BY MAMBE NJIKOFORE MANDE
As the crisis in the Anglophone regions continued relentlessly for the fifth year, over 712,000 people are internally displaced in the Anglophone regions and in the Francophone Littoral, West, and Centre regions as of August 2021 and at least 2.2 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, The Human Rights Watch has observed.
Separatists, who have violently imposed a boycott on education since 2017, continued to attack students and education professionals.
According to the Human Rights world report 2022, “The Islamist armed group Boko Haram increased its attacks in the Far North region from January to April, killing at least 80 civilians, with over 340,000 internally displaced. While responding to the armed conflict, government forces have also been responsible for violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws, including unlawful killings and arbitrary arrests”.
Government forces subjected Cameroonian asylum seekers who were deported from the U.S to serious human rights violations upon their return, including physical assault and abuse, random arrest and incarceration, extortion, and confiscation of identification documents, hence, hindering freedom of movement, ability to work, and access to public services.
The Anglophone crisis
Based on Human Rights Watch’s field and open source research, at least 4,000 civilians have been killed by both government forces and armed separatist fighters since late 2016 in the North-West and South-West regions, as separatists seek freedom for the country’s minority Anglophone regions.
Abuses by government forces
The Human Rights world report 2022 holds that – Security forces reacted to separatist attacks ruthlessly, often targeting civilians across the Anglophone regions. January 10, army soldiers killed at least nine civilians, including a woman and a child in Mautu village, South-West region. The soldiers also looted many homes and threatened residents.
In Gom village, North-West region, June 8, two soldiers broke into the house of Fon and harassed eight people, including a 72-year-old man whom they beat. They also shot and killed Nwang Lydia, a 60-year-old woman, after she failed to give information about a separatist fighter.
On June 9, soldiers from the elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) killed a 58-year-old man and raped a 53-year-old woman during a security operation around Mbuluf village, North-West region. They also broke into, damaged, and looted at least 33 shops and homes, including the Fon’s residence in Ndzeen village.
On October 14, a gendarme shot and killed Caroluise Enondiale, a 4-year-old girl, on her way to school in Buea, South-West region. An angry mob responded by lynching the gendarme.
On November 10, an improvised explosive device was thrown on to the roof of a lecture hall at the University of Buea, South-West region, wounding at least 11 students. At the time of writing, no one had claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities blamed separatist fighters.
Abuses by armed separatists
Separatist fighters continued to kill, torture, assault, and kidnap civilians. They also continued their attacks against education. According to the United Nations, 700,000 students were out of school in March 2021 as a result of the crisis.
On January 9, suspected separatist fighters killed the principal of a high school in Eyumojock, and wounded a principal from another high school in Tinto, South-West region. January 12, separatist fighters shot and injured a female public-school teacher in Bamenda, North-West region.
Separatist fighters killed three tribal chiefs in Essoh Attah village, South-West region, February 13. On February 27, armed separatists kidnapped a medical doctor in Bali, North-West region and threatened to kill him before releasing him the same day after a ransom payment.
On June 6, separatist fighters attacked a religious center in Mamfe, killing a 12-year-old boy and wounding a 16-year-old boy. On July 15, separatist fighters kidnapped five divisional delegates in Masore, Ekondo-Titi subdivision in the South-West region, killing one with the whereabouts of the others still unknown. Separatist fighters killed Fuh Max Dang, a physics teacher at GBHS Kumba, South-West region, on July 1. On August 29, armed separatists kidnapped Julius Agbortoko, a Catholic priest of the Mamfe diocese and asked for 20 million CFA ransom for his release – HRW
Justice and accountability
Since January, seven hearings were held in the trial of three security force members accused of involvement in the killings of 21 civilians in Ngarbuh village, North-West region. The trial is being held before a military court in Yaoundé, about 380 kilometers from Ngarbuh, making it difficult for family members of victims to attend. Says the Human Rights watch in their recent report.
In June 2020, the French ambassador to Cameroon told the media that President Biya had assured him that an investigation would be opened into the death in custody of journalist Samuel Wazizi in August 2019. However, there has not been any progress on the investigation.
On July 26, the Special Criminal Court, adjourned for the 74th time the trial of journalist Amadou Vamoulké, arrested in 2016 for alleged embezzlement. In 2020, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found his detention to be arbitrary.
On September 7, a military court in Buea, sentenced 4 people to death by firing squad for killing 7 children and the injuring at least 13 others last year at a school in Kumba. Defense lawyers said the trial was marred by serious procedural irregularities, starting with the use of military courts to try civilians, and including that the entire prosecution case was based on statements from alleged witnesses, none of whom were brought to court to be examined on their statements. Also, there was no translation from English or French into Cameroonian Pidgin English, the language spoken by the majority of the defendants.
However, Human Rights Watch and other organisations have called on the UN Security Council to formally add the crisis in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions to its agenda.