Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities: Verified report on the burning of Bangang Village
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The Anglophone armed conflict which started in 2016, has witnessed gross human rights violations and mass displacement of persons both internal and external. The burning of villages have continuously been used as a method of punishment by both warring parties. The following verified report is the product of Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities, an initiative which demonstrates the extent to how and when the Bangang village, in the Southwest Region was burnt.
On April 20, 2020, a video was uploaded to Facebook and social media that purportedly showed the burning of Bangang village, in Lebialem, by a separatist group under the command of “General Ayeke.” The link was submitted to the Database on the same day. Initial reports claimed various dates for the attack: September 6, 2019, September 9, 2019, April 12, 2020, or April 19, 2020.
The video shows many of the perpetrators, who appear to be members of an armed separatist group. “General Ayeke” does not appear in the video. The video includes (favorable) narration of the attack. Through a contact in Lebialem, the Database received additional photographs of damage purportedly from the Bangang burning. This contact stated that there were two attacks – a small one on September 7, 2019, and a large one on September 9, 2019. Through a second contact in Lebialem, the Database received verbal information that approximately 65 structures were destroyed and roughly 390 civilians made homeless.
Geolocation of satellite images confirms that the attack occurred in the village of Bangang, in Lebialem Division. Although the video shows destruction of one clutch of roughly 15 structures, our geolocation of the additional photographs indicates that the attack also destroyed structures in at least two other parts of Bangang.
Based on our analysis we conclude that this was indeed an attack on Bangang village in Lebialem,
perpetrated by an armed separatist group. It entailed the destruction of at least 25 structures, and most likely 60+ structures, across at least three separate areas of Bangang spanning more than 1km. It most likely occurred on September 7 and 9, 2019. It made 300+ civilians homeless. It is likely that the perpetrators were led by “General Ayeke.”
The Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities is the product of an impartial, independent group of researchers and civic leaders, dedicated to recording and investigating human rights abuses committed by all actors during the Anglophone Crisis. Our team includes researchers at University of Toronto, Leiden University, the Edinburgh International Justice Initiative (EIJI), University of CaliforniaBerkeley’s Human Rights Center Investigations Lab, and Amnesty International’s Digital Verification Corps, with support from the Anglophone Crisis Monitoring Project, other OSINT verifiers, and the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA).
The Database accepts incidents through an anonymous reporting portal, using Ushahidi software, and also through WhatsApp and email submissions. Researchers work to investigate and verify incidents where the level of evidence permits. This Database is apolitical and will always avoid any partisan interference. It is hosted at University of Toronto (Canada) for reasons of neutrality and cybersecurity. Read and or download the full report through the following link: https://dataverse.scholarsportal.info/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.5683/SP2/POZMMS
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.
