By Yusinyu Omer in Yaoundé
For the first time, Cameroon’s defense minister has acknowledged grave rights abuses by the military against civilians in the fight against Anglophone separatist fighters and has ordered such violations to stop. Cameroon’s military has characterized those abuses as isolated incidents. Rights groups and victims welcome the call while voicing doubt on when the abuses will end.
Cameroon’s Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo Assomo said he is instructing top commanders to immediately arrest and bring charges against troops engaged in rights abuses in the North West and South West regions. He says troops who have failed to respect Cameroonian laws and the code of military conduct, which forbids human rights violations in times of armed conflict, will be severely punished.
Minister Betti Assomo made the call in Bamenda on Tuesday July 19, 2022 while officially installing Brigadier Generals Bouba Dobekreo and Ousseini Djibo as commanders of the troops fighting separatists. He called on Dobekreo and Djibo to make sure that all human rights are respected while fighting separatists.
It was the first time the defense minister has spoken publicly about the issue. In June, military spokesperson Colonel Cyrille Serge AtonfackGuemo said troops were responsible for the killings in Missong. In a June 7 press release, Atonfack said four soldiers deployed to investigate the deaths of their colleagues killed nine civilians, including four women and a baby.
Etienne Akenfor is a rights activist with the Cameroon Civil Society group. He is skeptical the military will allow troops who receive orders to kill suspected fighters and their collaborators to face justice. “If the government was serious about its claims to punish troops, it should have arrested top military officials suspected of giving the orders”.
“The situation keeps getting worse when new military generals are brought in. So, I think the way out of this situation is to send the army back to the barracks. If there were a cease-fire, you would not have troops in the field committing atrocities,” he said.
According to Akenfor General Nka Valere, commander of troops who committed atrocities in the North West region within the past three years should have been called on to answer charges. Instead, Nka was appointed by President Paul Biya as the head of the Yaoundé International War College last week.
Human Right Watch says Cameroon now needs to ensure a thorough, impartial and independent investigation capable of establishing a clear timeline of events and the identification of all those responsible, including in the chain of command, with an aim toward prosecution. Cameroonian officials say at least 13 soldiers are currently in pre-trial detention for offenses including rape, extrajudicial killings and the burning down of civilian homes. Rights groups have also accused separatists of abuses, a charge the separatists say it is not true.
In April 2020, the military bowed to international pressure and acknowledged that its troops were responsible for the killing of three women and 10 children in February of that year in Ngarr-buh village.
Amnesty calls for stop to impunity
It should be recalled that recently Amnesty International in its report has called on Cameroonian authorities to ensure that human rights defenders are able to work free of intimidation and reprisals in the troubled regions of North West and South West.
The call was made after receiving reports that activists are being targeted with death threats for exposing human rights violations and abuses in these two regions.
According to Samira Daoud, Regional Director for West and Central Africa,“The authorities must urgently launch a thorough, independent and effective investigation into these threats and other abuses committed against human rights defenders”.