Two International Human Rights Organisation indict Cameroon Defence and Security Forces for Extrajudicial Killing of Two Alleged Separatist Fighters in North West Region
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On 04 August 2022, the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa published on their website a human rights report which suggest that the Cameroon defense and security forces arbitrary executed some alleged separatist fighters. The report entitiled “Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon: Joint Flash Report on Extrajudicial Killing of Two Alleged Separatist Fighters in Bambui, North West Region” was jointly investigated by CHRDA and Cameroon Data Based of Attrocities. Read the full report below:
On July 31, 2022, elements of the Cameroonian Defence and Security Forces launched an operation in the vicinity of Bambui in Mezam Division of the North-West Region of Cameroon. Evidence suggests the operation was conducted by the Groupement polyvalent d’intervention dela gendarmerie nationale (GPIGN) and the Gendarmerie unit from Tubah Subdivision.
In the course of this operation, it is reported that a number of separatist fighters were captured and/or killed. Two alleged separatist fighters, “General Rasta” and “Colonel John,” were identified by multiple sources as the two separatists killed in the operation. The Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities and Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA) reviewed photos posted to social media that were allegedly taken during and after the operation.
The photos taken during the operation demonstrate that “General Rasta” and “Colonel John” were initially captured alive by the state forces. The fighters are seen to be restrained, bloodied, and defenceless in these photos. In that state, it appears they did not pose any threat to the state security personnel, and it would not be possible for them to escape.
The photos taken after the operation show the bodies of the deceased “General Rasta” and “Colonel John” on display in the middle of Bambui. Behind the bodies is a sign labelling the fighters by name. They are wearing the same clothes as in the photos taken during the operation, and their bodies feature a number of new injuries that were not present in the earlier photos.
Thus, it is evident that after “General Rasta” and “Colonel John” were captured, they were likely further injured, and then executed by state security forces. This incident represents a violation of multiple international legal codes, including the Third Geneva Convention (Article 3), which holds that persons taking no active part in hostilities—including fighters who are placed ‘hors de combat’ by sickness, wounds, or detention—must be treated humanely, and cannot be harmed, executed without proper court judgment, or otherwise degraded. Therefore, executing alleged separatist fighters who were ‘hors de combat’ due to detention, and displaying their bodies in a public setting, would be violations of the Geneva Convention.
It also violates other international legal codes, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 6(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Articles 4 and 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. This incident in Bambui is not the first time that state forces have perpetrated extrajudicial killings of alleged separatist fighters and civilians alike. Cameroonian forces are also known to display bodies of alleged fighters in public. The Database of Atrocities and CHRDA condemn these practices and offer the following recommendations.
To the Government of Cameroon, noting the recent statement by Cameroon’s Defence Minister that the government will arrest and charge state violators of human rights:
• Investigate the incident in Bambui, and hold the perpetrators to account.
• Investigate this pattern of behavior by state forces and eradicate it as a practice.
• Find a lasting, non-military solution to the Anglophone Crisis, to end the loss of lives.
To the Cameroonian Defence and Security Forces:
• Respect International Humanitarian Law at all times. Do not harm, kill, or degrade
persons not actively engaged in hostilities, including combatants who are hors de combat.
• Put an end to the practice of displaying dead bodies of alleged fighters in communities.
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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.
