Can Biya’s Courts Deliver Justice for the Nera 10?

[YAOUNDÉ, Dec 18] — Today, the Nera 10 appear before Cameroon’s Supreme Court, marking a critical moment not only for ten imprisoned men, but for the credibility of the country’s entire judicial system. This is not merely a procedural step in a long-running case; it is a reckoning with years of legal abuse, political interference, and deliberate erosion of the rule of law.

The Nera 10 were not arrested through any lawful judicial process. They were abducted in Nigeria, forcibly transferred to Cameroon in violation of international law, and prosecuted before a military tribunal that lacked both moral and legal jurisdiction over civilians. Their trial produced life sentences, not because of proven criminal conduct, but because of their political positions and advocacy.

A Case Built on Illegality

From arrest to sentencing, the case against the Nera 10 violated fundamental legal principles. Extraordinary rendition, denial of civilian court jurisdiction, and the use of military tribunals to silence political speech are incompatible with both Cameroonian law and international human rights obligations.

Yet despite these glaring violations, the appeals process has dragged on for years. Files disappeared. Hearings were postponed. Silence replaced accountability. Justice was not delayed by accident; it was delayed by design.

The Supreme Court’s Defining Test

Today’s hearing places the Supreme Court itself on trial. The justices now have an opportunity—perhaps their last credible one—to demonstrate institutional independence. They can acknowledge that the arrests, transfer, trial, and sentencing of the Nera 10 were unlawful and order corrective action.

Anything short of this will confirm what many Cameroonians already believe: that the judiciary functions as an extension of executive power, not as a check on it. Courts that exist only to validate repression cease to be courts in any meaningful sense.

Political Prisoners, Not Criminals

The continued detention of the Nera 10 has never been about public safety or criminal accountability. It has been about deterrence—sending a message that political dissent will be punished, not debated.

Labeling them criminals does not make it so. They are political prisoners, held to intimidate a population demanding dignity, equality, and the right to determine its own future. Each day they remain imprisoned deepens the wound inflicted on Cameroon’s legal system.

The Cost of Judicial Complicity

A judiciary that refuses to correct obvious injustice becomes complicit in it. History offers no refuge for courts that traded independence for convenience. Judges may hide behind procedure, but history records outcomes, not excuses.

For a country already fractured by conflict, judicial cowardice accelerates collapse. When courts fail, citizens abandon lawful avenues and seek answers elsewhere. That is how states unravel.

A Message Beyond the Courtroom

Today’s hearing carries significance far beyond the fate of ten men. It speaks to victims, families, detainees, and entire communities watching to see whether law still has meaning in Cameroon.

To the judges: history is watching.
To the international community: silence is complicity.
To the families of the Nera 10: resilience remains your quiet resistance.

Justice postponed indefinitely is justice denied.
If the Supreme Court fails today, it will not be the Nera 10 alone who are condemned—but the very idea of justice in Cameroon.

Free the Nera 10.
Free all political prisoners.