By Atia Tilarious Azohnwi
Anglophone detainees at the Yaoundé Central Prison in Kondengui are said to go on strike beginning today, April 1, 2019, The SUN has learnt.
“All the 207 Anglophones detained here will take part in the strike to ask for their immediate release after close to three years of unjust incarceration,” one of the detainees is reported as saying.
Some of the detainees claim that they are not being fed and have been subjected to torture. We are yet to independently authenticate such claims.
On July 3, 2018, the detainees staged a protest against the inhumane treatment of 18 detainees transferred from the Buea Central Prison to Yaoundé on Monday, July 2. The solidarity protest was also intended to bring to the fore their agony.
Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor, President of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa said in a statement that the rights of Anglophone detainees are often violated with impunity.
He recounted the painful circumstances surrounding July 3, 2018 protest at the Kondengui Central Prison:
“18 Anglophones were transferred yesterday from Buea Central Prison to Kondengui Prison, Yaoundé. These 18 detainees are currently detained in ‘Kosovo’, a section of Kondengui maximum security prison.
“They have been kept in tight chains and were brutally tortured last night by prison guards who repeatedly called them Ambazonians. This prompted a strike action in prison by other Anglophone inmates today. One of them has a decaying wound; another is suffering with a broken arm.
“As a result of pressure and the strike action by other Anglophone inmates, the prison registrar said, orders from hierarchy demanded him to keep the detainees in chains for observation.
“This is a repeated pattern of treatment upon Southern Cameroonians and alleged separatists, none of their rights are respected, presumption of innocence seems not to exist and authorities act with impunity.”
This only adds to cases of solitary confinement, denial of access to family, lawyers, medics and pastors, Agbor Nkongho had said.