In one of the most recent attacks, on February 1, 2018, in the locality of Mbingo in the North West region, two gendarmes manning a checkpoint were stabbed to death by a group of young armed separatists. Teachers and students accused of not participating in the boycott have been physically assaulted, and at least 42 schools have been attacked by armed separatists from February 2017 to May 2018 in both the North-West and South-West regions. Amnesty International documented at least three cases of arson, including a traditional chief's residence in the village of Myerem in the South West region in February 2018.
In one case documented in this report, members of the Rapid Intervention Battalion and the regular army unlawfully killed at least four unarmed men during an operation in Dadi village in December 2017. The report also shows the complete destruction of the village of Kwakwa, in the South West region, which was burned to the ground by Cameroonian security forces during an operation carried out in December 2017 in connection with the murder of two gendarmes by suspected armed separatists. Cameroon's security forces have a long history of abuse, both in the Anglophone regions and in other parts of the country.
The impunity with which such acts were committed in the Far North region may have been a major contributing factor to the commission of similar offenses in the English-speaking regions. Human rights abuses by Cameroonian security forces and authorities have also contributed to a pervasive climate of fear, which some observers say has led to a growing sense of alienation among communities in the English-speaking regions. People in the English-speaking regions have been caught on the one hand by the increased violence by individuals and groups suspected of sympathizing with or supporting the armed struggle, and on the other by human rights violations committed by security forces.
ATTACKS ON SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS
ARSON ATTACK ON THE GOVERNMENT BILINGUAL HIGH SCHOOL (GBHS), MENJI, FONTEM SUBDIVISION, LEBIALEM DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION
ARSON ATTACK ON THE CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL IN MENJI, FONTEM SUBDIVISION, LEBIALEM DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION
FIRE ATTACK AT CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL IN MENJI, FONTEM SUBDIVISION, LEBIALEM DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION. ATTACK BY THE TEACHER AT NÜNTUNGFE GOVERNMENT PRIMARY SCHOOL, BELO SUBDIVISION, BOYO DIVISION, NORTHWEST REGION.
ASSAULT OF A TEACHER AT THE GOVERNMENT PRIMARY SCHOOL IN NTUNGFE, BELO SUBDIVISION, BOYO DIVISION, NORTH WEST REGION
APPOINTMENT OF A TEACHER AT THE BAPTIST COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL, NJINIKEJEM, BELO SUB-DIVISION, BOYO DIVISION, NORTHWEST REGION.
ASSAULT OF A TEACHER AT THE BAPTIST COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL, NJINIKEJEM, BELO SUBDIVISION, BOYO DIVISION, NORTH WEST REGION
ATTACKS ON SUSPECTED ‘COLLABORATORS’
ARSON ATTACK ON THE RESIDENCE OF THE TRADITIONAL CHIEF OF MYEREM, AKWAYA SUBDIVISION, MANYU DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION
They set fire to the house and also used the mattresses, mosquito nets and other things they found in the house to start the fire. ARREST AT THE RESIDENCE OF THE INTERIM TRADITIONAL CHIEF OF NGUTI, NGUTI SUBDIVISION, KUPE MUENEGUBA DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION.
ARSON ATTACK ON THE RESIDENCE OF THE INTERIM TRADITIONAL CHIEF OF NGUTI, NGUTI SUBDIVISION, KUPE MUENEGUBA DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION
ARSON ATTACK ON TWO PRIVATE HOUSES IN MENJI, FONTEM SUBDIVISION, LEBIALEM DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION.
ARSON ATTACK ON TWO PRIVATE RESIDENCES IN MENJI, FONTEM SUBDIVISION, LEBIALEM DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY THE
CAMEROONIAN SECURITY FORCES
- SECURITY OPERATION IN DADI, AKWAYA SUBDIVISION, MANYU DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION
- UNLAWFUL KILLINGS AND DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY
- ARBITRARY ARREST, INCOMMUNICADO DETENTION, TORTURE AND DEATH IN CUSTODY
- UNLAWFUL KILLINGS, EXTRA-JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS AND DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY IN BODAM, AKWAYA SUBDIVISION,
- UNLAWFUL KILLINGS AND DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY IN KAJIFU, AKWAYA SUBDIVISION, MANYU DIVISION, SOUTH WEST
- THE DESTRUCTION OF KWAKWA, MBONGE SUBDIVISION, MEME DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION
- SECURITY OPERATION IN BELO, BOYO DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION
- EXTRA-JUDICIAL EXECUTION
- BEATINGS AND ARBITRARY ARRESTS AT CHECKPOINT
- DEATH IN CUSTODY OF FOUR MEN
- RECOMMENDATIONS
More than 20 victims and eyewitnesses described to Amnesty International how up to 70 soldiers from both the regular army and the BIR carried out the operation in Dadi. Amnesty International received and confirmed the names of the four men, aged between 27 and 33, who were killed by security forces in Dadi. Another eyewitness told Amnesty International that while fleeing the village, he saw the soldiers kill a man who was also riding a motorcycle.
Based on more than 20 interviews with eyewitnesses, victims and other informants, Amnesty International has confirmed the names of 23 people (including two minors, five Nigerian nationals and two people with intellectual disabilities) who were arbitrarily arrested on December 13, 2017 in Dadi and subsequently held in Buea Central Prison. While many witnesses estimated that up to 40 people had been arrested, Amnesty International was unable to verify this claim. Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International how the soldiers cordoned off the village and began firing indiscriminately as people tried to flee.
Amnesty International has documented another security operation in the village of Kajifu, sometime in early December 201759. 59 Six eyewitnesses and over 10 residents of Kajifu interviewed by Amnesty International recalled that this operation took place on 8 or 9 December 2017. Following this, eyewitnesses described to Amnesty International how the security forces destroyed and looted private property, including houses and businesses, and beat people.
Amnesty International spoke to three eyewitnesses who described how the security forces set fire to almost the entire village, corroborating their accounts with satellite images that clearly show the extent of the destruction. Imagery taken before the reported events shows Kwakwa with many structures along the main road from Kumba. ©Amnesty International. The families described to Amnesty International how they found the bodies bloody with marks on their necks.74.
Four eyewitnesses confirmed to Amnesty International that the four men – aged between 28 and 45 – were arrested between 6 and 8 p.m. on February 2, 2018. corpses of the four men by name or nickname. Amnesty International experts analyzed the video's metadata, while residents of Belo, eyewitnesses and key informants confirmed the content.
Amnesty International also spoke to the wife of one of the four victims.80 She told Amnesty International that on the day the four men were arrested, she fled Belo, then returned the next day to find her home was ransacked: "The house had broken doors and windows.
TO THE CAMEROONIAN AUTHORITIES
Ensure that security forces adhere to international policing standards, including the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and. Firearms, when responding to protests, and in particular limiting the use of firearms in situations of immediate threat of death or serious injury, or equivalent;. Give clear orders to the military, gendarmes and police commanders to immediately cease the use of excessive force in cordon, search and arrest operations, as well as during public demonstrations.
Ensure that all victims of human rights violations and abuses receive reparations, including measures for restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, redress and guarantees against recurrence. Restore trust between representatives of the state and the Anglophone communities by establishing an inclusive dialogue and consulting the Anglophone population to address their concerns; Address entrenched human rights violations, such as marginalization and exclusion, to prevent the crisis from escalating and other social conflicts that often lead to violence from resurfacing.
TO STATES PROVIDING MILITARY AND OTHER ASSISTANCE TO CAMEROON
TO THE NIGERIAN AUTHORITIES
TO THE AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
- EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE BY SECURITY FORCES
- LEGAL PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE PROHIBITION OF ARBITRARY ARREST OR DETENTION
- FREEDOM FROM TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT
- INCOMMUNICADO AND SECRET DETENTION
- DEATHS IN CUSTODY
The UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials state: "In the performance of their duties, law enforcement officials shall use non-violent means as far as possible before resorting to the use of force and firearms. They may use force and firearms only if other means remain ineffective or without any promise of achieving the intended result.”83 The Basic Principles also outline that any unavoidable use of force must be proportionate to the seriousness of the offense and the legitimate aim to be achieved, while minimizing harm and injury and respecting and preserving human life. At national level, section 30 of the Criminal Procedure Act states: "The arrested person must not be physically or psychologically harmed."85.
83 United Nations, Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Authorities, adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, Cuba, 1990, para. This provision also corresponds to Article 7, subsection 4, of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights; Principle 10 of the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons Under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment and Section M (2)(a) of the ACHPR Principles on Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa. 88 Section M (2) (a) of Principles on Fair Trial in Africa, http://www.achpr.org/files/instruments/principles-guidelines-right-fair-trial/.
90 Section 119 of the Cameroon Code of Criminal Procedure (CPC), http://www.icla.up.ac.za/images/un/use-of-force/africa/Cameroon/. In addition, the Cameroonian Constitution92, Criminal Code93 and Criminal Procedure Code94 prohibit the use of torture and other treatment that violates human dignity and integrity. The Cameroonian Constitution states that “under no circumstances shall any person be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”99, while the Criminal Code of Cameroon criminalizes the use of torture to induce a person to confess to a crime or make statements or the like. information100.
In its concluding observations published in December 2017, the UN Committee against Torture expressed deep concern about the use of torture in Cameroon, and called for effective, independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of torture101. All persons deprived of their liberty have the right to communicate with the outside world, especially with their families, lawyers, medical professionals and other third parties102. According to article 122 of the Cameroonian Criminal Procedure Code, people can be visited at any time by their lawyer, members of their family and any other person who follows their treatment while they are in custody104.
101 UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, CAT/C/CMR/CO/5, 18 December 2017, Concluding Observations, http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download. aspx ?symbolic=CAT%2fC%2fCMR%2fCO. Violations of the right to life are therefore committed when prisoners die due to poor prison conditions or lack of medical care, or as a result of attacks by other prisoners (when prison officials did not protect them).107 Standards from the Principles on Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extrajudicial, Arbitrary and Summary Executions points to the obligation to ensure a "thorough, speedy and impartial investigation" into suspected unnatural deaths.108 Such investigations should include an autopsy and the collection of evidence and witness statements to determine the cause, manner and time of death and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.
AMNESTY
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CONTACT US
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A TURN FOR THE WORSE
VIOLENCE AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN ANGLOPHONE CAMEROON
