June 2020 - Southern Cameroons News Updates
By: Editimfon Ikpat, Junior Research Associate, 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.
Cameroon Journalist dies in detention
Samuel Wazizi, a presenter of the regional channel Chillen Media Television (CMTV) died in detention following injuries sustained. Wazizi was arrested on August 2, 2019 on the accusation of having made critical remarks towards the authorities and their management of the crisis in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon. There are claims that Samuel Wazizi was tortured in prison.
Responses to the Death of Cameroon Journalist
In response to the death of the journalist Samuel Wazizi, the National Union of Cameroon (SNJC) and the Cameroon Association of English Speaking on June 3, 2020, released a joint statement announcing the creation of a “justice for Wazizi” Collective. The Collective aims to establish a national commission of inquiry to shed light on the death, and requests that the following information be communicated to the family and public: “the place, exact date, place where the body is being kept and the circumstances of the death no later than June 4, 2020 at 6 p.m.”. Reporters Without Borders have also called on the relevant authorities to open a serious and independent investigation to shed light on the circumstances leading to the death of Samuel Wazizi. Cameroonian and international organizations, including the UNESCO, have called for the accountability of the death of Wazizi.
Promises of an Investigation into Journalist’s Death
The French Ambassador – Christophe Guilhou – after an audience with the Cameroonian President – Paul Biya – on June 5, 2020, said that the President has promised the opening of an investigation in order to establish the causes of the death of Samuel Wazizi in detention.
Ngarbuh Massacre: Command responsibility
Acting on the publication of the Ngarbuh Massacre Inquiry Commission report, the preliminary inquiry into the Ngarbuh massacre of February 14, 2020 in the North West region of Cameroon began on June 8, 2020. The inquiry is before an examining magistrate at the Military Tribunal in Yaoundé. The three soldiers who led the field operations in Ngarbuh, in the North West region of Cameroon, have been charged for the Ngarbuh massacre They are charged with “assassination” in the murder of several civilians in Ngarbuh massacreandhave been placed under a warrant for detention at the Yaoundé military prison.
Anglophone crisis: rated World’s most neglected crisis
The Norwegian Refugee Council has rated the Cameroon Anglophone crisis as the world’s most-neglected crisis for the second time in a row. The assessment is based on the low level of attention the international community has afforded to the crisis, “mounting violence, political paralysis and an aid funding vacuum” in Cameroon.
Attacks against humanitarian workers in Anglophone regions
According to the Human Rights Watch, armed separatists allegedly abducted a humanitarian worker in the North West Region on June 30, 2020 having accused him of being a spy, tied him to a tree and beat him up before releasing him the next day. On the same day,seven staff of the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services were abducted in the North-West region and released two days later. The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Cameroon – Allegra Maria Del Pilar Baiocchi – on June 4, 2020, expressed her deep concern towards the “attacks”, “racketeering” and “kidnapping” of humanitarian workers and has denounced the “increasingly widespread practice of non-state armed groups to set up illegal checkpoints along the main supply routes”.
UN Security Council Report
At the United Nations Security Council meeting held on June 12, 2020, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Central Africa and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa – Francois Lounceny Fall – presented the semi-annual report of the United Nations Security Council.
The Report addressed the humanitarian situation in Cameroon, inclusive of the security crisis in the North West and South West regions, which is said to have “continued to deteriorate, according to reports of attacks against civilians, including extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, destruction of property, reprisals, abductions, rapes and other forms of sexual violence, disproportionately affecting women and children”.
Elections without resolving the Anglophone crisis
On June 1, 2020, the president of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) Maurice Kamto through his official Facebook page issued a warning that the CRM will not allow elections in Cameroon unless the Anglophone crisis is resolved.