Is Genocide going on in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon? The place of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes within the Anglophone armed conflict as per Rome Statute Act 1998
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Acts of Genocide and Crimes against humanity remains the talk of the day in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. These two are inevitable to talk in the troubled regions as the suffering masses awaits a miraculous end to the ongoing armed conflict.
The genocide which is the most talk about by the suffering masses is a legal term with some ingredients that must be fulfilled before an act(s) is considered genocide. At least 5000 people have been allegedly killed by the use of a weapon in the course of the going armed conflict since 2016. Aside those who have been directly killed, many have continued to die because of lack of health facilities and malnutrition.
Rome Statute Acts of 17 July 1998. This statute came into force on the 1st of July 2002 and some of its articles clearly outline acts which are equals to crimes against humanity, war crimes acts of genocide, crime of aggression, element of crimes etc. It is important to note that these shortlisted crimes are inexorable to discuss in conflict zones within the globe. NB: Cameroon is a signatory State but not yet ratified the Rome Statute. Thus, the following paragraphs will focus on some of the above mention crimes in relation to ongoing armed conflict in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon.
ACTS OF GENOCIDE (ARTICLE 6 OF ROME STATUTE ACTS 1998). Genocide is defined according to this statute as acts committed with the intention to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
This crime can be committed in the following ways. The killing of a group of people, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Causing bodily and mental harm, imposing measures intended to prevent birth, forcibly transferring children of the group to another group etc. Taking into consideration the burning of villages, killing a group of citizens and causing psychological harm to these group of people. Are there any genocide crimes going on as far as Anglophone armed conflict in Cameroon is concerned?
Taking the above definition and facts into consideration and likening it to the situation in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, the ingredients to qualify the killings in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon as genocide are lacking. Though there have been mass killings, causing bodily and psychological harm, there is no intention to destroy part or whole of the population in the troubled regions.
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY (ARTICLE 7 OF ROME STATUTE ACTS 1998). According to this article, crimes against humanity can be committed through the following acts. These acts will be considered crimes against humanity when the actors know or are intentionally aware that they are injuring the civilian population who instead need protection. For example, when there is the killing of civilians during war, the enslavement of civilians, forceful transfer of population, rape, and other crimes causing suffering to civilians (see Rome statute acts for more). The ongoing killings, burning of villages, burning of schools/hospitals, a threat to education qualifies that acts of crimes against humanity have been committed in Cameroon. Where schools and villages have been burnt, where there is a threat to education, where internally displaced persons have no shelter. The question remains, are there acts of crimes against humanity going on in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon? Crimes against humanity have been committed in Cameroon as per the Rome Statute Act of 1998..
WAR CRIMES (ARTICLE 8 OF ROME STATUTE 1998). Acts which are referred to as war crimes according to Rome statute Act by virtue of article 8 is to the fact that, when the following crimes are committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes it will constitute war crimes. The following are therefore crimes against humanity when they suit the above mention instances. That is, willful killing, inhuman treatment, taking of hostages, unlawful deportation or transfer, compelling prisoners of war to serve in the force of hostile power, attacks or bombarding of villages or towns by whatever means, attacking of religious, traditional or hereditary buildings, killing of innocent civilians destroying or seizing of enemies property and other acts related to the above mention crime (see Rome Statute Act for more)
Thus discussing article 8 with the happenings in the Anglophone region of Cameroon since 2016 till date, the question remains, is the killing of innocent and unarmed civilians a war crime? Is taking hostage citizens a war crime? Is maltreatment of prisoners of war in the Anglophone region of Cameroon a war crime? Is the killing of religious and traditional authorities a war crime? War crimes have been committed in Cameroon and perpetrators should be hold accountable
There is a need for the international community to take note of what they agreed on the 17 of July 1998 into consideration as far as the ongoing armed conflict in the Anglophone region of Cameroon is concerned. This is because most acts relating to war crimes and crimes against humanity to be alerted have been indisputably committed. Then why is the international community silent on the issue, why will the international community wait for people to die in thousands? The first help we need now from the international community is to intervene and drive a solution to this armed conflict.
Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
