Over 2,000 people have been killed and 170 villages burned in English-speaking regions of Cameroon which has halted some Bible translation efforts, a Christian leader has warned.

Violence has escalated in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions in the last 18 months, with reports of French-speaking state forces launching a string of random attacks, kidnappings, and rapes against English-speaking residents and their villages in Western Cameroon.

After English-speaking residents in the Northwest and Southwest regions protested in October 2016 demanding autonomy because they feel underrepresented in the government, violence in those communities escalated throughout 2017.

Last month, the United Nations expressed concern that the violence against those communities has only “worsened considerably” since 2017 as there have been multiple reports of detention, torture, burning down of homes and excessive use of force by state forces.

The U.N. estimates that about 21,000 people have fled to neighboring countries, while 160,000 have been internally displaced by the violence. Many are hiding in the forest.

In a recent interview with Mission Network News, Efi Tembon, the executive director of the Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy, described the state of the country.

“More than 2,000 people have been killed so far since this started, and more than 170 villages have been burned, and more than 200,000 people are displaced, and more than 100,000 people are refugees in Nigeria,” he said.

Additionally, Tembon said that the military has even killed some pastors and taken over churches to use them as military bases.

Tembon said that there are 38 Bible language projects or projects helping communities with “scripture impact” that have been impacted by the violence.

The violence has caused many of the 400 translators in the regions to be displaced. Many of them are hiding in forests and some have been killed.

“In some communities translation has stopped,” Tembon said.

As for the thousands of people who have fled into the forests, Tembon expressed concern for their well-being.

“There are more people dying in the bushes than [who] are even being killed by bullets because they have no access to medical care,” he explained. “They are sick with Malaria. … Children are dying of malnutrition, [and] they don’t have any food.”

Many of those who fled don’t even have a home to return to, Tembon stressed.

“Their homes have been burned, family members killed, they are living in bushes without food, no clothing, no basic needs, [and] exposed to all kinds of danger,” he said.

Tembon warned that the Cameroonian military has, over recent years, received support and training from the U.S. government.

“This provision was for the fight against Boko Haram. It was well-intentioned, but you know with good intentions, sometimes they have unintended consequences,” Tembon said. “These are being used now to fight against the … people.”

“We think the U.S. has leverage, has some influence to be able to help,” Tembon added. “We are calling on others to write to their senators, to write to their representatives to be aware of this situation so something can be done [and] mediation can take place so peace can return.”

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urged the Cameroonian government to start an independent investigation into the reports of human rights abuses.

“Given the seriousness of the reports of violence against Cameroonians in the western part of the country, we have asked for access to be able to verify allegations made against both security forces and armed elements,” Zeid said in a statement. “We will now need to explore other options, including remote monitoring.”

According to Mission Network News, the interdenominational Bible translation nonprofit Wycliffe Associates, a partner of Tembon and CABTAL, is raising funds to provide for the displaced Bible translators and to replaced translation equipment.

Source: The Christian Post

Southern Cameroonians in Canada have called for the Cameroon government, the United Nations, Canada and the world to investigate and help find solutions to the ongoing crisis in Cameroon. The call was made during a joint protest organized by the Southern Cameroons Relief Organization (SCRO) for Southern Cameroonians in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal which took place on August 10, 2018.

The protest began at the Cameroon High Commission in Canada with protesters singing both patriotic and sorrowful songs with placards in their hands carrying messages like, “enough is enough, say no to dictatorship”, “stop genocide in Southern Cameroons”, “stop raping our women” and many more.

A casket was also brought out as part of the protest materials. Protesters could be seen wailing over the coffin for those who have been killed, raped and jailed unfairly in Cameroon. While the protest continued in front of the Cameroon High Commission, with no official stepping out to talk to the protesters, the protesters brought down the Cameroon flag that was hoisted.

This act caused the officials to come out of the office, with the High Commissioner to Canada, Solomon Azoh-Mbi, taking the lead to frown at the act. There was nothing he could do as protesters kept singing at the top of their voices “no violence”. He walked away from the scene and came out for the second time to witness the Cameroon flag being burnt and the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) flag being hoisted.

Feeling they had passed on their message  – though the officials made no statement – , the protesters left the premises heading for the United Nations (UN) representative’s office. While there, a petition was handed to the National Development Director, James D. Lee, who in turn called on the protesters to keep asking for what is right while waiting for a response from the UN. He promised to present their demands to the United Nations. The protest continued to the streets and ended at the Parliament Hill.

In an interview during the protest, the Vice President of SCRO said that that the protest aimed to create awareness among Canadians, the media and the international community of the genocidal atrocities being committed by the country’s army which has invaded and occupied the two English-speaking regions. Mr. Hippolyte Asaah said that more than a hundred villages had been burnt down, over 120.000 people internally displaced and many women and girls were being raped on a daily basis by the military which also carries out summary killings of men and families.

Also, the Secretary General of SCRO, Khumbah Efuange, said that it was not only Cameroonians in Canada who came out to protest, but also friends from Canada, Jamaica and Chad living in Canada, adding that if things did not change for the better, the protests would continue. He suggested that another protest might be organized on October 1, 2018; a day considered as Southern Cameroons Independence Day.

The Southern Cameroons Relief Organization (SCRO) was formed out of necessity by some Southern Cameroonians in Toronto in February 2017 to investigate the problems in Southern Cameroons and chart a way forward. The organization has, since creation organized two protests in Toronto and four in Ottawa. It has also been raising funds to assist Southern Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria. Officials of the organization used the occasion to report that the Nigerian government had not released a container it sent to Nigeria to help refugees meet some of their needs.  They called on any one who can assist to contact the organization at: gtasoutherncameroon@gmail.com.

By Irene Nanyongo

North Korea has rejected “repeated” US proposals on denuclearization, considering them “gangster-like”, CNN has reported, citing senior diplomatic sources.

The US has made, and continues to make, “specific proposals for starting and proceeding to the end point of fully verified denuclearization,” including a timeline, the broadcaster reported.

It said the “vague promises” that emerged from the meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June have resulted in a diplomatic disconnect.

The brief document produced at the summit included no time frame, no specific promises or milestones to meet, allowing both sides to interpret it as they wished, CNN added.

Washington has linked the lifting of sanctions on Pyongyang to full and verifiable denuclearization by North Korea which insists sanctions be removed first before it takes any further steps.

CNN cited an official with close knowledge of North Korea’s position on the matter as saying that continued negotiations between the US and North Korea hinge on Washington’s willingness to make a bold move and agree to a peace treaty with Pyongyang.

The North says the US is back-pedaling on its promises. North Korea issued a statement at the United Nations on Thursday, insisting that elements of the US government are not adhering to the spirit of the dialogue established during Kim-Trump Singapore summit.

According to the statement, while Pyongyang had taken “such practical denuclearization steps as discontinuing nuclear test and ICBM test fire” and “broadminded measures” such as the repatriation of US Korean War remains, “the US responded to our expectation by inciting international sanctions and pressure against (North Korea).”

The statement did not blame the US president, but singled out some high-level officials within the US administration, who it alleged were going against Trump’s will.

North Korea on Thursday denounced US calls for enforcing international sanctions and said progress on denuclearization promises could not be expected if Washington followed an “outdated acting script”.

Pyongyang has urged Washington to take reciprocal measures for its goodwill gestures, saying the US had responded to its expectation by inciting international sanctions and pressure.

Source: Presstv

Using advanced digital analysis tools, Amnesty International experts were able to confirm that the video, shot at an unknown date but prior to May 2016, corroborates previous accounts of extrajudicial executions which the Cameroonian authorities have denied.

“This shocking video shows armed men lining people up face down or sitting against a wall and shooting them with automatic weapons. A second round of shooting ensures no survivors. Here is yet more credible evidence to support the allegations that Cameroon’s armed forces have committed grave crimes against civilians, and we are calling for an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation. Those suspected to be responsible for these abhorrent acts must be brought to justice,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty International’s Lake Chad Researcher.

“Last month we analyzed footage from another location which showed two women and two young children being killed by soldiers who were clearly members of Cameroon’s armed forces. What further evidence do they need before they act on these atrocities?”

Amnesty International has documented multiple extrajudicial killings, as well as the widespread use of torture by Cameroonian security forces who are fighting against the armed group Boko Haram in the Far North region of the country.

Amnesty International researchers analyzed the weapons, dialogue and uniforms visible in the latest video, as well as testimony and satellite imagery, to conclude the approximate timing and exact location of the executions, and determined the suspected perpetrators to be members of the Cameroonian security forces.

The footage shows a group of soldiers in their distinctive “lizard stripe” camouflage uniforms, patrolling the village of Achigachiya. Some are armed with Zastava M21 rifles, and others are mounted on a pick-up truck with a ZPU-2 anti-aircraft gun.

The video, apparently recorded by a member of the security forces, shows soldiers burning structures which are likely to be homes, and then focuses on a group of 12 people lined against a wall, all sitting or lying down. At 01:40 minute into the video, numerous soldiers using automatic weapons fire into the group for an extended period, from several meters away. A soldier then walks forward and fires again at close range at several persons in the group, presumably to ensure there are no survivors.

Speaking in French, the soldiers describe themselves as carrying out a “kamikaze” operation.

The footage supports evidence of extrajudicial executions previously documented by Amnesty International in a July 2016 report. The report documented the unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions of over 30 people, including several elderly, in Achigachiya following an operation by the security forces seeking to recover the bodies of the soldiers killed by Boko Haram on 28 December 2014, which were abandoned in front of the military base destroyed by the insurgents. This operation by the army was also done as a collective punishment against the population perceived as supporting Boko Haram.

The Cameroonian government announced an investigation following the release of the video in July, but their rapid dismissal of the video as “fake news” casts serious doubt on whether this investigation would be genuinely impartial and effective.

In failing to hold suspected perpetrators to account for the horrific crimes documented by Amnesty International and others, the Cameroonian authorities have created a climate of impunity in which the armed forces have free reign to kill and torture

The crisis that started as demonstrations by teachers and lawyers, quickly spread like wildfire to other professional sectors, with the molestation of lawyers by the country’s police serving as the fuel that was poured into a burning house.

This was made all the more worse by the brutality meted to Buea University students in 2016 just because the students wanted to peacefully discuss fee hikes with university authorities.

The University was headed at the time by Prof. Nalova Lyonga who is today the country’s minister of basic education; a position many observers say is a reward for her implementation of the government’s brutality on innocent students, a tactic the government has always used to silence opposition.

Some 2,000 innocent civilians have so far been killed in the two English-speaking regions of the country and more than 100 villages have been wiped off the country’s map by the national army and the militia formed by the government to intimidate and implement its policy of ferocious brutality.

The government of Cameroon is used to burning its own villages and killing civilians as a move to intimidate anybody who might want to challenge its authority in the future, but its fight with Southern Cameroonians might turn out to be its Waterloo, as Southern Cameroonians are using social media to expose its atrocities and the region’s Diaspora is hell-bent on giving the government a run for its money.

The Yaounde government has used this violence-based tactic in Northern Cameroon on many occasions and the last video wherein children and women were being shot point blank caused a storm of indignation across the world.

This has resulted in the US government withdrawing its military aid and personnel from Cameroon. The American government is today accusing the Yaounde government of using its military assistance to abuse human rights across the country.

However, the videos have kept on coming out. It appears the floodgates have been opened. On Monday, another video emerged with Cameroon soldiers killing more than 20 young unarmed male adults in the country’s northern regions.

The young male were rounded up and soldiers could be seen shooting and laughing as the young men take their last breath. Many homes were torched as the soldiers advanced into the village.

The Cameroon army soldiers in the video could be heard celebrating their inhuman violence by making a mockery of those killed. They could also be heard boasting about their heinous crime.

If the world thinks the government of Cameroon will ever respect human rights then it is mistaken. Many Cameroonians have been sent to an early grave by their own government for just raising a hand against abuses by their government.

The world has to hold the Biya regime responsible for the deaths of more than five thousand Cameroonians killed in the north, southwest and northwest regions over the last two years.

Mr. Paul Biya, the country’s 86-year-old president, and his cohort of embezzlers, are prepared to kill anybody who seeks to expose their abuse. Many journalists are today at risk, as they seek to report the human catastrophe that is playing out in the north, southwest and northwest regions.

To hide its heinous crimes, the Yaounde government has invited a Facebook delegation to Yaounde to press the online giant on the possibility of hiding its crimes. It should be pointed out that thanks to social media, the crimes of the Yaounde government have been brought to the public square and this has been a huge embarrassment to the ailing government.

In a press release signed on August 1, 2018, by Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, a senior civil servant at the presidency, the government urged the ministry of communication to participate in the working session to be held with the Facebook delegation that will be in Cameroon from August 6-15, 2018.

The press release also urges government news agencies such as the CRTV, SOPECAM and CNC to participate in the working session. No private news organ has been invited to attend the event.

The release also stresses that the objective is to focus on fake news that will be published on the country on Facebook during the upcoming presidential election. But analysts across the globe are of the opinion that there is more than meets the eye in the new relationship between Facebook and Cameroon.

The numerous videos that have hurt the country’s reputation abroad and given some of the country’s allies reasons to reflect on their alliance with a country that is wont to killing its own citizens, is causing the government to lose lots of money.

For more than six months, the Yaounde government has been faced with tough financial challenges and this has caused some important projects to be put on hold. The construction of stadiums for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations has run into some huge speed bumps.

Money is the issue and the country’s economy has taken so many punches thrown by Southern Cameroonian fighters who have now engaged in a war of economic sabotage. This has significantly reduced the government’s ability to operate at full capacity.

The Southern Cameroons crisis has hit the Yaounde government like a ton of bricks. The country’s economy is suffering. Its Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) in the English-speaking regions seem to be out of service. State corporations located in Southern Cameroons are already feeling the heat.

Pamol, a palm oil production corporation located in Lobe, a small town in Ndian Division, has finally shut its doors as the fighting between Southern Cameroonian fighters and army soldiers takes a turn for the worse. This revenue stream has stopped flowing and Yaounde is really ill-at-ease.

Pamol’s closure is bad news for the government. More than three thousand Pamol workers are today unemployed and living in permanent fear, as the fighting between the warring factions rages on.

Schools and courts in the region have been closed for almost two years and it is increasingly obvious that the Yaoundé government has lost control of certain parts of the two English-speaking regions. But it is not only Pamol’s closure that is causing the government nightmares. The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), one of the country’s major employers, is also going through a rough patch.

Some of its factories have closed shop, while the fighters have deliberately set some of its infrastructure ablaze as part of their economic sabotage campaign. Malende, a small town located some 6 km from Muyuka, has witnessed huge unemployment rates. The corporation’s rubber factory was set ablaze sometime last month by some unidentified men and this has hit CDC like a ton of bricks.

In other plantations, many workers have simply deserted. The fighting is disrupting economic activities in those plantations and many workers hold that it is better to quit than be caught up between the devil and the deep blue sea.

The fighting, coupled with the derisory salaries the corporation pays to its workers, has made CDC unattractive and this is gradually eroding the government’s tax base.

Similarly, government revenue has taken a nosedive, as the national oil refinery located in the Southwest region is also facing some major challenges. While falling global oil prices are spreading pain and suffering among oil exporters, the declining oil output and constant attempts by Southern Cameroonian fighters to bring down the country’s lone oil refinery are leaving the government in a huge messy economic quandary.

The crisis is a true nightmare to this once-upon-a-time oasis of peace. It is, indeed, a millstone around the government’s neck. Things might soon spiral out of control as the fighters threaten to attack SONARA at the slightest opportunity. They argue that they have never gained from the oil and that it will be better for everybody to suffer the consequences of the government’s recklessness.

These planned acts of sabotage do not augur well for a government that is already on its knees. It is already having a tough time paying civil servants and this is causing fear among the civil servants, especially the military, many of whom want to desert and seek a better life for their families abroad.

The Yaounde government has, over the last months, been left with a bloodshot eye. The humiliating videos are costing the country huge amounts of money. The government needs money, but its allies are not very happy with its human rights record. It is currently under enormous pressure from its allies who question the rationale behind the war it declared in Southern Cameroons and the inhuman killings unfolding in the northern part of the country.

To reduce the exposure of its atrocities, it is now seeking an alliance with Facebook and this might cause Facebook huge reputational damage. The California-based giant will surely not yield to pressure from the Yaounde government which is wont to human rights abuses.

However, regardless of what relationship the Yaounde government establishes with Facebook, Cameroonians are determined to expose its abuses. There are many social media platforms and Facebook is just one of them. The era of citizen journalism is here to stay. Rather than seek to hide its atrocities, the government of Cameroon will be a respected government if it seeks to address the issues instead of thinking that it can deceive everybody all the time.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde

As the Cameroon government of 36 year President Paul Biya slaughters civilians in the Anglophone regions as well as in the North, it has re-engaged Washington lobbying firm Patton Boggs, on a retainer of $100,000 per quarters plus expenses, documents show. This means that the July 11 meeting with Cameroonian ministers bragged about by this month’s UN Security Council president, Karen Pierce of the UK, was actually in connection with a lobbying trip stage managed by Patton Boggs.

The Southern Cameroons crisis that has given the country a bad name is gradually getting into a critical phase. The country’s minister of territorial administration is not displaying the maturity leadership imposes on people. He is still talking tough and this is hurting any chances for peace.

If talking tough could address many issues, the Southern Cameroons crisis that has given the country a very bad name, could have been addressed. As the situation deteriorates, it will be wise for both parties to keep it low. Tough language has never really resolved any issue, but people like Atanga Nji are yet to understand that. Words are like bullets. Once they are out of the mouth, they cannot be recalled and they have the potential to ruin any efforts at bringing back peace to a people.

Atanga Nji displayed this primitive tendency a few days ago while receiving some Fako chiefs who had been released by Southern Cameroonian fighters after protracted negotiations. For Atanga Nji, the country’s territorial administration minister, who received the chiefs in Yaounde, he used the occasion to provoke Southern Cameroonian fighters.

He promised tracking down all the fighters who are in the jungle, adding that they and their progeny would be made to pay for their crimes if they did not come out of the jungle that has been serving as a five-star hotel to them and a green jail to all those arrested.

Mr. Atanga Nji who is not a respected minister in Cameroon, failed to understand that if it was easy to arrest the fighters in the thick equatorial jungle of the Southwest region, that would have been done a long time ago. His constant use of unfriendly language has unfortunately led to the killing of many uniformed officers.

Over the last few days, not less than 8 uniformed officers have been killed in Southern Cameroons and this has resulted in renewed violence, with the ordinary civilian suffering for something he knows nothing about.

Mr. Atanga Nji and his Yaounde masters should figure out that there will never be a total military solution to this issue. Southern Cameroonians are determined to stay the course, and only genuine and sincere dialogue will stop tempers from flaring.

Camcordnews Desk with files from Inner Press

Five police have been killed in fresh violence in western Cameroon, where English-speaking separatists have declared an independent state, security sources and witnesses said on Monday.

Four gendarmes were killed in Esu, a village near the town of Wum in Northwest Region, when their unit came under attack on Sunday, a source close to the regional security services said.

“The attack happened in the morning – they were new recruits who were caught off-guard,” the source said, adding that there also were wounded.

The inhabitants of Esu fled after the attack, one of them said. “Many people were so afraid that they went off into the bush – others are trying to get to Bamenda,” the capital of Northwest Region, the source said.

In neighbouring Southwest Region, a police officer named Ekah Njume was killed on Sunday at his home in Mutengene, near the capital Buea, by unidentified assailants, witnesses and local press reports said on Monday.

The two regions are predominantly home to English-speakers, a minority comprising about a fifth of the 22 million people in Cameroon, a largely French-speaking West African state.

Years of resentment among anglophones at perceived discrimination fuelled demands in 2016 for a return to the country’s federal structure.

President Paul Biya, 85, took a hard line, ruling out any concessions. As the situation polarised, anglophone militants last October 1 made a symbolic declaration of independence that met with a government crackdown.

Since then, the two regions have been hit by almost daily acts of violence and retribution. Scores of police and troops have been killed, as well as more than 100 civilians, according to a government report in July.

According to UN data, the violence has caused more than 21 000 people to flee to neighbouring countries, while 160 000 have been internally displaced, with many reportedly hiding in forests. Cameroon’s large English-speaking minority is a legacy of the colonial period.

The former German colony was divided between Britain and France after World War I. In 1960, the French colony gained independence, becoming Cameroon. The following year, the British-ruled Southern Cameroons were amalgamated into it, giving rise to the Northwest and Southwest regions.

Source: AFP

Japan is marking 73 years since the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, with tens of thousands of people taking part in a solemn and emotional ceremony to honor the victims of the world’s first ever atomic attack.

On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped its atomic payload over the port city at 8:15 a.m. local time, ultimately killing 140,000 people.

The bombing utterly destroyed almost everything within 10 square kilometers in the downtown area.

Many died immediately while others succumbed to their injuries or radiation-related illnesses weeks, months, and years later.

Three days later, a second nuclear attack on Nagasaki killed another 70,000 people. Japan surrendered on August 15, and brought the hostilities of the World War II to an end. It was, however, a beginning to the nuclear age.

On Monday, tens of thousands of people gathered in Hiroshima, located about 700 hundred kilometers west of Tokyo, to mark the occasion, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in attendance.

The participants – among them survivors and representatives from 80 countries — observed a minute’s silence at 8:15 a.m., the moment the Hiroshima tragedy occurred.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui addressed the crowd at the ceremony, recounting the scene of the tragedy on the day of the bombing. He asked the audience to listen “as if you and your loved ones were there.”

“If the human family forgets history or stops confronting it, we could again commit a terrible error,” Matsui said.

Calling nuclear deterrents and umbrellas “inherently unstable and extremely dangerous,” Matsui urged world leaders to negotiate in good faith to eliminate their atomic weapons.

He also called for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, saying, “We in civil society fervently hope that the easing of tensions on the Korean Peninsula will proceed through peaceable dialogue.”

Matsui further urged the prime minister to help the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — also known as the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty — take effect.

Abe also addressed the crowd, repeating the vow to lead efforts for a nuclear-free world.

In order to promote cooperation for having a world free of nuclear arsenal, Abe said, world leaders must understand “the reality of the tragedy of nuclear attacks.”

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who also attended the event, in turn, warned about rising tensions between nuclear-armed states, saying “Nuclear arsenals are being modernized and, in some cases, expanded.”

“What occurred in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 cannot and must not ever happen again,” he said.

Japan, now a US ally, falls under the protection of America’s nuclear umbrella and has so far refused to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted in July 2017.

Source: Presstv