Separatist activism is likely to continue in Southwest and Northwest regions of Cameroon through at least late 2023. Unidentified assailants dressed in official military uniforms entered a bar and opened fire indiscriminately in Bamenda (Northwest) at around 19:30 July 16, killing nine people and injuring two others. The exact reason for the attack is unclear. A military spokesperson has attributed the attack to Ambazonia separatists.

The threat of violence remains elevated in the English-speaking regions as various armed groups continue to call for secession, highlighting the dangers for those operating or traveling in western Cameroon. The situation has remained tense since October 2017, when secessionists unilaterally proclaimed the independence of the so-called state of Ambazonia, which is unrecognized internationally. Human Rights Watch estimates that about 4000 civilians died due to armed forces and separatist-linked violence since late 2016.

Security-related operations are ongoing. Checkpoints and searches of vehicles and personnel are likely, particularly outside major cities such as Buea (Southwest) and Bamenda (Northwest). Authorities may enact temporary security measures such as curfews and telecommunication restrictions without notice in the event of significant violence or unrest.

Various armed groups operate in the region, such as the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF), which is also plagued by banditry and other criminal activities.

Security forces frequently skirmish with Ambazonia secessionist militants (also called “Amba boys”), regularly leading to casualties. Separatists have carried out ambushes targeting security forces and government officials involving improvised explosive devices. There are also reports of militant abuses, including kidnappings and killings, against the local population. Militants often issue stay-at-home orders (also known as “ghost cities”); residents who do not comply with such measures may face intimidation and violence.

While many kidnappings go unreported, it is estimated that dozens to hundreds of people are kidnapped each year in both Northwest and Southwest regions. Targets notably include prominent members of civil society, politicians, security forces, teachers, and priests, among others. Militants may target foreign nationals due to their perceived worth in the event of a ransom demand. High-profile individuals have been kidnapped in recent months, including a senator and her driver, who were seized by ADF militants in Bamenda on April 30. Security forces released several hostages, including the senator, during a military operation in Ashong (Northwest) on May 30. The Bakassi Peninsula (officially part of Cameroon) also hosts many oil-related operations attracting criminals and militants who seek to kidnap oil workers, aiming for a higher ransom.

Culled from Crisis 24

Unidentified gunmen have carried out a deadly attack, resulting in the loss of nine lives, including that of a recently married couple in the city of Bamenda in Cameroon.

The victims, identified as Simplice Lontsi Tsomene, 37, and his wife Hélène Raisa Tanga, 25, were known as loving parents to three children and were also the proud owners of a phone shop.

Authorities are attributing the attack to separatist rebels, who struck at a busy junction. According to reports, the assailants arrived in two unmarked vehicles and immediately ordered people to lie down.

Eyewitnesses have come forward to reveal that the gunmen accused the victims of being “black legs,” insinuating that they were either colluding with the government or were not complying with the separatists’ directives.

Rebels who want to create a separate country called Ambazonia for Cameroon’s English-speaking regions have been locked in conflict with the government since 2017, and Bamenda is one of their hotspots.

A day before these latest shootings, troops attacked a residence in the same neighbourhood of Nacho, killing five young men.

The situation is rapidly deteriorating, with horrendous human rights abuses and atrocities being committed. Amnesty International recently published a report detailing alleged murders and rapes by both sides in the Anglophone armed conflict and urging the government to investigate.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the killings, some separatist Ambazonia leaders in the diaspora have been urging their fighters to go after those they brand as “black legs”, without mercy.

Sources: BBC and Africa News

Cameroonian journalists are facing lethal threats and false legal charges as they pursue reporting in the midst of Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict, according to a new report on press freedom and freedom of expression submitted to the United Nations by Freedom House, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights, with the support of Covington & Burling LLP.

The joint submission on press freedom in Cameroon released ahead of the country’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva later this year marks six months since the abduction and killing of prominent Cameroonian journalist Martinez Zogo, whose mutilated body was found five days later.

The groups’ submission highlights that the killing, physical attacks, abduction, torture, and harassment of journalists by Cameroonian police, intelligence agencies, military, and non-state actors continue to have a severe chilling effect. Several journalists have been forced into exile, two journalists have died in government custody under suspicious circumstances since 2010, and, most recently, prominent journalist Martinez Zogo was murdered in January 2023.  In addition, two other journalist deaths are being investigated by CPJ.

“President Paul Biya’s government routinely claims that the plethora of media outlets in the country proves that the right to media freedom is enjoyed in Cameroon, but the reality is the polar opposite as laid bare in this joint report,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator.  “The arbitrary detention of journalists labeled terrorists, the killings with impunity and the widespread censorship tactics fostered by the government, must be reversed for democracy to overcome Cameroon’s protracted conflict.” 

The arbitrary imprisonment of journalists coupled with incommunicado and lengthy pre-trial detention has made Cameroon the second worst jailer of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa after Eritrea. Cameroon also detains journalists the longest after Eritrea. Five journalists are currently being detained there, four of whom are being held on anti-state charges in connection with the ongoing Anglophone conflict that has pitted separatists in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon against the forces of the majority French-speaking government.

The Cameroonian government uses anti-terror, anti-state, “false news” charges, and criminal defamation legislation to detain and convict journalists. It also prosecutes journalists by military tribunals rather than impartial civilian courts and consistently denies them the right to a fair trial and appeals process.

“The politically motivated detention of journalists in Cameroon is of serious concern,” said Margaux Ewen, Director of Freedom House’s Political Prisoners Initiative. “Through this submission, we remind Cameroon of its obligations under domestic and international law. We also show solidarity with the five journalists currently behind bars, who will not be forgotten.”

The Cameroonian government frequently suspends broadcasts and broadcast permissions, orders internet shutdowns, and blocks access to social media, communication platforms, and journalism offices and studios.

Cameroon is rated “Not Free” in Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2023 report. The country has an overall score of 15/100, with a score of 0/4 for media freedom (since 2018). The country has consistently appeared on CPJ’s annual prison census since 2014, with press freedom and journalist safety in decline for more than a decade. The American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights has documented multiple due process violations in trials of journalists reporting on the Anglophone crisis.

“This submission conclusively shows that the Cameroonian justice system continues to fail to protect journalists and other human rights defenders,” said Ginna Anderson, Associate Director of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Center for Human Rights. “The significant fair trial violations that the ABA Center for Human Rights has documented show an escalating breakdown in the rule of law and the protection of fundamental freedoms. It is vital that the UN Human Rights Committee engage the government of Cameroon on the specific violations and recommendations contained in this report.”

 “Through Covington’s Kurt Wimmer Media Freedom Pro Bono Initiative, our lawyers provide pro bono support on media freedom matters, seeking to protect and advance media freedom and the safety of journalists,” said Peter Lichtenbaum, a partner at Covington & Burling LLP.  “Our work on the joint submission to the United Nations UPR Review process assessing Cameroon’s actions with respect to press freedom supports these objectives.”

Among the recommendations in the report, CPJ, Freedom House and the ABA urged President Paul Biya’s government to finally account for the death in custody of Samuel Wazizi, to free the journalists it has arbitrarily detained, including those falsely accused of terrorism, and to ensure that the murder of Martinez Zogo and the killing of Jean-Jacques Ola Bebe do not go unpunished. They also called for Cameroon’s overly broad anti-terror law to be reviewed and to include a public interest defense.

Cameroon will undergo its UPR in November 2023 as part of the 44th session of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group in Geneva.

Source: CPJ

Gunmen killed 10 people and injured two others at a busy junction in the city of Bamenda in Cameroon’s troubled northwest, the regional governor said on Monday.

A witness said the attackers arrived in vehicles late on Sunday, ordered people onto the floor with accusations of failing to back local separatists, and opened fire as some obeyed while others ran.

The Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF), one of the main separatist groups in the English-speaking region which has been fighting since 2017 in protest of alleged marginalisation by the majority French-speaking government, denied responsibility.

North West region governor Adolphe Lele Lafrique told the Reuters news agencty a manhunt had been launched for the “terrorists” behind the massacre. “Investigations are on, and we will issue a statement on this later today,” he added.

The witness said men in military uniforms arrived in two vehicles to storm Nacho Junction, where restaurants, bars and shops are located, at around 7:30pm (18:30 GMT).

They shot at people indiscriminately, the witness said, before taking off.

“There is [the] possibility that it could be revenge killing,” ADF spokesperson Lucas Asu said, suggesting the attackers could have been disguised as separatist fighters.

Discrepancies between the French and English academic, legal and administrative systems which have always existed concurrently, as well as cries of political and economic marginalisation, crystallised into a series of protests and riots in 2016.

The violent suppression of those protests has led to a full-blown conflict that has resulted in the deaths of more than 6,000 people in Anglophone Cameroon since.

Earlier this month, human rights group Amnesty International slammed government troops, militias and separatists for killings, rapes, torture, and burning of houses among other atrocities in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

It said those who speak out were being threatened and detained.

SOURCE: REUTERS

Members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group of the Boko Haram terror group, have demanded $16, 750 (USD) from 13 people kidnapped during an attack at Goré Kendi village in Cameroon.

The victims, whose community is located at the municipality of Blangoua in the department of Logone-et-Chari which borders Lake Chad, have been held captive by the terror group since June 30.

Locals said that aside from kidnapping the residents, they also made away with their properties.

The attack was carried out simultaneously with another attack orchestrated by Boko Haram’s Jama’atu Ahlussunnah Liddaawati Wal Jihad (JAS) militants in the same division.

While two persons were killed in the Waza, Logone and Chari division the same night, others sustained injuries.

The Far North of Cameroon is a land that lies between Nigeria to the west and Chad to the east.  Jihadists operate in the region, waging attacks against villages connecting the three countries.

Until 2015, Boko Haram, which has been carrying out attacks in the Far North of Cameroon, pledged allegiance to  ISWAP.

However, ISWAP killed a defiant Boko Haram leader in 2021, establishing control over the Lake Chad basin, while relegating some Boko Haram members to remote areas.

A report from the United Nations office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), says there have been an increased number of attacks from non-state armed groups in the country as almost 10,000 people have flee their homes between January and May 2023.

Meanwhile, some villages have created vigilante groups to repel attacks from terrorists. Also, the United Nations Development Programme has recently offered bicycles, megaphones and first aid kits to members of vigilanté groups to reduce terror attacks.

Source: Humangle

The conflict in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions may be simmering down but the suffering of internally displaced persons (IDPs) is only getting worse. While the guns are no longer as violent as they used to be in the two English-speaking regions, the hardship which is stalking IDPs is not letting up. There are real issues, and these issues are stalking IDPs like stubborn shadows and the Yaounde government is doing nothing to address these issues. Most IDPs are permanently being harassed either by government soldiers and police or by Amba sleeper cells which constantly remind IDPs that they owe allegiance to the different factions fighting for the total liberation of Southern Cameroons. These sleeper cells are present in areas where there are huge numbers of IDPs, and they have been identifying those IDPs who criticize the fighters and their modus operandi. Sometimes, family members of IDPs living out of the two English-speaking regions get threatened and even get killed because their family member has criticized Amba boys.  

But it is the attacks of government forces which are causing IDPs to even flee back to the conflict zones or out of the country. Once there is a report of a crime in the IDP community in Douala, army soldiers always see such reports as opportunities for them to make money from the impoverished and desperate IDPs who fear they could be jailed for a long time without due process. The women are vulnerable and once arrested by the police, they know they must be raped, and they do not know where to report crimes committed by soldiers or police officers. Southern Cameroonian IDPs are really between a rock and a very hard place. Cameroon Concord News Douala correspondent recently spoke with some IDPs, and this is what they had to say. For security purposes, the names have been altered to protect the identity of the IDPs.  

Maggie: I left Kumba in 2018 for Douala when there was a real escalation of violence in the town. The killing by soldiers in the town of Kumba was unbelievable. In Kumba, most of the fighting was in Kosala, a neighborhood in Kumba as that was the stronghold of many Amba fighters. When the soldiers arrived, the fighting escalated, and many young men were killed. Women were raped and every young man was considered an Amba boy. I escaped to Douala where I did not know anybody. I have been living in Bonaberi in Douala now for close to five years and there is a huge IDP population in Bonaberi. Each time a crime get committed, we know we are in trouble as security forces and police officers who consider us as troublesome Anglophones will conduct arrests and searches, and in many cases if they find money on you, they will seize the money, saying that as IDPs we do not have a right to money, adding that the money is the product of crime. Some police officers even claim that IDPs do receive money from abroad in order to finance the bloody fighting in the two English-speaking regions of the country. I am helpless! I have been raped twice in a police station. Sometimes, you have to sleep with those drunk police officers who usually threaten to send us to Yaoundé if we do not yield to their pressure. Yaoundé has become a byword for torture and corruption. We cannot go back home as the killings continue in our regions of origin. It is tough! I pray for the government to demonstrate flexibility in the resolution of the problem which has taken us out of our natural environment.  

Ajebe: For years, I have been avoiding to say anything about this war because I may be talking to the wrong person. I have been living in Bonaberi for over four years and there is a huge Omerta (code of silence) right here regarding our situation. You see noting and you say nothing! There are many Amba sleeper cells where there are many internally displaced people and I have never wanted to be one of their victims. They may be out of the two-English-speaking regions of the country where a civil war is raging but they do have very long tentacles. Our family members who are back home can still be targeted by the Amba boys who are still in the bushes in the Southwest and Northwest regions. I grew up in Kumba and I did see so many atrocities when the fighting was at its worst. Young men were targeted indiscriminately by soldiers and sometimes Amba fighters will accuse innocent people of collaborating with soldiers and once you were suspected of such an activity by Amba fighters, you had to face the death penalty. With Amba fighters, there is no due process. But soldiers are even worse. They will burn your family home and will even eliminate an entire family just because one person has been suspected of being an Amba fighters. Here in Bonaberi, I try to keep a low profile. I have been seeking to leave the country, but nothing is working out for me. Many of my friends, including my cousin whose name I will not mention, have fled to Canada and I hear Canada is a country of peace, a country where refugees are welcomed and treated with respect and dignity. I would like to head there, but getting a visa is very complicated. I am just waiting for the day things will return to normal for me to return to the Southwest region. News of a Canadian-led peace process brought a lot of hope for many of us, but when the government pulled out, my dreams were dashed. I pray Canada does not abandon its role. I am really counting on this peace process. 

Eta: There is nothing as challenging as leaving out of your natural environment, especially when compelled by circumstances beyond your control. At the height of the violence which has scarred the Southwest region forever, many people were killed, and thousands were pushed out of our region. Many young women like me were raped by soldiers who claimed they were above the law. The Yaounde government has never investigated any rape-related reports against soldiers and police officers. Many of us have learned to live with our pain. Externally, we look okay, but we are slowing dying internally. I have been living in Douala since 2019 and life has not been very easy. Police raids where I live have been very destabilizing. Sometimes, we are asked to pay money during the raids and many of us do not even have the means. There are no jobs in Douala for us and French is a massive hinderance to many of us. We ran away from a war which has consumed many of our brothers only to end up where extortion and rape are not crimes. Those who are supposed to protect us are the ones really violating our rights. Many young women who are IDPs have been victims of rape, and many are ashamed and scared to talk about these crimes. To whom are we going to turn when soldiers and police officers are the ones committing these odious crimes? I hear things are calming down in the two English-speaking regions of the country and if things continue this way, I will return to Mutengene at the end of the year. We are facing many challenges here. Poor accommodation, lack of jobs, harassment by forces of law and order as well as Amba sleeper cells, and extreme poverty are really blighting our lives. I think I will be more at ease in the Southwest or the Northwest regions if things return to normal in those war-torn regions. 

Ngang: I am originally from the Northwest region of Cameroon, but I moved to Ekona with my parents when I was very young. Ekona was a growing farming community before the war but following five years of violent fighting, all the development gains which had been made in the community were rolled back. Our farms have been abandoned, children have been out of school and the health facilities in the area have been hit hard by the war. Since I was in my 20s when the war started, my mother who is now a widow advised me to leave Ekona as soldiers were targeting every young male in the region. If soldiers were not a threat, Amba fighters were always there to hoodwink you into joining the fighting. I knew Anglophones had been marginalized by the Yaounde government, but I did not believe picking up weapons to fight the government was the right decision. However, I should also mention that it was the government which caused the fighters to pick up arms as they had to defend themselves following uncalled for attacks by the country’s military. As the fighting became very serious in 2019, I had to heed my mother’s advice and I left for Douala which is on the French-speaking side of the country. Here, life has not been very easy. Police raids and unemployment have made life unbearable. I am looking forward to returning to Ekona once the key issues are dealt with in the Canadian-led peace process which is stalling because of the government’s arrogance and uncompromising stance. There is a lot to say, but I fear for the lives of my mother and sister who are still in Ekona. Thanks for granting me this opportunity! 

Cameroon Concord News also plans to interview more IDPs, especially in Yaounde where they are living rough and permanently facing threats from the locals. Yaounde might have received many IDPs, but the government is doing nothing to alleviate the pain and suffering of this people who desperately need help, especially housing.  

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai 

Simon Ateba, a Cameroon journalist who is owner of news site Today News Africa, was issued a formal warning by the White House over disruptions at news briefings, with the press office saying in a letter he is at risk of losing his entry pass to the grounds.

The White House press office on Wednesday issued a formal warning to a journalist over his frequent interruptions at press briefings, cautioning he may lose his pass to the complex if the outbursts continue.

Simon Ateba, a reporter for Today News Africa, posted the text and screenshots of the letter on his Twitter account. The two-page document is unsigned, but it lays out numerous instances of when Ateba impeded press briefings by shouting over colleagues or preventing press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre from answering questions.

“The White House recognizes that members of the press often raise their voices or shout questions at press briefings or events,” the letter states. “Ordinarily such shouting stops when a reporter is called on for a question, and the briefing or event is able to continue. Continued interruptions are different; they prevent journalists from asking questions or administration officials and guests from responding. The Press Secretary’s only option in response to such disruptions is to stop the briefing or event, which is to the detriment of all journalists.”

The letter cites guidance issued on May 5 as part of a process for journalists who cover the White House that outlined expectations for behavior while on the grounds, which includes respect for others in the building and not impeding events on campus.

“If you continue to impede briefings or events by shouting over your colleagues who have been called on for a question, even after you have been asked to stop by a White House employee, then your hard pass may be suspended or revoked, following notice and an opportunity to respond,” the letter states, giving Ateba seven days to file a response.

The document cites several instances when Ateba interrupted press briefings by demanding to be called on, accusing Jean-Pierre of discriminating against him or otherwise complaining about proceedings in the briefing room.

Specifically, the document points to a June 26 briefing when Ateba accused Jean-Pierre of discriminating against him for months. The briefing was briefly derailed as Jean-Pierre and other reporters in the room urged Ateba to stop interrupting.

“You’re being incredibly rude,” Jean-Pierre said, while Ateba claimed she was “not giving me freedom of the press.”

The letter also cites incidents involving Ateba from May 13, March 20, and Dec. 8, 2022.

In the March 20 briefing, Ateba began shouting before Jean-Pierre could introduce the cast of “Ted Lasso,” who were in attendance to speak about mental health. Reporters in the room pushed back on Ateba at the time, and the White House Correspondents Association lamented the “breakdown of decorum.”

Jean-Pierre in December concluded the briefing abruptly after she called on a reporter from The Hill, only for Ateba to begin shouting out and asking why he was not being called on.

Ateba has gained a significant following on social media from his appearances in the briefing room, and he previously appeared on former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show to levy claims of discrimination against the White House.

Should Ateba lose his hard pass to the White House, he would still be able to enter the facility through a more involved procedure that requires members of the media to apply for access on a daily basis.

The Trump White House in 2019 revoked the hard pass of reporter Brian Karem after an altercation he had in the Rose Garden with guests for an event. But a judge ultimately restored Karem’s access, ruling that the White House did not provide clear guidance about what would warrant the revocation of a hard pass.

Source: The Hill