mean jobs or even stealing.

A group of persons have however created opportunity amid the chaos and like experienced war profiteers they have carved out a thriving black market. They are the top officials of the Cameroon government military headed by Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo. To be sure, the same Cameroon army illicit trade that was introduced in the Central African Republic under the late General Tumenta has been established in Ambazonia by the oligarchs and by amassing huge profit and power, they’ve come to exact an immense degree of control over the lives of Southern Cameroonians living in the Francophone government-controlled areas.

The rise of these French Cameroun oligarchs began soon after President Biya declared war against the people of Southern Cameroons. Joseph Beti Assomo, launched the military campaign with the aim of suffocating the Southern Cameroons economy, sundering its access to essential goods like medications and blocking internet services and bank transfers. Beti Assomo and Ousmanou Mey who headed the ministry of finance successfully set off a destructive ripple throughout Southern Cameroons that further distorted an economy that had been ravaged by ghost town operations and the escalating conflict.

These Cameroon government oligarchs’ distortions have hit everything in Southern Cameroons from the farming sector to the salaries of ordinary people. Southern Cameroonians only means of survival now is remittances from relatives abroad. Many now travel to Douala or Dschang to pick up their money for fear of being libeled a separatist. Senior officers in the army have registered taxis under the controversial Mayor Ekema Patrick and have deployed their relatives as cab drivers in Buea and Limbe with state protection. The French Cameroun army has identified its own hotels in Buea and Limbe and that’s where those with the cash are accommodated. Southern Cameroons has become the cave of gold, and every Cameroon military official wants to be Ali Baba. All French Cameroun military checkpoints are now generating huge profits for those officers in charge. Some officers demand petty bribes in exchange for use of the military vehicles usually reserved for deployments, to bypass the long queues on the Buea-Kumba highway. Bamileke businessmen pay bribes to allow their trucks, heavy with goods, to pass through quicker.

Many of the army colonels have established some kind of private security companies using heavily armed soldiers deployed to Southern Cameroons, which provide armed escorts. Banks and other businesses end up having to hire them as escorts through the rural areas. According to a Cameroon government source familiar with these oligarchs, the armed escorts does not engage with the Ambazonian fighters but they prevent them from extorting money from those convoys or even looting them.

Another popular method of profiting off the war in Southern Cameroons is looting and selling back to the people of Southern Cameroons. Four months ago, the army confiscated motor bikes in Mamfe town and stole a sea of TV and radio sets that were later sold back to the owners. When government soldiers stormed Menji and Azi in Lebialem, entire window and door frames were removed, and all the furniture and appliances inside people’s houses were taken. Several commanders and highly placed Cameroon government officials with links to the army have developed reputations for accumulating enormous fortunes. As I write, General Elokobi Daniel Njock is equipping and at the same time building an expensive fence on his home in the Manyu County. Joseph Beti Assomo is now a billionaire par excellence. The story is same for General Melingui Nouma and his acolytes.

Frankly speaking the profits made from the underground wartime economy in Southern Cameroons by defense bosses are likely to provide more of an incentive to allow the war to continue than encourage it to stop, which will only further widen the divide between French Cameroun and Southern Cameroons. It is precisely this war economy that is driving the war.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

20, June 2018

South Sudan president, rebel leader in Ethiopia for talks ⁰

South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar has arrived in Ethiopia for a face-to-face meeting with his arch-rival, President Salva Kiir, for the first time in two years in an effort to negotiate an end to a five-year-old civil war.

Machar, Kiir’s former vice president, arrived in the Ethiopian capital, Ababa, on Wednesday, said rebel spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel.

An Ethiopian government official also confirmed his arrival, saying Machar would meet Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed before his talks with Kiir later in the day.

The president has also arrived in the country for the talks, officials confirmed.

This would be the first meeting between the two since Machar had to flee to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in July 2016, after fierce fighting broke out between his forces and the government troops in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, and left hundreds of people dead. One month later, Machar turned up in South Sudan, where he was put under house arrest.

Displaced children stand at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) near Kadugli, the capital of Sudan’s South Kordofan State, May 13, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

The face-to-face meeting is now being held ahead of an African Union summit scheduled for July 1 in Mauritania.

The former vice president turned rebel after he was accused of plotting a coup against the president in 2013.

South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, then plunged into civil war, only two years after its independence from Sudan.

South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar sits in rebel-controlled territory in Jonglei State, South Sudan, January 31, 2014. (Photo by Reuters)

Tens of thousands of people have so far been killed and nearly four million displaced. Both sides have been accused of abuses against civilians.

Machar returned to Juba in April 2016 and formed a transitional government with the president and other groups under a 2015 peace agreement. His return raised hopes for the implementation of the repeatedly-broken peace agreement to end the civil war.

Fighting, however, continued between his forces and the government troops and forced him to flee to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in July 2016. One month later, he turned out in South Africa, where he was put under house arrest.

Source: Presstv

20, June 2018

Southern Cameroons War: Manyu Chiefs drums support for Biya ⁰

This was part of the resolutions adopted at the meeting held last Saturday, June 16 in Yaoundé grouping all the Chiefs and elites of the region who have all taken up residence in French Cameroun. The meeting was also an opportunity for the leaders to denounce what they describe as “the manipulation of young people through social networks.”

Hate-inducing publications, especially made by the diaspora, push young people towards radicalization, abuse and, above all, endanger their lives by provoking armed confrontations with security forces. ”

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of His Excellency Victor Arrey-Nkongho Mengot, Minister of Special Duties responsible for the Presidency of the Republic and Patron of the Elements of Manyu Cultural and Development Association, MECDA.

In the Communique of the Chiefs and Elites of Manyu the pro Biya comedians stated there was need for:

Reminder of past initiatives undertaken to encourage peace and a return to normalcy in the Manyu locality:

-Make a campaign to educate and raise awareness about the benefits of education and economic activities in the community;

-Create political exchange forums that can attract a large number of participation.

-To establish direct contacts and exchanges with local professional socio-economic groups and cultural groups

-Municipal meetings with the population of 4 localities,

-Missions of appeasement in the region.

-Regret deep delocalisation of economic activities and disruption of associative life in Manyu

-Condemn killings, kidnap for ransom and destruction of public and private properties in the region

– Firmly denounce the manipulation of young people by hateful publications on social networks urging radicalization, drug abuse and arousing armed confrontations with security forces

-Fight against the nascent culture of hate speech that puts young people in total discord.

-Encourage our refugee brothers to return home.

Notes with satisfaction that eventhough school operations continued to be disrupted in some parts of the region, the effective attendance of GCE 2018 exam candidates has reached the laudable rate of 94%

Therefore

-Send an olive branch to our youth who took up arms and urged them to drop the weapons and return to their respective communities.

-Invite our youth to contribute to the creation of a favorable environment for the construction of Mamfe-Akwaya and Bakebe-Menji-Dschang Roads.

– Call to the Head of State, President Paul Biya, to consider convening a major dialogue to discuss urgent issues of national interest.

– Appeal to the Head of State, President Paul Biya, in promoting the spirit of national reconciliation, show clemency towards the prisoners arrested during this Anglophone Crisis.

– Call to the Head of State, President Paul Biya, to plan the implementation of an urgent plan for rebuilding the villages and other infrastructures destroyed during the Anglophone Crisis.

Appeals to the Head of State, President Paul Biya, to consider the urgent creation of a special rehabilitation and a reintegration fund to assist the return of displaced persons from their respective communities and to facilitate the resumption of their normal lives through agricultural and economic activities.

And finally

To reaffirm our unwavering support to the Head of State President Paul Biya and the Republican Institutions he embodies.

This report was sent to us from Yaounde by an anonymous source and was published unedited

20, June 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Manyu Advisory Committee reacts to reported communique of Minister Mengot and General Elokobi ⁰

June 19, 2018

Subject: Reaction to Communique of Manyu Chiefs and Elite, Yaounde, June 16, 2018

To: Manyu Citizens Worldwide

Great citizens of Manyu:

The MAC, through its various organs including Manyu Health, Manyu Intelligence, Manyu Safety Committee and Manyu Strategic Ventures wishes to give notice to ALL Manyu people and SOUTHERN CAMEROONS/AMBAZONIANS, that the small group of Manyu people meeting in Yaounde under LRC Minister Victor Arrey Mengot and banana-rated General Elokobe, firstly, no longer belong to Manyu and secondly will never again represent Manyu in ANYTHING legitimate, cultural, socio-economic or political. This so-called socio-economic group and meeting is organized to probably bring another few bags of rice or cartons of fish while our people are being slaughtered and driven into bushes, pregnant women shot at point blank range. Any such meetings organized in Yaounde by LRC agents is therefore dismissed and banned by the Manyu Advisory Committee as Supreme Authority (while our land is under occupation), from ever happening on behalf of or for Manyu anywhere in La Republic Apartheid du Cameroun.

You are all aware of the reckless killings, rapes,political machination,untold economic hardship, social unrest, outright decimation of our much-cherished culture, all orchestrated by Biya’s beti junta, with the complicity and conspiracy of some of our own so-called chiefs and political elite from Manyu. To this group of greedy and vindictive political thugs cum bandits, it doesn’t matter if all our young men were rounded up, inhumanely humiliated and summarily executed, girls and young women savagely and serially raped by Biya’s marauding terrorist soldiers, our culture mindlessly trampled upon, and our natural resources exploited and carted away to develop Biya’s beti land while Manyu remains underdeveloped.

You have seen whole villages razed down, young men killed and buried in shallow mass graves, ocadas burnt down, some of our chiefs tortured and shot point blanc by Biya’s blood thirsty soldiers. You have also seen legitimate Manyu elite picked up, tortured and bungled in underground cells in Yaounde and elsewhere? You have seen Manyu people such as Justice Paul Aya, Barrister Agbor NkonghoBalla, Dr. Fontem and others illegally picked up and jailed for months.You have seen how these wolves in sheep’s clothing said or done nothing since Sisiku Ayuk Tabe Julius and others were kidnapped from Nigeria and being incarcerated incommunicado in Yaounde.You have seen how tens of thousands of our people, including the young, the pregnant, the sick/frail and old living as refugees in Nigeria, without any attention given to them. The list is endless!

To the few of you in LRC Parliament and Senate, the few questions you MUST answer are:

Who are you representing?
Where were you when Manyu citizens were asked to leave their ancestral land by the Colonial SDO?
Where were you when Manyu Division was invaded and citizens killed and some brutalized?
Where were you when the SDF opposition requested for our SC problems to be addressed on the floor of the LRC National Assembly to avoid blood spilling?
What did you do besides simply siding with Biya?

The MAC condemns your group in Yaounde especially for giving Biya the go ahead to slaughter your own people like chicken and bury them in unidentified mass graves. You had the opportunity to stand up for your people to prevent all the blood-letting and genocide unleashed on us by Biya. Yet you did nothing! You said nothing too because you have simply sold your souls and conscience for money.

Given these crimes against humanity, you have all jointly and severally therefore lost the trust our people bestowed in you. You are now pretending to open your dirty mouths because the fire of the SC Revolution is gradually zeroing in on you. Reality is now dawning on you that you can only run, but can’t hide.

To avoid any doubt there is no longer a place for you in today’s Manyu. Simply put, your time is over!

Feel free to remain in Yaounde and continue to be slaves to Biya and his kinsmen. Good luck!

God Bless Manyu.

Sincerely,

The Manyu Diaspora Advisory Committee

19, June 2018

Salah’s return fails to inspire Egypt who lose 1-3 to World Cup hosts Russia ⁰

World Cup hosts Russia virtually booked their place in the second round with a 3-1 win over Egypt on Tuesday that moved them to top of Group A with six points from two games.

Three goals in the space of 15 minutes early in the second half put the Russians firmly in command before Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, who had a subdued game on his return from injury, struck from a penalty, awarded after a video review.

Should Uruguay (3 points) beat Saudi Arabia (0 points) on Wednesday it will ensure the South Americans and the Russians go through to the round of 16 with a game to spare.

Russia’s 15 minutes of glory

After a tight first half Russia’s breakthrough came just two minutes after the restart.

Aleksandr Golovin’s cross was punched out by Egyptian keeper Mohamed El-Shenawy, only as far as Roman Zobnin whose low drive was heading wide until Ahmed Fathi’s outstretched leg turned the ball into his own net.

Remarkably, it was the fifth own goal of the tournament so far. The record amount for a tournament is six in 1998.

If there was some good fortune to the opener, the Russians’ second was pure quality.

Alexander Samedov pushed the ball out wide to Mario Fernandes, the Brazilian born right back who had powered forward from deep to deliver a perfect pull-back into the path of Denis Cheryshev who slotted home his third goal of the tournament.

Two minutes later it was 3-0 via a route one play, as target man Artem Dzyuba chested down a long ball, bustled past Ali Gabr and drove home.

Salah’s return too little, too late

Salah, who had not played since going off injured in Liverpool’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid last month, managed some consolation when he converted from the spot after a video assistant referee (VAR) ruling that he had been brought down by Zobnin inside the area.

REUTERS

19, June 2018

World Cup 2018: Senegal beat Poland 2-1 ⁰

Senegal has beaten Poland in a dramatic game that saw the African team take the lead in the first half and win 2-1.

Poland struggled to put passes together and get their shots on goal but they were rewarded at the end of the second half, while down two goals, with a late header to take the game to 2-1.

Robert Lewandowski had a relatively quiet game and much like Euro 2016, was unable to make his way onto the score sheet and begin the tournament with a goal.

Here are five key takeaways from the match:

Both sides attack

Throughout the game, both sides were very attacking, trying to play a high ball into their forwards. This could be either as a cross or as a long pass but both sides failed to optimise on their chances.

Senegal is the only African team to win so far

Senegal is the only team from Africa to have won a game in World Cup so far.

They are also the only team to score in open play. With this win and what is happening in their group, they may make it to the last 16.

Lewandowski struggles to score in big tournaments

It is Robert Lewandowski’s first World Cup and this was his first game of the tournament, but the striker failed to score and struggled to get his shots off.

This is not the first time that he has struggled to make an impact at the beginning of a major tournament as he was unable to score during Euro 2016 until late in the competition.

The official ranking is not important in the World Cup

Poland is ranked 8th in the FIFA rankings but that did not guarantee them the win. When it comes to the World Cup anything is possible and this game shows the magic of the tournament.