Cameroonian authorities should immediately investigate an attack on Paul Chouta, a reporter for the privately owned news website Cameroon Web, and ensure those who assaulted him are held accountable, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On Wednesday evening, Chouta was watching the UEFA Champions League soccer game between Real Madrid and Paris St. Germain with friends in a snack bar in the Damas district of the capital Yaoundé when three unidentified men in a green pick-up truck abducted the journalist, drove him to the outskirts of the city, and viciously kicked and beat him with stones, bricks, a baton and a whip, according to a statement by his employer reviewed by CPJ, media reports, and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

In the statement, Cameroon Web editor-in-chief Emmanuel Vitus was unable to say what report may have prompted the latest attack; he told CPJ via messaging app that this was not the first time that Chouta was attacked for his journalism and that the reporter, and his family should be placed under police protection while the assault was investigated. Vitus described the assault as “an attack on freedom of the press and on democracy,” adding that Chouta was a “courageous journalist and whistleblower.”

“Cameroonian police must thoroughly investigate the latest attack on Paul Chouta, a journalist and outspoken critic of the government, and bring swift justice to those responsible,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator. “Failure to act will reinforce perceptions that impunity for crimes against journalists is the order of the day in Cameroon and that journalists like Paul Chouta are simply not safe in their own country.”

Chouta went outside during half-time and was accosted by men wearing civilian clothes, who carried him across the road and threw him in the vehicle, the journalist told CPJ. Chouta shouted for help, but his attackers pushed him into the pick-up truck and used his shirt to blindfold him, he said. Chouta said he believed he had been tailed and that a few miles down the road the men stopped the car and picked up a fourth man.

The men drove Chouta to the outskirts of the city, near the airport, where he was told to kneel and was severely beaten and kicked for about four minutes before he fell unconscious, he told CPJ. “They told me that I’m stubborn and that I never learn a lesson,” Chouta said. “They said this time they will kill me, as I wanted to show that I was a hero.”

Chouta said he was left for dead. When he regained consciousness, he said he had been stripped naked; his wallet, identity, and bank cards had been taken; and he was unable to see out of his left eye, had a swollen face and ear, and was in great pain. 

The journalist walked naked and barefoot for about two miles (three kilometers) before he was helped by strangers. He was able to remember his girlfriend’s telephone number and they called her to take him to the hospital, Chouta said.

Chouta spent Thursday night in the hospital and is expected to be discharged today to seek treatment at another medical facility, according to the reporter and his editor.

Chouta told CPJ that he had been interviewed at the hospital by police this morning and was told that a knife had been found where he was attacked. Video footage from the snack bar’s closed-circuit camera was also taken by police, he said.

Police spokeswoman Joyce Ndem replied to CPJ’s request for comment by saying it should send a representative to talk to her in her office in Yaounde. She did not reply to a subsequent text via messaging app.

In February 2019, Chouta was attacked outside his home following political coverage, as CPJ documented at the time. Four months later, he was arrested on charges believed to be politically motivated. He was jailed for nearly two years until a court in May 2021 found him guilty and sentenced him to 23 months, which he had already served, and released him.

Culled from Committee to Protect Journalists

The Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has said that 40,791 Cameroonians are taking refuge in the state following the crisis in southwest Cameroon.

SEMA Director-General, Princewill Ayim, said on Tuesday in Calabar that the UN High Commission released the latest figure for Refugees (UNHCR) in January.

“The latest figure released by the UNHCR in January 2022 shows that Cross River is now accommodating 40,791 Cameroonian refugees,” Mr Ayim said.

Mr Ayim said that due to the closeness of some communities to the borders, the state had to accommodate the “persons of concern’’ and abide by the 1951 Refugee Convention, which Nigeria is a signatory.

He said the refugees were scattered across nine local government areas of the state – Calabar Municipality, Calabar South, Bakassi, Akamkpa, Etung, Ikom, Boki, Ogoja and Obanliku.

“Already, we have over 104,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) spread across Abi, Biase, Bakassi, Odukpani, Obanliku and Ogoja Local Government Areas due to the communal crisis, flood and border issues,” he said.

He added that the refugees were predominantly from southwest Cameroon and were displaced due to the crisis between the Ambazonia separatists and the country’s military.

He recalled that in February, an inter-ministerial team visited all the host communities and refugee settlements across the state.

Mr Ayim stated that the visit also allowed the team to see how they could implement the comprehensive refugees’ response framework in the state.

“Our schools and health facilities are overstretched due to the increasing number of refugees,’’ added the official.

Source: NAN

The cholera outbreak in the South-West region continues to spread. Five health districts are affected with 967 cumulative confirmed cases and 23 deaths as of 31 January

Two attacks on education were reported in the NorthWest, and eight teachers were abducted

More than 3,200 schools remain non-functional in the North-West and South-West because of the ongoing crisis

One attack on healthcare in the North-West resulted in the death of a patient

Situation Overview

The situation in the North-West and South-West regions (NWSW) remains tense with continued violence and targeted attacks. The civilian population, as well as health and education providers, continue to face high risks when accessing facilities or when delivering health care and education services. They are continuously facing threats, direct attacks and armed incursions.

Attacks against school staff and educational premises continued. On 19 January, NSAG fighters intruded into the premises of the Government high school of Weh in Menchum division in the NW and abducted five teachers. The incident caused the closure of other schools in Weh. On 26 January, NSAG fighters abducted three teachers at a Government technical college in Keyon, Oku subdivision in the NW.

Some of the violence against civilians in the Fako division happened during the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament that took place between 9 January and 6 February with some teams based in Buea and playing in Limbe in the South-West.

Non-State armed groups (NSAGs) made public statements vowing to disrupt the competition. The most serious incidents took place in the Bwitingi village and the Molyko neighborhood in Buea, both on 12 January. At least two civilians were killed.

The population continued to bear the brunt of violent incidents either targeted directly or being affected by the consequences of IEDs or crossfire. In January, over 3,269 people were forced to flee their homes to seek shelter and safety in nearby bushes, villages and towns. The most affected divisions include Manyu and Meme in the SW, and Donga-Mantung in the NW. These movements are often temporary and displaced persons usually return to their homes once the security situation allows, especially for those who flee to bushes and nearby villages. Also, partners recorded over 750 returnees from Nigeria to Manyu and Bui divisions. According to the returnees, poor living conditions in their host communities led them to return.

The cholera outbreak, first announced in the Ekondo-Titi health district in October 2021, has continued to spread to five health districts. Over 967 cases with 23 deaths have been reported. The response to the outbreak has been limited due to insecurity and limited and often defective road infrastructure. Areas affected by the cholera outbreak in the Ndian division can only be reached by boat.

Humanitarian actors continued to operate under numerous constraints. Demands for illegal payments by both State and nonState actors, repeated lockdowns announced by NSAGs, diversion of humanitarian aid, and the sustained use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by NSAGs in public spaces and main roads frequently used by humanitarians in both urban and rural areas, made delivery of humanitarian assistance and programming very challenging. Insecurity and bureaucratic impediments continue to be major access constraints for humanitarian organizations in the NWSW. On 8 January, a truck with food assistance on board for beneficiaries in Wum, Menchum division was diverted by an NSAG in Bamenda, NW. Also in Bamenda, on 12 January, a NSAG stole a pickup vehicle of an NGO and abducted its staff member. The abducted NGO staff was released the following day and the car was abandoned in Bamenda two days later. Two staff members of a medical NGO remain in custody and under investigation in relation to an incident at a gendarmerie checkpoint in Nguti, SW, in December. Two other staff members were detained in January and potential charges have not yet been specified.

Culled from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Three United States (U.S.) members of Congress – Ilhan Omar, Karen Bass and Sara Jacobs – have raised an alarm over alleged ongoing campaign of state-sponsored violence and rights violation by Cameroonian security forces in the country’s Anglophone region.

In an oversight letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, the three lawmakers were particularly concerned about whether U.S. security assistance to Cameroonian security agencies might have been used to commit “serious human rights abuses” in the East African country.

In the letter made available to The Nation by diplomatic sources, the lawmakers expressed concerns over U.S. support for the Cameroon’s Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) – some elements of which have been accused by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, among others, as having been directly implicated in atrocities in the Anglophone region.

The American lawmakers’ alarm is coming few hours after Community Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also expressed concern over reported genocide in Southern Cameroon by President Paul Biya’s security forces.

Reacting to a document titled, “Genocide Alert in Ambazonia, Southern Cameroon”, from a group, “United Support for Peace”, Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Mohamed Tunis, said the letter made him deeply concerned about conflicts and the human rights situation in Cameroon’s minority Anglophone region.

But, the American lawmakers’ oversight letter reads: “As you are aware, the State Department has reprogrammed some security assistance since 2019, but our understanding is that other assistance – including to the BIR – continues.

“We also have serious questions about the efficacy of existing laws in preventing U.S. security assistance from reaching human rights violators. In 2020, the State Department Inspector General found that nearly 80% of Leahy vetting requests submitted by Embassy Yaoundé between late 2018 and late 2019 ‘were submitted to Washington too late to allow for sufficient processing time’ and that ‘as a result, Washington had an average of four days to process the requests, instead of the 10 working days stipulated in the Department’s 2017 Leahy Vetting Guide’.”

The lawmakers stated that they shared the President Joe Biden’s administration’s desire to put human rights at the centre of the country’s foreign policy. The lawmakers noted that they also recognised the need for a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to combating transnational terrorist threats that includes a security component.

“Our concern in Cameroon and elsewhere is with the potential diversion of U.S. security assistance and, more broadly, that support for security forces that commit human rights violations — apart from being incompatible with American values and illegal under U.S. law — is counterproductive to the very aims of counterterrorism,” the oversight letter stated.

The lawmakers quoted a United Nations Development Programme, which found in a 2017 report that 71% people who joined extremist groups in Africa, including Boko Haram, were triggered to join by state violence and human rights violations.

Source: The Nation