Anglophone Armed conflict in Cameroon: Witness testimony and satellite images reveal the scale of devastating violence. Amnesty International report
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“All parties to the conflict in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions have committed human rights violations and abuses, and civilians are caught in the middle. In one particularly appalling case, armed separatists shot dead two elderly women with barrage rifles; in another, Fulani vigilantes burned hundreds of houses and killed four people in a terrifying attack.” Said Fabien Offner, Amnesty International’s Central Africa Researcher.
The Anglophone armed conflict which started in 2016 has led to the killing of more than 3000 persons, displacement of nearly a million internally displaced persons and more than 50, 000 refugees with devastating economic insecurity.
In a detailed report published on their official website on 28 July 2021, backed by satellite images, Amnesty International has in its report described as the scale of devastation in Anglophone regions reveal that the armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions of Cameron is escalating given the amount of violence, killings and destruction of the civilian properties.
The report that takes an overview of verified incidents of Human Rights Violations as of 2019 focused more on violations by the armed separatists and government-supported Fulani Vigilante Groups especially in the North West Region.
In the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon that is English Speaking and make up approximately 20% of the country’s population according to Amnesty International “It is difficult to obtain accurate information about the human rights crisis unfolding in these regions, which are hard to reach by road and have poor telecommunications networks. But this is no excuse to look away – without strong action by the authorities and the international community, civilians will continue to bear the brunt of the crisis.”
The tension between the separatists and the Fulani Vigilante group escalated following the Ngarbuh Massacre. According to the UN, at least 22 civilians were killed in Ngarbuh on the night of 13 to 14 February 2020, including 15 children and two pregnant women, following a military operation. A government inquiry found that during the same incident, “the detachment commander decided to enlist 17 members of a local vigilante committee”. Several sources also reported that members of that “local vigilante committee” were Fulani armed groups.
Both the camps have committed grave human rights violations against the civilian population resulting in killings and destruction of properties/burning of villages.
Like in Nwa Subdivision, located along Cameroon’s border with Nigeria, has been particularly hard hit by the recent violence according to Between 22 and 26 February 2021, at least 4,200 people were displaced from seven villages in Nwa, following attacks by Fulani vigilante groups in which at least eight people were killed. According to the Centre for human rights and democracy in Africa (CHRDA), the Fulani herders “have carried out over a dozen raids against the natives in the villages of Nwa in less than a month”.
“Satellite images analysed by Amnesty International show some villages that have been destroyed or burned down in Nwa in February 2021. It is unclear whether Fulani vigilante groups attacked the villages or whether the destruction took place during clashes with armed separatist groups, but the images suggest that the destruction was fairly recent. For example, imagery taken from the village of Sih on 5 March 2021 shows large areas of blackened vegetation, indicating it was recently burned. Like many areas in the North-West region, villages in Nwa subdivision are poorly mapped, meaning not all locations could be verified.”
According to the report by Amnesty International, unofficial figures received from Mbororo groups, in the absence of official data from the authorities, since 2017, in the seven divisions of the North-West region:
- 162 Mbororo have been killed
- Approximately 300 homes have been burned
- 2,500 cattle have been killed or seized
- 102 people have been kidnapped, resulting in the payment of almost 270,000 euros in ransom.
One Mbororo traditional leader in Nwa subdivision told Amnesty International: “Armed separatists came to attack me six times. They destroyed my compound, burned down my brother’s houses. Seven people were killed in my compound. They gathered them in a house, locked the house and burned it. “
“The international community must ensure that the humanitarian response aimed at addressing the needs of those affected by the violence, including refugees and internally displaced, is adequately funded,” said Fabien Offner
Read details of the report through the link below : Cameroon: Witness testimony and satellite images reveal the scale of devastation in Anglophone regions | Amnesty International
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.
