By NOELA EBOB BISONG
In a briefing note released February 18, 2020, the United Nations has urged the Cameroonian authorities to ensure that investigation into the Ngarbuh incident is independent, impartial and thorough, and that those responsible are held fully to account.
According to the UN, the incident “is a shocking episode in the ongoing crisis that has afflicted the country’s North-West and South-West regions for the past three years.”
Upholding the various versions to the story, the UN notes that “Witnesses said some 40 armed men, including members of the security and defence forces, attacked the village of Ngarbuh, in the department of Donga Mantung in North-West Cameroon, opening fire on people and burning down houses. The authorities said defence forces and gendarmes came under attack from people inside the village with the exchange of shots igniting a fire that affected several dwellings.”
The UN spells out that “According to information from UN colleagues on the ground, among the 23 people killed were 15 children, nine of whom were under the age of five. The victims also included two pregnant women, one of whom died of her injuries in hospital.”
Stating that the attack is the latest deadly incident in the context of the Anglophone crisis, the world organisation says “We call on the Government to ensure that the security forces abide by applicable international law norms standards during the conduct of their operations.”
It equally states that “We similarly remind armed separatist groups of their responsibilities under international law and call on all parties to refrain from deliberate attacks on civilians.”
As many in Cameroon’s North West and South West regions continue to lament daily on what they term “UN’s neglect in their plight”, the organisation states in the note that “UN Human Rights Office has been following developments in the North-West and South-West regions as an already tense situation worsened ahead of parliamentary and municipal elections held on 9 February…In May 2019, at the end of a visit to Cameroon, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet welcomed the Cameroon Government’s openness to work with the UN Human Rights Office, and the rest of the UN, to seek solutions to the major human rights and humanitarian crises in the country.”
The UN concludes its intervention on the statement that “In light of the latest violence, we urge the Government of Cameroon to take concrete steps to implement recommendations made last year by the UN Human Rights Office. We reiterate our readiness to help the Government to protect the human rights of people all across Cameroon.”