January 2020 - Southern Cameroon Updates
By: Kelly Van Eeten & Francisca De Castro, Junior Research Associates, PILPG-NL
THIS POST COLLECTS UPDATES FROM THE PAST MONTH CONCERNING RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTHERN CAMEROON. THE INFORMATION IS DRAWN FROM LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL ONLINE SOURCES.
Upcoming local elections on February 9th
The government of Cameroon has warned that it will deal “firmly” with those planning to disrupt the February 9 elections, amid threats from separatists that they will stop voting in the country's two English-speaking provinces. There are already a lot of security forces in the Anglophone regions - with 800 more military police officers being sent to secure two towns in the North-West and South-West provinces. The military police of Cameroon has been accused of brutality and disproportionate use of violence in the past. The reinforcement of security in Anglophone regions came right after the speech of the head of State on December 31, 2019 in which he urged separatists to lay down their arms.
The “high command” of the Ambazonians have announced five days of lockdown across North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon. It will begin February 7, two days before the scheduled elections, and is said to last until February 12. The announcement specifies that “any person coming from outside the cities and villages will be considered as an enemy and treated as such”.
Cameroonian soldiers go on trial over shooting of women and children
The trial of seven Cameroonian soldiers accused of participating in the killing of two women and two children has begun behind closed doors, after a video of the incident sparked an international outcry. In the video, Cameroon soldiers execute two women, one with an infant on her back, from behind while accusing them of being part of Boko Haram.
At least 50 people killed near Cameroon border in Boko Haram attack
The attack occurred on December 22, but since the area is so remote it took some time before it was in the news. The Boko Haram militants attacked local fishermen, and killed over 20 Cameroonians. A local Mayor, Ramat, said the area had become a hotspot for Boko Haram attacks since Chadian soldiers stopped patrolling it. The Multinational Joint Task Force, a five-nation regional military force from the countries of the Lake Chad Basin, was supposedly too ill-equipped to stop the attacks.
Cameroon: the Anglophone crisis in the centre of a French parliamentary mission
French deputy members were in Cameroon to investigate the socio-political situation in the North-West and South-West regions. They were in Cameroon from January 14-17th to meet with the Cameroon authorities, civil society organizations as well as political parties.
This visit comes after parliamentarians accused France for not taking a clear stance on the conflict in the Anglophone regions. On December 16, 2019 the French deputy Sébastien Nadot accused the French government of boycotting a hearing on the Anglophone crisis at the United Nations.
Abuse of Anglophone villagers by separatists
Certain communities in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions have attacked camps belonging to separatist fighters, whom they accuse of destroying civilian homes, looting and killing villagers. The rebels have confirmed that some of their fighters have committed abuses.
In Marumba Botunda, of the Mémé department, an Ambazonian general was killed by his companions. The “Divine General” was killed by combatants who accused him of terrorizing and extorting the civilian population. The general’s attitudes had long caused tension within the movement and it has been reported this played a part in his death.