Politics

Although Cameroon has received praise for its military action to push Boko Haram out of the northern part of the country and neighboring Nigeria, Amnesty International is criticizing the Cameroonian security forces for crimes including extrajudicial killings, torture and holding prisoners in inhumane conditions.

In a report titled "Right Cause, Wrong Means," published late last week, Amnesty International said more than 1,000 people accused of supporting Boko Haram are being detained in terrible conditions, many in a prison called Maroua in the northern part of the country. Built to house 350 people, it is holding more than 1,500. Amnesty said up to eight people are dying each month in the prison due to poor conditions.

"There's lot of illnesses, there's malnutrition and it's dirty conditions and, as a result, in the prison between six and eight people are dying every month because of diseases linked to those conditions," said Stephen Cockburn, the deputy regional director for Amnesty International West and Central Africa. "And there are also some people, not everyone, but some people who are subjected to torture, as well."

Cockburn said most of those who are picked up after allegations of supporting Boko Haram are tried before a military court, where they're offered few legal protections and there is a lower threshold for evidence than in civilian courts. In addition, prosecutors are able to submit accounts from anonymous witnesses who cannot be cross-examined. More than 100 people, including women, have been sentenced to death by military courts in the last year, he said.

Amnesty also references the case of a 27-year-old man, who has been detained over messages sent to his friends joking about Boko Haram's methods to recruit young graduates. The organization calls for the nation's anti-terror law to be revised so that it clearly defines an act of terror in order to avoid people being arrested for making jokes in text messages.

In addition the report states that suspects detained in 2014 and 2015 by Cameroon's elite anti-terror unit, the Bataillon d'Intervention Rapide, were beaten with sticks, whips and machetes. Some died in custody.

Government rejects report

Government officials have rejected the report, saying that human rights groups were not nearly as vocal when Boko Haram killed about 2,000 Cameroonian civilians, according to the government spokesperson. The military spokesperson, Col. Didier Badjeck, also downplayed the report, saying troops did not commit the alleged abuses and had received specific training in the protection of civilians.

"You tell us that you have gone in our prisons and that certain people are innocent. Where is the proof?" Cameroon's Minister of Information Issa Tchiroma Bakary told reporters.

Badjeck added that the report relies heavily on non-credible witnesses.

Additional attempts by VOA to speak to Bakary and the embassy in Washington were not successful.

Amnesty met with officials and wrote a letter to the government in May requesting input prior to releasing the report. However, Cockburn said, no responses have been received so far, but there is some work being done to alleviate prison overcrowding.

"There have been some efforts to improve or to build new parts of the prison in Maroua," he said.

Amnesty goes out of its way to emphasize that the threat posed by Boko Haram is real and the fight against them is necessary, but it believes security forces have crossed a line in terms of respecting human rights.

"What we found in our research has been — although the security forces have been trying to pursue the right goals — they've been using the wrong means," Cockburn said. "They have committed very serious human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, torture, disappearances and subjecting people to unfair trials in military courts."

Potential for government action

Despite immediate rejections, the pressure to improve prison conditions and create better conditions for prisoners is mounting and the Cameroonian government seems ready to take steps to address these issues.

"There is a promise, just a few days ago, to open a commission of inquiry on human rights violations during the conflict," Cockburn said. "We have not seen the scope of that inquiry, we've not seen the terms of reference and we don't know how open and independent that would be, but that could be something."

If done properly, Amnesty says, the government can take this opportunity to turn things around. The organization called on the government to free those held with little or no evidence against them, and that "would also reduce the pressure on the prison system," Cockburn said.

VOA

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Rita Akana

20.Jul.2016

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With rumours about the ‘inhouse’fighting to succeed President Paul Biya, many Cameroonians are afraid of what becomes of the country after his reign. Going by reports, there are two camps engaged in this struggle for Cameroon after Biya. One is asking President Biya to continue ruling, by calling for early elections, while the other is asking the President not to do so. He should to step aside if peace must reign in Cameroon after him.

In the wake of the ongoing perceived or real battles to succeed President Biya, a Cameroonian USA based international business lawyer and politician, Dr David Makongo, believes that President Paul Biya can avoid bloodshed by putting in place a transitional government, now that he is still strong and retains some control, instead of running for reelection.

In a July 19 2016 statement, the man of law and politics argues that there is need for separation of powers between the executive judiciary and the legislative arms of government and most importantly for the neglected youths to be empowered.

 BIYA SHOULD  AVOID BLOODSHED IN  CAMEROON - DR DAVID MAKONGO

 

I think the youths should be given a chance to emerge now and not tomorrow. With so much natural resources and wealth underneath our earth surface, we refuse that the youths of Cameroon must continue to live in misery and poverty. With so many failed promises and false hopes, we refuse to wait again until the dawn of another false hope of emergence in 2035.

If the youth must emerge today, President Biya must abolish the discretionary tax policies responsible for corruption and for killing thousands of small and medium size enterprises.

If the youths must emerge today, President Biya must end corruption by declaring his assets and those of his Ministers and Managers, as required by the 1996 constitution.

If we must end job drought and attract meaningful foreign investment, President Biya must institute the rule of law and also abide by international court decisions that have gone against his regime.

If Cameroon must remain united, peaceful and secure in the long run, President Biya must close down his unpopular “kangaroo special criminal court” and release all political prisoners condemned by what many within the national and international community term as Biya’s “political lynching apparatus.”   

 If Cameroon must continue on the path of peace and internal security, the President must allow the lower and upper houses of parliament and the judiciary to function separately and without executive interference.

 

The President should resign now and form a transitional government that will include an equal number of representatives from Anglophone and Francophone communities; including Christians and Muslims, women and youth, from the opposition and his supporters. He must give the transition government a clear mandate with a free hand to prepare the nation for democratic, free and fair elections monitored by credible national and international observers. 

This is the only way President Biya, can assure himself of a perfect exit from the national political stage and also guarantee peace and security to prevail in Cameroon, long after his awaited departure.Only then can bloodshed that I foresee, could be avoided and for peace and prosperity to prevail in Cameroon.

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Solomon Amabo

19.Jul.2016

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Wilpf Cameroon has just ended a strategic consultative meeting with CSO's and Media in Douala which aimed at mobilizing them to support the WSR process. The main outcome was the setting up of a platform for peaceful elections led by WILPF Cameroon and composed of Women’s and youth organizations as well as peace advocates which will conduct the implementation process of the #WSR in Cameroon and a national Peace Education Programme.

The strategic consultative meeting resulted from the recommendations from previous meetings held in Bafoussam and Bertoua.
Many thanks to WILPF Sweden Styrelsen Ikff Malmö-Lund, PeaceWomen, WILPF International, Wilpf Nigeria, other WILPF Sections as well as all our members and partners for making this possible. We are conscious of the challenges ahead and do rely on your support to be up to the task of ensuring future elections are peaceful in Cameroon.

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Rita Akana

18.Jul.2016

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The recent fire outbreak in Buea, Cameroon, exposes another loop with the gangster regime -- ineffective emergency response units of the dubious growth and development policies. We cannot claim to be living in a 21st century when we still lack basic standby ambulances and firefighting brigades at the beck and call of the people in every city. On a daily basis, tax officials comb the neighborhoods, coercing people to pay taxes, and shutting down shops of defaulters. And so why can't these fraudsters protect the shops of those who paid their taxes? Who are the tax inspectors in Buea in the first place? We need their names to name, shame and blame.

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Tapang Ivo

18.Jul.2016

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CRTV  reported yesterday that the Controversial Revised PENAL CODE has been enacted by head of state Paul Biya and that it went into function since July 12,2016.

My Take;Many prisons will have to be built across the country because many tenants will obviously go to jail.

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Prince Nfor Hanson

15.Jul.2016

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There are dreadful reports of how security forces in Cameroon are torturing Southern Cameroons activists advocating for the ‘independence of Ambazonia (former UN Trust territory of Southern Cameroons under United Kingdom and now annexed by Cameroun).’

In a two page statement circulating on social media, well known Southern Cameroons prisoners of conscience and activists are reportedly being tortured, held incommunicado and for long periods without trial.The cases of  Maxwell Oben,  Numvi Walter, Che Clovis, Nkongso Stephen and NkongsoAndrew repeatedly came up.

The National Spokesperson of the Governing Council of the Federation of Ambazonia, Roland Tewure Fominyam, adds that with the alarming  proportion of human rights violations, it was time to call for pressure on Cameroon

to provide adequate medical attention, proper feeding to detainees, demand their immediate release or speed up their trial. The release is said to be part of petitions to the African Commission for Human and People’s Rights, ACHPR.

The Governing Council is also demanding the appointment of a special rapporteur from the ACHPR to investigate the human rights violation allegations. Some officials of the detention facilities notably the judicial police in Bamenda, the Buea Central prison, referred us to the Ministry of justice…

                              Below is full statement denouncing rights violations....

URGENT ACTION: TORTURE AND IMPUNTY WHILE UNDER DETENTION BY CAMEROUN SECURITY FORCES

By  Christopher Achobang*

We call on the attention of Human Rights organisations, friends of justice and the international community to the situation of
Che Clovis, Numvi Walters, Nkongso Stephen and Andrew Tamanjong and others, currently held under inhumane conditions for a very long time without trial.

On Thursday 7 May 2015 Walter Numvi, was arrested in Bamenda by elements of the Judicial Police (Tawe, Elondou, Gideon, Etame).

On the same day Che Clovis, Andrew Tamanjong were also arrested and detained alongside Numvi in Bamenda. Numvi Walter was kept incommunicado until 8 June 2015(31days) and was denied food, water and subjected to torture and other cruel inhuman and degrading treatment.

 On Friday 8 May 2015 they were taken to paramilitary torture chambers where Walter Numvi was handcuffed and tortured, beaten on the soles of his feet with a machete. He was subjected to the notorious grinding from his Laps to his sheen bone. On Saturday 9 May 2015 he was taken to the torture chambers on two Separate occasions. Che Clovis later joined him and both of them (with handcuffs on) were subjected to long periods of sustained torture. They have since been detained, under horrible conditions, denied proper medical care and subjected to psychological and physical torture by prison authorities.

On Friday 1 July 2015, Che Clovis was seriously tortured by the penitentiary personnel of the Bamenda Central Prison. This is the third time he has been subjected to torture in two months. He sustained the following injuries; cranial trauma, swollen right eye, sprained knee and ankle, and severe nose bleeding.

He has also been subjected to threats and verbal abuse. Continuous Torture of activists at Cameroon’s penitentiary facilities  Numvi Walter, Che Clovis, Nkongso Stephen and NkongsoAndrew are being held for advocating independence of Ambazonia
(former UN Trust territory of Southern Cameroons under United Kingdom and now annexed by Cameroun).It should also be noted that Maxwell Oben, another Southern Cameroons pro-independence activist was arrested in February 2014 by officers of the judicial police department.

He was handed over to the Services of the State Security Police that operates in the office of the Governor of the region. He has been subjected to psychological and physical abuse, detained without trial. The case he filed to challenge the legality of his detention has never been heard. Among other health issues, Maxwell’s sight is failing and he urgently needs medical attention, which has been denied him.

We also wish to draw the attention of the UN bodies and human rights
organisations to the situation of Ngek Simon, Lukong Hassan, Edwin Jumven, all victims of torture serving long term sentences after what the Human Rights Committee in its opinion in the Akwanga versus Cameroun case described as unfair trials.
All peoples concerned with human rights and freedoms in sympathy with the appeal of the Governing Council of the people of Ambazonia:
1. Call for the appointment of a special rapporteur on torture to investigate the systematic and widespread abuses of prisoners including the cases of Che Clovis, Numvi Walter, Nkongso Stephen, and Andrew Tamanjong in Bamenda Central Prison and Oben Maxwell in Buea Central Prison.

2. Call for pressure to be put on Cameroun to provide adequate medical attention, proper feeding and humane treatment of the detainees.
3. Call for pressure to be put on Cameroun to release the detainees or bring them to a speedy public trial.
4. Call for Cameroun to respect its obligations under the Convention against torture (CAT), the international Covenant on Civil and Political rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

5. That evidence obtained under duress through torture and other forms of physical and mental coercion violates international law, especially article 15 of CAT and Cameroun’s law as expressed in its Penal Code, hence it should be dismissed in any legal proceedings.

*Freelance Journalist and Human Rights Activist

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Solomon Amabo

15.Jul.2016

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