Monthly Archives: April 2020

23, April 2020

UN chief warns that coronavirus poses a risk to human rights ⁰

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic is “a human crisis that is fast becoming a human rights crisis.”

The U.N. chief said in a video message that there is discrimination in the delivery of public services to tackle COVID-19 and there are “structural inequalities that impede access to them.”

Guterres said the pandemic has also seen “disproportionate effects on certain communities, the rise of hate speech, the targeting of vulnerable groups, and the risks of heavy-handed security responses undermining the health response.”

He warned that with “rising ethno-nationalism, populism, authoritarianism and a push back against human rights in some countries, the crisis can provide a pretext to adopt repressive measures for purposes unrelated to the pandemic.”

In February, Guterres issued a call to action to countries, businesses and people to help renew and revive human rights across the globe, laying out a seven-point plan amid concerns about climate change, conflict and repression.

“As I said then, human rights cannot be an afterthought in times of crisis — and we now face the biggest international crisis in generations,” he said.

The secretary-general said he was releasing a report Thursday on how human rights must guide the response to the virus and recovery from the pandemic. Neither he nor the report name any countries or parties responsible for human rights violations.

Guterres said governments must be “transparent, responsive and accountable,” and stressed that press freedom, civil society organizations, the private sector and “civic space” are essential.

The report said governments also need to take action to mitigate the worst impacts of COVID-19 on jobs, livelihoods, access to basic services and family life.

Guterres said any emergency measures — including states of emergency — must be “legal, proportionate, necessary and non-discriminatory, have a specific focus and duration, and take the least intrusive approach possible to protect public health.”

“Emergency powers may be needed but broad executive powers, swiftly granted with minimal oversight, carry risks,” the report warned. “Heavy-handed security responses undermine the health response and can exacerbate existing threats to peace and security or create new ones.”

The report said the best response is proportionate to the immediate threat and protects human rights.

“The message is clear: People — and their rights — must be front and center,” Guterres said.

Source: AP

23, April 2020

Iran Guards chief vows ‘decisive response’ after Trump threat ⁰

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief on Thursday warned the US of a “decisive response” after President Donald Trump said he ordered the US Navy to destroy Iranian boats that harass American ships in the Gulf.

Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice in the past year.

Decades-old acrimony between the two sides worsened in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew from a deal that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Tensions escalated further in January when a US air strike killed Qasem Soleimani, the top Iranian general who headed the Guards’ foreign arm, the Quds Force.

“We declare to the Americans that we are absolutely determined and serious… and that all action will be met with a decisive response that will be efficient and quick,” Major General Hossein Salami said.

“We have also ordered our naval units to target (US boats and forces) if they try to endanger the safety of our ships or boats of war.”

The latest confrontation between the arch-foes came after the United States accused Iran of harassing its ships in the Gulf last week.

Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday as the Guards said they had launched the Islamic republic’s first military satellite.

The US president said he had “instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea”.

In response, Iran on Thursday summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran that represents US interests in the Islamic republic, state media said.

Salami said last week’s maritime incident was the result of “unprofessional and dangerous behaviour by the Americans in the Persian Gulf”.

The Guards commander also indicated that US actions in the sensitive waterway had been affected by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

“In last week’s incident, there was operational turmoil and disorder among US naval units at sea,” said Salami.

This, he added, was an indication that the “command and control of their military units may have been weakened by… the coronavirus disease”.

Iran and the United States are among the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

– ‘Cruel’ US sanctions –

Tehran called Thursday for Washington to be held accountable for the sanctions that have hampered its efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The Iranian health ministry said 90 new deaths in the past 24 hours took the country’s overall coronavirus death toll to 5,481.

“Today, the coronavirus has spread not only in Iran but in almost all countries, and it requires serious effort and collective action to deal with it,” said Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.

“In addition to fighting the virus, Iran faces illegal and inhuman American sanctions, doubling the pressure on the Iranian people,” he said, quoted by his ministry.

“It is the right of the Iranian people to have access to their financial resources to fight the disease and to counter its economic consequences,” said Araghchi.

“The United States’ cruel and unilateral sanctions against Iran constitute a clear violation of Security Council Resolution 2231, and the United States must therefore be held accountable by the international community.”

Medicines and medical equipment are technically exempt from the US sanctions but purchases are frequently blocked by the unwillingness of banks to process purchases for fear of incurring heavy US penalties.

Iran’s coronavirus outbreak first emerged in the Shiite holy city of Qom on February 19.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced 1,030 new cases of coronavirus infection on Thursday, taking the country’s total to 87,026.

Source: AFP

23, April 2020

Nigeria: Southern Cameroons refugees in Benue State want Biya prosecuted for genocide ⁰

Southern Cameroonian refugees currently on asylum in Benue have appealed to the Nigerian government to use her position to intervene for a cease fire in the prolonged crisis that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands to take refuge in neighbouring countries.

The refugees equally called on the International Criminal Court in the Hague to arrest the Cameroonian President, Mr. Paul Biya over alleged crimes and genocide against Ambazonians.

Leader of the refugees’ community in Nigeria, Chief Agba Christopher Ipa, made the call during an interview with newsmen, Sunday at the Ikyogen refugees camp in Kwande local government area of Benue state.

He said when they had crisis in their country, the President of Cameroon declared war on civilians, forcing them to run down to Nigeria with some of them finding themselves in Benue state.

“We are crying and thanking the Nigerian government for the concern they have for us the Cameroonian refugees.

“We want the Nigerian government to help us see how they can solve our problem so that there will be a ceasefire in our country for us to go back,” Chief Agba Christopher pleaded.

On his part, the chairman of Kwande local government area, hosting the refugees, Mr. Tertsua Yarkwan said the Ambazonian crisis has gone beyond the Cameroonian situation and called on the African Union to mediate in the crisis.

The council chairman explained that the Cameroonian refugees would be given equal status to integrate them into the Nigerian society if the crisis in their country persists as the local government was financially constrained in feeding and providing basic needs for the refugees.

He implored the African Union to do something about the humanitarian situation in Cameroon.

“I implore not only the Nigerian government but also the African Union to do something. You know, we are in the ECOWAS area in West Africa. The Cameroonians are coming from Central Africa. So that goes beyond ECOWAS to intervene.

“I plead with the leadership of African Union to be more proactive on this issue and not to see it as a local Cameroonian problem.

“Nigeria is already having the effect of this crisis. Besides being in Kwande, the refugees are in Cross River, they are also in Taraba state.”

Source: Blueprint, Nigeria

23, April 2020

Cameroon and COVID-19: Face masks are compulsory — but unaffordable for many ⁰

Eric Wule has a problem. He lives in Kumba, a city in southwest Cameroon, and this week his government has told him — together with all other 25-million citizens — that it is illegal to appear in public without a face mask. This is part of the government’s measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. As of April 18, Cameroon had recorded 1 017 cases of the disease, including 22 deaths.

But surgical masks are in short supply, and Wule is struggling to find one. The masks that are being sold, he cannot afford: the price has quintupled, from 100 CFA francs (about R3.12) to between 500 CFA francs and 1 000 CFA francs.

Wule is not the only person struggling to comply with the emergency regulations. There are simply not enough face masks in Cameroon for everyone.

“The masks are scarce and even seem unavailable. Families and friends will use that which is available in turns just to escape police trouble,” commented one civil society activist, who asked not to be named.

Many people have started making masks themselves, from fabric, but this comes with its own risks. “They have not been well educated on how to use these reusable masks. The management of the cloth mask is also problematic. They are being fabricated in homes and no attention is paid to sterilisation after fabrication. The Covid-19 status of the persons fabricating them are also not known,” said Dr Ade Harrison Manju, the director of Benakuma district hospital.

Harrison has also observed people trying on face masks before purchasing them. “This seems to be a new mode of transmission. Imagine buying a mask that has been tried on previously by about 10 people whose status you do not know. It is risky!” he said.

The World Health Organisation cautions that wearing a mask alone is not an adequate defence against Covid-19, and that “there is currently no evidence that wearing a mask (whether medical or other types) by healthy persons in the wider community setting, including universal community masking, can prevent them from infection with respiratory viruses, including Covid-19.”

The politics of protection

One campaign designed to support Cameroonians in this difficult time is the Survie-Cameroon-Survival Initiative, which aimed to raise €1-million for relief efforts. But it was declared illegal by the government, perhaps because it was founded by Maurice Kamto, the main opposition leader. The interior ministry has taken steps to freeze the campaign’s bank account.

For his part, Kamto has accused President Paul Biya of being absent during this crisis, and has asked Parliament to declare a power vacancy and organise new elections. Kamto may have a point: Biya had not been seen in public for about a month. This week, following Kamto’s stinging criticism, the presidency released a photograph of Biya meeting the French ambassador to Cameroon. A tweet from Biya’s account read: “On the menu for our exchange this afternoon: managing the Covid-19 pandemic in Cameroon, France and around the world.”

Kamto was not impressed. “Cameroonians are expecting him to address the nation, to tell them exactly what is going on, to share his vision,” said Kamto, speaking to the Washington Post. “Whether that photo is real? Authentic? I don’t know.”

Nkongho Felix Agbor, a renowned Buea-based human rights lawyer, condemned the politicisation of Covid-19. “This is not the time [for] playing politics with the lives of our people, many of whom are dying. There is a need for a collective action,” he said.

Others see the government restriction as unwise. Ndansi Elvis, a United States-based Cameroonian with deep knowledge of health economics, calls it “insanity.” He thinks it is an act of cowardice for the government to order the closure of the account of a solidarity fund aimed at fighting this pandemic, simply because of political rivalry. “Are the funds to be used in sponsoring any terrorist act? Can government convince those donating from all over the world to donate to its own fundraiser when they know well that because of credibility issues people may not donate as much?”

Source: Mail/Guardian

23, April 2020

G20 grants Biya regime 12-month moratorium on the payment of bilateral debts ⁰

Cameroon is one of the 77 developing countries benefiting from the 12-month moratorium on foreign debt servicing decided on April 15 by the G20 during a video conference. The information was revealed the following day by the French ambassador to Cameroon Christophe Guilhou, at the end of an audience with President Paul Biya.

According to the media service of the French embassy, the moratorium (which succeeded in part thanks to French President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts) postpones the payment of bilateral debts by 12 months.

In its 2020 budget, Cameroon had set a little over XAF720 billion for the payment of its debts. Out of that amount, XAF232.2 billion was set aside for the payment of its bilateral debts for this fiscal year.

Lobbying

With this moratorium, the G20 countries aim to let beneficiaries concentrate on the health crisis at hand and worry about debt repayment later. However, since the debt is not canceled, it will just add to debt servicing in 2021. African countries must, therefore, continue to lobby for the cancelation of their debts.

“We also call for the cancelation of the debt of African countries…The IMF must be ready to respond to our countries’ increased demand for resources. The World Bank must also systematically support all countries since a specific scheme is applied for IBRD and IDA borrowers whose loans are classified as non-performing,” said Alamine Ousmane Mey at the Spring Meetings of the Bretton Woods Institutions. He was speaking as the chairman of the African Consultative Groups (ACG) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG).

According to Cameroon’s Ministry of Finance, On December 31, 2019, Cameroon’s outstanding public and publicly guaranteed debt were estimated at XAF8,424 billion, or about 37.3% of GDP. At XAF6,650 billion, the country’s external debt accounted for 77.1% of the total debt.

Culled from Business in Cameroon

23, April 2020

Manyu County Town Hall Meeting: A time for real change ⁰

A Manyu Town Hall Meeting has been called for Sunday the 26^th of April 2020 at 7pm Amba Time. As Manyu people congregate to take the future of the Ambazonian revolution in their county into their own hands, Cameroon Concord News Group shares their enthusiasm and wisdom. It was this media outlet on the 8^th of April 2020 that incessantly flashed out signals about the clumsy and impractical governing experiment in the county. We are delighted that the people of this strategic county are responding to the challenges ahead. The people of Manyu are about to begin a new chapter in Southern Cameroons history instead of waiting to be concealed by regret in the years ahead.

Cameroon Concord News has been provided insight information that the four LGAs in the Manyu County have been inefficient at fundraising and collaboration and consequently making the CPDM criminals in Yaoundé to look professional and well-organized. This media outlet can confirm that many LGAs in the northern zone of Ambazonia spent more on defence materials than the County of Manyu over the last nine months. But Manyu has Senators and Congressmen. The bureaucracy within the county has evolved to nothingness as titles of Chairman, Senators and Congressmen have been the preoccupation of county officials. Somehow, these people have forgotten that their country is at war!

Manyus have a long and occasionally dishonourable history with titles and ego but even the most zealous advocates of such cultural insanity would never have contemplated such foolishness in the middle of an existential war. Fortunately, the court of public opinion and some elders in the county have decided to act. From Ground 1 and Ground 0, there is a current impatience with social media lawyers, pseudo political scientists, social media grammar consultants who spend hours showcasing their pitiful personalities on whats app platforms than raise funds for the struggle. The excitement from G1 and G0 towards the new setup is understandable and the need for Manyu people to join is encouraged.

We of the Concord Group have learned that some in Manyu intended to make their county governing structure a gladiatorial political game with titles and social media congresses and senates while their villages are being burned and villagers are sleeping in the forests. Conditions of genocide in Ambaland convey no emotions to these US based comedians. With the impending structural change, fundraising and self-defence is the foundation and plaudits should go to this triumph of logic over social media emotions. The Manyu county coordinator remarked last night ‘this is intended to separate the real Manyu Men and Women from the rogues and noisemakers’.

We hope that profound lessons have been learned and that these changes will encourage a more aggressive fundraising and self-defence dynamics in Manyu. It is tasteless to insist on titles, bureaucracy and politics when the number of avoidable deaths in the county is rising. Cameroon Concord News believes that the moment of reckoning has come for Manyu and all people of goodwill in the county should celebrate by opening their minds and wallets. Any blackmailers and campaigners against this genuine progress will face the colossal force of the Ambazonian people. And that is a contests they can’t win.

Despite the lack of progress and a stagnation of self-defence operations in the county, our understanding is that a rogue element within the current administrative structure is determined to oppose this impending positive change and progress. Let it be known that Ambazonia is at war and any citizen who stands in the face of constructive and dynamic change in Manyu will be considered an enemy of the state of Ambazonia and will be treated as such!! Ambazonian self-defence forces are facing danger and a ferocious enemy daily. We owe them a duty to make available the best materials possible in their quest to protect our land.

The stirring up of sentiments intended to bring hostility between Mamfe Central LGA and Eyumojock LGA by bigots from Eyumojock local government area is a CPDM style madness that shouldn’t and wouldn’t be tolerated. Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report intend to name and shame anyone who engages in division and blackmail at this crucial point of this revolution. We would not tolerate anyone or anything that aids and abets the enemy. Any conspirator will be crushed with ferocity and rapidity. Ambazonia is at war!

This media outlet believes that the new structure in Manyu will showcase the potential for a more planned, practical and fruitful way of fundraising as well as defending Ambazonia. Manyus need to recognise and embrace this great opportunity to get their revolution back on track. The time for Manyu to rise again is here. Sunday the 26^th of April 2020 at 7pm, the journey starts for this strategic county. A stitch in time saves nine

By Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

22, April 2020

Ambazonia Interim Gov’t reacts after publication of French Cameroun’s Ngarbuh Massacre Report ⁰

Sixty eight days ago, we woke up to a familiar dose of state sponsored barbarism by the French Cameroun regime in the village of Ngarbuh in Dunga Mantung County. According to the United Nations and Human Rights Watch, twenty three local residents, amongst them fourteen children, eleven girls and nine under the age of five were executed in cold blood. In this massacre, a pregnant woman was executed and another lost her baby at a local hospital. After their brutal and unprovoked killings, French Cameroun military personnel set ablaze nine homes in the village to cover their dreadful crimes. The atrocities of the 14^th of February 2020 will never be deleted from our consciousness as a nation.

I come to you today in profound disappointment following the report released yesterday by the regime in Yaoundé into the massacre.As a government, our initial investigation after the attack pointed to French Cameroun’s military. Our judgment was accurate and now we must bring the atrocities of this neo-colonial regime to the consciousness of the world.We must remind ourselves that the regime in Yaoundé initially rejected any role in the massacre. But French Cameroun’s self-confession that ‘17 members of a local vigilante committee’ were working with their soldiers in this atrocity confirms our previous accounts that they have been sponsoring militant groups to terrorise and kill civilians in Southern Cameroons.

The neo-colonial regime in Yaoundé claimed immediately after the massacre that it was an accident after fuel supplies exploded into flames during a gun battle with separatists. They have now contradicted their own version of events. The inclusion of a so-call vigilante committee is a farce and deplorable. For over two years now, we have flawless evidence that the regime in Yaoundé is actively involved in stirring up intercommunity violence in Ambazonia.

The French Cameroun regime has never had an association with truth and honesty and so it claimed that ‘panic-stricken, the three servicemen with the help of some members of the vigilante committee, tried to conceal the facts by causing fires’. Even by their unashamed standards, this statement is an assault on the truthbecause all eyewitnesses confirmed that this was an unprovoked attack on a village in Southern Cameroons.

In March 2018, Mami Sarah Appih, 96 years old was burned alive in her bed in Kwa Kwa village by French Cameroun forces. In May 2018, the Guardian Newspaper in the UK carried an article after painstaking investigation on the burning of villages by French Cameroon forces. In May 2019, French Cameroun forces invaded a peaceful community in Muyuka, Southern Zone and summarily executed scores of people including five months old baby Martha. The burning of villages by forces loyal to Paul Biya’s regime has been plentiful and documented. None of the above atrocities have been investigated.

Yesterday’s statement endorses our reservations that this regime can’t be trusted to investigate its atrocities. On the 18^th of February 2020 in Geneva, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated‘We call on the Government to ensure that the security forces abide by applicable international law norms standards during the conduct of their operations’. Yesterday’s report identified that the United Nations was invited to attend but it offered technical support instead. As a people, Southern Cameroonians regret the non-attendance of the United Nations in this investigation.

Since the declaration of war by French Cameroun on the peaceful people of Southern Cameroons, army loyal to the regime in Yaoundé have burned down over three hundred and twenty villages. The village of Ngarbuh in Dunga Mantung County is one of their hundreds of crime scenes. We condemn these acts of genocide strongly. These attacks are now premeditated, predominant, well-planned and they show a flagrant disregard for life by these soldiers. It is particularly disturbing that on paper, French Cameroun is a signatory to many international conventions on human rights but in Southern Cameroons, their military is pursuing and executing acts of genocide with impunity.

After yesterday’s report, the evidence is now overwhelming that this regime and its forces aren’t trustworthy. Yesterday’s statement admits reluctant guilt on the part of French Cameroun’s forces.

We are today calling on the international community through the United Nations to pass an immediate resolution necessitating an Independent Fact Finding Mission to start work in the Southern Cameroons. It’s our paramount belief that only such a mission will establish the facts in Ngarbuh and other scenes of genocides in Southern Cameroons.

We hope that the international community accepts this statement as a genuine attempt from the people of Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) to bring this war to a close and the perpetrators of these crimes to real justice.

Sincerely,

DabneyYerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

22, April 2020

3 French Cameroun soldiers helped by members of Atanga Nji Militia tried to hide the Ngarbuh Massacre by setting fires ⁰

Cameroon has admitted that three members of its armed forces were involved in the February killing of 13 civilians, including 10 children, in the country’s anglophone area.

The government had previously denied any role in the killings in the region, where English-speaking separatists have been fighting government forces since 2017.

The February 14 massacre in the village of Ntumbo in Cameroon’s Northwest Region left 23 people dead, including 15 children, according to the United Nations, which called it “a shocking episode in the ongoing crisis that has afflicted the country’s North-West and South-West regions for the past three years”.

It said nine of the children were under age five and that two of the victims were pregnant women.

In a statement read over state radio on Tuesday, Cameroonian President Paul Biya’s office said three soldiers and a vigilante group stormed a separatist base, killing five people, before “discovering that three women and 10 children were killed” in the firefight.

“Overcome with panic, the three soldiers helped by some members of the self-defence group tried to hide the incident by setting fires,” the statement said, according to AFP news agency.

The army initially claimed that the deaths were an accident after fuel supplies exploded into flames during a gun battle with separatists, while the president established a commission of inquiry to investigate the killings.

In February, one of the country’s two main opposition parties, the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), issued a statement that said: “The dictatorial regime [and] the supreme head of the security and defence forces are chiefly responsible for these crimes.”

Conflict between Cameroon’s army and English-speaking fighters seeking to form a breakaway state called Ambazonia began after the government cracked down violently on peaceful protesters complaining of being marginalised by the French-speaking majority.

Rights groups have accused both sides of atrocities in the conflict, which has left more than 3,000 dead, closed schools and clinics, and forced 700,000 people to flee their homes.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

22, April 2020

Ngarbuh Massacre: Biya regime’s U-turn embarrassing, leaves doubts about the Yaounde version ⁰

A damning admission of guilt in Cameroon where government authorities have admitted that soldiers acting alongside a militia shot dead 13 civilians, including 10 children, in Ngarbuh, the restive north-west of the country in February. Officials had initially denied the army was involved in the killings.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Cameroon’s presidency said three soldiers along with members of a vigilante group had stormed a separatist rebel base killing five people, before “discovering that three women and 10 children were killed” in the firefight. It suggested the deaths were accidental but soldiers tried to cover them up. The February 14 massacre in the village of Ntumbo stirred huge public reactions and condemnation.

The United Nations described it “a shocking episode in the ongoing crisis that has afflicted Cameroon’s North-West and South-West regions for the past three years”. And a tally by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in total, 21 civilians were killed, including 13 children and a pregnant woman. Its version had blamed the attack on at least 10 troops from an elite army unit who were backed by “at least 30 armed Fulani” militiamen.

All of these, the government had denied, particularly that the army was involved. But President Paul Biya responded by ordering an investigation. And now, what do we have? A U-turn for the government, perhaps an embarrassing one, which still leaves doubts about the official version.

Source: Africa News

22, April 2020

Revealed: Underpaid foreign doctors battling France’s Covid-19 crisis ⁰

Non-European doctors have become indispensable for France as the country’s healthcare system struggles to deal with the coronavirus crisis. But with foreign university degrees, they are not seen as equals to their French counterparts, and are often both paid and respected less.

Nesrine Mahfoudhi works in a Covid-19 unit in a French hospital. Like all of her coworkers, she has had to cope with the unprecedented spike in patients due to the coronavirus. But one thing sets her apart: she earned her medical degree outside the EU, meaning she does not have the same professional status as European doctors.

“We work more than our French co-workers, out of necessity. We’re paid less than them. My head of service trusts me. He’s considered me as a real doctor since I started working here. So I don’t see why the French government doesn’t consider us as doctors as well,” she says.

She is not alone. Thousands of foreign doctors practice in France, often in less secure jobs and with a lower pay, and many of them have become indispensable in dealing with the coronavirus crisis.

“Many emergency departments wouldn’t be able to function without doctors with foreign medical degrees. These doctors have done so much for France,” Mathias Wargon, head of the ER at the Delafontaine Hospital in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.

Many now hope that a healthcare law passed by lawmakers last year will make it easier for foreign doctors to receive the same professional recognition as their French colleagues.

Source: France 24