Human Rights NGO report an increase in Human Rights violations and abuses in the conflict affected regions of Cameroon.
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On 23 September 2023, the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA), Headed by Barrister Agbor Nkongho, published a Human Rights Report on the situation in the conflict affected regions of Cameroon. In a report presented by Mr. Berinyuy Cajetan, the CHRDA’s Human Rights Officer During the press conference, it was revealed that more than 100 people have been killed in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon in the first half of the year 2023. The Executive Director, Dr Violet Fokum who presented to the press the works of CHRDA also revealed that in addition to Human Rights work, CHRDA has been engaged in other activities like humanitarian response, research and empowerment.
As published on their official website, CHRDA described the report as the summary of their monthly Human Rights monitoring, divided into different human rights violations and abuses CHRDA documented in the first half of2023. The human right issues raised in this report are related to the ongoing armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions and the Boko Haram Insurgency in the Far North Region.
CONTEXT
(As published on the official website of CHRDA) Violations and abuses by government forces, armed separatists, Boko Haram Insurgency groups and armed Fulani herders continue to claim lives and affect people’s safety, and livelihood, in the North West, South West and Far North Regions of Cameroon. The horrific effects of these human rights violations and abuses affect mostly those in the hinterlands especially those in the North West and South West Regions.
In October 2016, the ongoing Anglophone crisis started when lawyers and teachers from the North West and South West regions of Cameroon went on strike, protesting against what they termed the marginalization of the population, especially at the level of Common Law Courts and the Anglo-Saxon Education System. The protests were led by the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. These protests were met with a stiff and violent response from the Cameroon government authorities and in 2017, and the crisis degenerated into full-blown armed conflict between the Separatist fighters and the State Defense Forces.
The Boko Haram insurgency began in Nigeria in 2009 and subsequently spread across the Lake Chad basin countries, including Cameroon. Boko Haram indiscriminately attack civilians using Improvised Explosive Devices, suicide bombings in crowded areas and use of lethal weapons thereby targeting civilians and civilian properties. In the first half of the year 2023, there were reported cases of human rights abuses perpetrated by the Boko Haram Insurgency Group.
METHODOLOGY
To document this report, CHRDA carried out field monitoring through our staff and focal point persons in various localities in the conflict-affected regions; carried out observations in courts; observation of the conflict trends; and analyzed comments and reports from the national and international stakeholders and media reports. We also carried out interviews with victims, eyewitnesses and stakeholders. We used digital tools, including but not limited to the CHRDA’s Android application (Community Reporter), Social media and other digital tools to collect and analyze our data.
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
The Cameroon Constitution of 1996 (as amended in 2008), the Cameroon Penal Code of 2016 and the Cameroon Criminal Procedure Code of 2005 were analyzed in this report. We also made reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). The 1996 Constitution of Cameroon by virtue of its article 45 provides that “Duly approved or ratified treaties and international agreements shall, following the publication, override national laws, provided the other party implements the said treaty or agreement.” Below are some of the ratified laws which we analyzed while documenting this report.
- African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ratification on June 20, 1989).
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT; ratification on December 19, 1986);
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW; ratification on August 23, 1994);
- Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity (accession on October 6, 1972)
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC; ratification on January 11, 1993) and its Optional Protocol (ratification on February 4, 2013);
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR; ratification on June 27, 1984);
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR; ratification on June 27, 1984);
Downlead the Report below:
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.
