February 2020 - Southern Cameroon Updates
By: Kelly van Eeten & Francisca de Castro, Junior Research Associates, PILPG-NL
THIS POST COLLECTS UPDATES FROM THE PAST MONTH CONCERNING RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTHERN CAMEROON. THE INFORMATION IS DRAWN FROM LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL ONLINE SOURCES.
At least 21 civilians killed in attack in separatist area
According to Human Rights Watch, Cameroon's government forces and armed ethnic Fulani have killed at least 21 civilians, including 13 children and 1 pregnant woman on February 14, 2020. The attack took place in Cameroon’s Ngarbuh village. The killing took place along with the beating of civilians and the burning of their homes. Some of the victims of the attack were found dead in their burned homes. The Cameroonian government denies that their troops have been deliberately committing these acts.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 25 people, including witnesses and relatives of the victims. One witness said that he witnessed the killing of his entire family, including seven children, while his family members tried to escape.
Human Rights Watch also said that on February 16, a joint team of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees wished to carry out a humanitarian needs assessment in Ngarbuh. However, the Rapid Intervention Battalion (Cameroons special government forces) blocked them from going there. Furthermore, witnesses said that the soldiers photographed witnesses that were interviewed by the UN and prevented the UN from doing its work.
The Cameroonian Minister of Defense has announced that they opened an investigation and that findings would be published. Later, he announced that the findings would be published at an ‘appropriate time’. On the 18th of February the Cameroonian Minister of Communications published an announcement stating that their Defense and Security Forces had been subject to false allegations, stating that: ‘The alleged killing of twenty-two villagers including fourteen children, by Cameroonian Defense and Security Forces in Ngarbuh is fake’. Furthermore, he stated that armed gangs had set up their base in Ngarbuh, while perpetrating abuses on the road leading to Ntumbaw. According to the Minister of Communication the Defense and Security Forces were alerted by the population and while they fought these armed groups an explosion took place in a fortified shelter of the rebels. This incident had led to five deaths, one woman and four children.
Days after the massacre at Ngarbuh village, a Cameroonian soldier was arrested for not having respected the rules of engagement during an incident which resulted in one casualty. During a police pursuit, a suspect in a vehicle was killed by a soldier who opened fire at the car. The driver of the car was killed and the passenger was injured. The soldier in question was arrested, and the minister of Defense made a statement commending the arrest of the soldier for breaking the rules of engagement.
Presidents Paul Biya’s Party wins the elections during election chaos and a lockdown
BBC claim,reports indicate that there was a poor turnout in Cameroon’s parliamentary and local elections last Sunday. The polls closed at 18:00 local time and results are expected within two weeks. Earlier in the week, separatist fighters in the Anglophone heartlands ordered a lockdown and some residents fled their homes out of fear of possible confrontation between the militants and security forces. Clashes between the military and the separatists were reported in the town of Muyuka and gunfire was heard in Buea and Kuma.
Claiming massive fraud, Cameroonian opposition political parties are calling for the results of the February 9 local elections that gave the ruling People's Democratic Movement of long-serving President Paul Biya a landslide victory to be discarded.
Uprise in human rights abuses in the months leading towards the elections in Cameroon
Cameroonian government forces and rival anglophone separatists have stepped up arrests, abductions, and deadly attacks in the two months leading up to Sunday’s parliamentary and municipal elections, causing a devastating fallout for civilians that looks set to worsen. Amnesty International’s analysis of remote sensing data confirms that more than 50 houses in Babubock and neighbouring villages were burned to the ground during a military operation around 14 January 2020. Furthermore, the military attacked the village of Ndoh shooting indiscriminately at a village market. Amnesty International found that at least 16 people died and at least five were hurt by gunfire, including two children. Besides this, a humanitarian aid worker has been abducted by the Rapid Intervention Battalion on 24 December and found death with evidence of torture on January 2th.
Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch says that she has never seen so many incidents, attacks and violence reports in the conflict until now. Previously, the crisis had been marked by periodic peaks in violence coinciding with key dates such as presidential elections and court proceedings for arrested separatist leaders. “This has now been taken to another level,” Allegrozzi said.
Whereas during the conflict’s first year, violence against civilians and human rights abuses were perpetrated largely by government security forces, HRW’s Allegrozzi said such actions have since been “coming from both sides”. Abuses are being committed "equally by both armed separatists and the security forces,” she explained. Human Rights Watch documented at least 25 cases of kidnapping of candidates to the elections since mid-November 2019, and heard reliable reports of over 100 people kidnapped by the separatists over the same period. Separatist groups have also used intimidation and violence to keep children and teachers out of schools. Aid workers are being targeted as well. On January 30th four members of COMINSUD were kidnapped, three of them were being tortured. On the same day, three members of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation were kidnapped as well, but later released without ransom.
Uprise in displacement of civilians in Cameroon
The UN refugee agency says about 8,000 persons fled from Cameroon into Nigeria in the past two weeks because of an upsurge in violence. The refugees had to go through savannahs and forests, some arrived with gunshot wounds. Furthermore, new Boko Haram attacks have displaced more than 3,000 people along Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria in the past three months. Authorities say the Boko Haram militants torched houses, abducted, raped and looted, creating fear among villagers. The governor of Cameroon’s far north region said that the wave of attacks is a consequence of a porous border and the dry season, during which it is easier for militants to move around than it is during the wet season. Furthermore, he denied the attacks were made worse by the military withdrawing from several border posts to fight rebels in the English-speaking northwest.
Cameroonian mothers iron their daughters breasts to prevent them from being sexually harassed
Although many of the families Al Jazeera spoke to mentioned the vulnerability of young girls growing up as refugees as one of the reasons for their decision to iron their daughters' breasts, the practice has been happening in Cameroon for decades. A quarter of women in Cameroon have undergone breast ironing. In nearly 60 percent of the cases, the procedure is carried out by mothers. The United Nations has described breast ironing as one of the most under-reported crimes associated with gender-based violence. It is thought to affect 3.8 million women globally.
Many Cameroonians fled to Nigeria after fights broke out between government forces and English-speaking separatists. The conflict has forced some 500,000 people away from their homes and created a humanitarian crisis. The refugee families' fears for their daughters are not unfounded. Female refugees and displaced people in Nigeria are at high risk of sexual harassment and exploitation. Many Cameroonian families may fear that living as refugees adds an element of danger for their daughters. But for others, breast ironing is a matter of societal expectation. Girls who have their breasts ironed have a higher risk of getting breast cancer, cysts and inability to breastfeed.
Worrying situation of political prisoners held captive in Cameroon
Amnesty started a campaign for political activist Serge Branco Nana, member of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) who is serving a two-year prison sentence being accused of inciting a riot. He is at risk of further torture and requires urgent medical care.
Furthermore, the French President Emmanuel Macron stated during the Salon de l’Agriculture that he would call President Paul Biya to pressure him to let go political prisoner Maurice Kamto. This was in response to an activist from the Brigade Anti-Sardinards (BAS), a group of activists from the diaspora who oppose the Yaounde regime.