a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings
There were several reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary and unlawful killings through excessive use of force in the execution of official duties (see also section 1.g., Abuses in Internal Conflict).
According to a credible organization, on January 29, government security forces shot and killed a nurse who was on his way to his duty station at the Oku health district in the Northwest Region. The same organization reported that in March in the Ndu subdivision of the Northwest Region, government security forces burned alive 13 civilians, including seven businesspersons who were returning from a business trip to neighboring Nigeria.
Anglophone separatists attacked and killed members of defense and security forces, as well as civilians considered loyal to the central government. For example, during the night of April 23 and the morning of April 24 in Muyuka, Southwest Region, separatist fighters decapitated and dismembered gendarme Adam Assana and scattered his body parts on the highway.
Boko Haram and ISIS-WA continued killing civilians, including members of so-called vigilance committees–organized groups of local residents cooperating with government forces in the Far North. On June 10, approximately 300 armed ISIS-WA jihadists attacked military positions in Darak in Logon and Shari division in the Far North Region, killing at least 16 soldiers and eight civilians, according to the defense minister.
While the government repeatedly promised to investigate abuses committed by security forces, it did not do so transparently or systematically and did not provide details. In an interview published in the April 30 edition of the daily newspaper Le Jour, Georges Parfait Nana, commander of the operational unit of the National Gendarmerie specialized in the fight against corruption, stated that the gendarmerie disciplined 100 gendarmes in the past year. There were reportedly more than 600 telephone calls made to a toll-free hotline number established in the previous year to report abuses by gendarmes. There were no reported punishments for human rights abuses, and the meaning of the discipline highlighted in the commander’s statement was not specified.
b. Disappearance
As in the previous year, government security forces were widely believed to be responsible for disappearances of suspected Anglophone separatists and political opponents. In a May report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented the cases of 26 detainees, including two women and an 18-month-old child, who were held incommunicado at the State Secretariat for Defense for the Gendarmerie (SED) between January 2018 and January 2019, many for several months, without any contact with family, friends, or legal counsel. HRW also reported that it had received additional credible accounts since April indicating that these violations continued (see also section 1.g., Abuses in Internal Conflict).
According to credible nongovernmental organization (NGOs), the government did not readily account for most of the inmates removed from the Yaounde Kondengui and Buea prisons following July 22 and 23 riots provoked by overcrowding, poor living conditions, and extensive delays in cases going to trial. Family members of detainees were unable to obtain information about individuals’ welfare or whereabouts. On July 30, the Mandela Center described the situation as forced disappearances. Anglophone separatist leader Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and nine other members of his entourage staged a hunger strike to protest the disappearances. That same day Communication Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi tweeted that Mancho Bibixy and other insurgent inmates were alive and in good condition but did not disclose their location. On August 2, Sadi stated that prison authorities had transferred 244 Yaounde and 20 Buea insurgents to police and gendarmerie for questioning.
There were no developments concerning the alleged disappearance of Franklin Mowha, the president of human rights NGO Frontline Fighters for Citizen Interests. In an August 24, 2018 press release, Ekombo Favien, Frontline Fighter’s vice president, announced that Mowha had disappeared after leaving his hotel room in August 6, 2018 while on a mission to monitor human rights abuses in Kumba, Southwest Region.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Although the constitution and law prohibit such practices, there were reports that security force members tortured or otherwise abused citizens, including separatist fighters and political opponents. Amnesty International and HRW documented several cases in which security forces severely mistreated political opponents, and others where armed separatists mistreated civilians and members of defense forces.
In a July 24 communique, the group of lawyers defending Maurice Kamto and other CRM detainees reported that during a planned peaceful protest on June 1 in Yaounde and Douala, security forces arrested 59 activists and transferred them to SED for questioning. The lawyers claimed the activists suffered from abuse. They cited beatings on the back, buttocks, and soles of the feet with machetes and wooden sticks, asphyxia by simulation of drowning, and being forced to lie in excrement. In a July 26 press release, Amnesty International stated security forces had abused the 59 opposition supporters, including six women, beating them with sticks and forcing them into humiliating positions before they were eventually released.
HRW stated it interviewed 14 detainees held at the SED, all of whom said they were tortured and held incommunicado during their time there. HRW reported hearing credible accounts that individuals had been tortured. A 29-year-old detainee from Kumba, Southwest Region, described being beaten daily with machetes and experiencing unhygienic conditions. A 30-year-old detainee from the Northwest Region told HRW of being subjected to beatings in the middle of the night.
The lawyer of Mamadou Mota, the first vice president of the CRM, told HRW that a prison guard and a gendarme had beaten his client at the Yaounde Central Prison, breaking his arm, and that he was then taken to a security facility where he was held in solitary confinement for 12 days. On July 25, Olivier Bibou Nissack, Kamto’s spokesperson, published a live video on his Facebook page alleging Mota suffered harsh treatment during his transfer from the Yaounde Central prison to the SED. In the video, three defense lawyers who were present at Mota’s questioning that day at a facility belonging to security forces, including barrister Serges Emmanuel Chendjou, said they saw their client in bad shape, with bruises all over his body, a bandage on his head, and his left arm in a sling.
Police detained a 16-year-old boy named Ibrahim Bello at the Ombessa police station, in the Mbam and Inoubou division of Center Region. As a result of the mistreatment he received at the police station in 2017, Belo lost both legs and his left hand. As of September 30, according to the independent local NGO Mandela Center, which has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, the courts had not issued a verdict, nor did the policemen who allegedly committed the abuse receive any disciplinary action. Human rights organizations, under the leadership of the Mandela Center, filed a complaint with the prosecutor in Bafia and State for Defense in charge of the Gendarmerie.
The lawyers defending Maurice Kamto and his allies reported that security forces arrested more than 200 CRM members and sympathizers in various cities, removing some of them from their hospital beds, and transporting them overnight to Yaounde under inhuman conditions following the January 26 protest. Security forces handcuffed Maurice Kamto from Douala to Yaounde and refused to allow him the opportunity to use the restroom. According to the lawyers, the persons arrested were starved and detained in undisclosed areas without access to lawyers for 70 hours after arriving in Yaounde. According to credible reports, security forces tore the clothes off many detainees involved in the July 22 and 23 prison riots before transferring them from the Yaounde Central Prison to other locations. Most detainees remained naked throughout their detention at the new locations, and at least one detainee was forced to appear in court naked reportedly because no one brought them clothing.
Press reporting and NGOs indicated there were cases of rape and sexual abuse by persons associated with the government in the Anglophone Northwest and Southwest Regions. In July HRW reported that on June 21 in Kumbo, a soldier raped a 40-year-old woman. She reported that five soldiers from the group broke into her house and beat her while asking for the whereabouts of her husband. Following this, they brought her in front of her neighbor’s house and asked her and the neighbor’s wife where the separatists were. After the two women said they knew nothing about the separatists’ whereabouts, the soldiers proceeded to beat them. At some point, one of the soldiers requested a condom from a colleague and demanded the victim to go toward the bathroom located in her neighbor’s home. The soldier raped the woman, threatening to kill her if she reported the attack to anyone.
Prison and Detention Center Conditions
Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening due to food shortages and poor-quality food, gross overcrowding, physical abuse, as well as inadequate sanitary conditions and medical care.
Physical Conditions: Overcrowding remained a significant problem in most prisons, especially in major urban centers. Prison overcrowding was exacerbated by the significant increase in arrests related to the Anglophone crisis and CRM protests following the October 2018 elections. Officials held prisoners in dilapidated, colonial-era prisons. Authorities often held pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners in the same cells. In many prisons, toilets were only common pits. In some cases, women benefitted from better living conditions, including improved toilet facilities and less crowded living quarters. Prisons generally had separate wards for men, women, and children. Authorities claimed to hold the sick separately from the general prison population, but this was often not the case.
According to prison administration officials, the country had 79 operational prisons, with an intended capacity of 17,915. During the past five years, the prison population increased steadily, from 23,500 in 2013 to 30,701 in December 2017, according to the latest report published in 2018 by the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms (NCHRF). In its 2018 country report on Cameroon, Amnesty International indicated that the Central Prison in Maroua, Far North Region, held 1,500 detainees, more than four times the planned capacity. Malnutrition, tuberculosis, bronchitis, malaria, hepatitis, scabies, and numerous other untreated conditions, including infections, parasites, dehydration, and diarrhea, were rampant.
In a July 23 press release following the riots at Yaounde’s Kondengui and Buea prisons, Amnesty International noted that prison conditions were dire, stating that until the situation improved there was a strong risk of further violence. During an August 2 press briefing, Justice Minister Laurent Esso announced some measures to address overcrowding: acceleration of judicial proceedings, a strengthening of disciplinary measures, modernization of the means of controlling and monitoring prisoners, decongestion of prisons with proven overcrowding, and the prohibition on the use of certain items in the prison environment.
Physical abuse by prison guards and prisoner-on-prisoner violence were problems. For instance, during the July 22 riots at the Kondengui Central Prison, at least two high-profile inmates, including former prime minister Inoni Ephraim and former health minister Olanguena Awono, sustained injuries after other prisoners attacked them for the privileged lifestyles they carried on within the prison. Corruption among prison personnel was reportedly widespread. Visitors were at times forced to bribe wardens to be granted access to inmates. Prisoners bribed wardens for special favors or treatment, including temporary freedom, cell phones, beds, and transfers to less crowded areas of the prisons. Due to their inability to pay fines, some prisoners remained incarcerated after completing their sentences or after they had received court orders of release.
Administration: Independent authorities often investigated credible allegations of mistreatment. Visitors needed formal authorization from the state counsel; without authorization, they had to bribe prison staff to communicate with inmates. Visits to Boko Haram suspects, alleged Anglophone separatists, and political opponents detained after the October 2018 presidential election were restricted. Authorities allowed prisoners and detainees to observe their religions without interference.
Independent Monitoring: The government permitted monitoring by some NGOs, including Buea-based Human Is Right, which in July helped identify at least one case of prolonged illegal detention. The NCHRF and the Commissions for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Archdioceses also conducted prison visits. In a February 27 press release, the NCHRF deplored the challenges in gaining access to CRM activists incarcerated at Kondengui Central Prison. With the exception of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the government restricted international humanitarian organizations’ access to prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention and provide for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness in court of an arrest or detention. The law states that except in the case of an individual discovered in the act of committing a felony or misdemeanor, the officials making the arrest must disclose their identity and inform the person arrested of the reason. Any person illegally detained by police, the state counsel, or the examining magistrate may receive compensation. The government did not always respect these provisions.
The national police and the national gendarmerie have primary responsibility over law enforcement and maintenance of order within the country. The army is responsible for external security but also has some domestic security responsibilities. The national police, which includes public security, judicial, territorial security, and frontier police, reports to the General Delegation of National Security (DGSN), which is under the direct authority of the presidency. The national gendarmerie reports to the Secretariat of State for Defense (SED) in charge of the gendarmerie, a dedicated branch of the Ministry of Defense. In addition to the gendarmerie, the army and the army’s military security unit are other components of the ministry, which is headed by a minister delegate under the direct authority of the president. The General Delegation for External Research (DGRE) serves as the intelligence agency for both internal and external security, and like the Ministry of Defense and DGSN, reports to the office of the president, resulting in strong presidential control of security forces. The Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) falls outside the purview of conventional security forces, reporting directly to the president. Civilian authorities at times did not maintain effective control over the security forces, including police and gendarmerie.
Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees
The law requires police to obtain a warrant from a judge or prosecutor before making an arrest, except when a person is caught in the act of committing a crime, but police often did not respect this requirement. The law provides that suspects be brought promptly before a judge or prosecutor, although this often did not occur, and citizens were detained without judicial authorization. Police may legally detain a person in connection with a common crime for up to 48 hours, renewable once. This period may, with the written approval of the state counsel, be exceptionally extended twice before charges are brought. Nevertheless, police and gendarmes reportedly often exceeded these detention periods. The law also permits detention without charge for renewable periods of 15 days by administrative authorities such as governors and civilian government officials serving in territorial command. The law also provides that individuals arrested on suspicion of terrorism and certain other crimes may be detained for investigation for periods of 15 days, renewable without limitation with authorization of the prosecutor. The law provides for access to legal counsel and family members, although police frequently denied detainees access to both. The law prohibits incommunicado detention, but such cases occurred, especially in connection with the Anglophone crisis and the postelection situation. The law permits bail, allows citizens the right to appeal, and provides the right to sue for unlawful arrest, but these rights were seldom respected.
Arbitrary Arrest: Police, gendarmes, the BIR, and other government authorities reportedly continued to arrest and detain persons arbitrarily, often holding them for prolonged periods without charge or trial and at times incommunicado. “Friday arrests,” a practice whereby individuals arrested on a Friday typically remained in detention until at least Monday unless they paid a bribe, continued.
There were credible reports that authorities held some suspects in both the Anglophone and postelectoral crises for long periods without notifying them of the charges. For example, on August 8, the NGO Human is Right reported that during a visit to the Buea Central Prison in July, it came across a minor who had been in pretrial detention since 2017. The minor was 14 at the time of his arrest and had been kept in detention without trial for approximately two years. As of October the Fako High Court had not yet reviewed the case.
Pretrial Detention: The code of criminal procedure provides for a maximum of 18 months’ detention before trial, but many detainees waited years to appear in court. The 2014 antiterrorism law provides that a suspect may be held indefinitely in investigative detention with the authorization of the prosecutor. No comprehensive statistics were available on pretrial detainees. While updated numbers were not easy to access, the Ministry of Justice in 2015 indicated that more than 26,000 inmates occupied the 17,000 spaces available in prisons across the country. In an August 20 release following the sentencing of separatist leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and others to life imprisonment, the Central Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (REDHAC) indicated that 174 individuals arrested in the context of the Anglophone crisis and detained in Yaounde had been in detention there for more than one year without being presented before an investigating judge. The 2014 antiterrorism law does not require that individuals charged with terrorism be presented to an investigating judge.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary, but the judiciary is under the president. In some instances, the outcomes of trials appeared influenced by the government, especially in politically sensitive cases.
Under the 2014 antiterrorism law, military tribunals have jurisdiction over terrorism and national security-related crimes. When the Military Tribunal declared in August that it was competent to handle the case against the CRM leaders, defense lawyers filed an appeal, requesting the Court of Appeal to rule whether trial of civilians before a military court conformed to the country’s constitution and international commitments. The Court of Appeals of the Center Region avoided the question, stating that the Military Tribunal was handling the matter and could not be declared incompetent. Most habeas corpus pleas before the Mfoundi High Court, Center Region, involving Anglophone separatists and CRM leaders ended with the judges maintaining the suspects in detention, despite solid evidence that the detentions deviated from the applicable laws.
On May 31, Joseph Elaba, the investigating magistrate at the Douala High Court, demanded that complainants make a deposit of five million CFA francs ($8,500) before the court could register a case against members of security forces who shot and wounded participants of the CRM protest march in January. When the Yaounde Military Tribunal on August 20 sentenced Ayuk Tabe and nine other Anglophone leaders to life imprisonment, the military court required the victims to pay five million CFA francs ($8,500) before they could appeal the decision.
Despite the judiciary’s partial independence from the executive and legislative branches, the president appoints all members of the bench and legal department of the judicial branch, including the president of the Supreme Court, and may dismiss them at will.
Military courts may exercise jurisdiction over civilians in a broad number of offenses including civil unrest.
Trial Procedures
The constitution and law provide for the right to a fair and public trial without undue delay, and the defendant is presumed innocent. Authorities did not always respect the law. Criminal defendants have the right to be informed promptly and in detail of the charges, with free assistance of an interpreter. Pretrial suspects were frequently held in the same quarters as convicted criminals. Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney of their choice, but in many cases the government did not respect this right, restricting access to lawyers, particularly in cases of individuals suspected of complicity with Boko Haram, Anglophone separatists, or political opponents. When defendants cannot pay for their own legal defense, the court may appoint trial counsel at the public’s expense; the process was often burdensome and lengthy, and the quality of legal assistance was poor. Authorities generally allowed defendants to question witnesses and to present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. Defendants have the right to adequate time and facilities to prepare a defense and not to be compelled to testify or confess guilt, but authorities often violated this right. Hearsay testimony and anonymous testimony was sometimes permitted, especially in terrorism cases. Defendants are entitled to an interpreter at no charge, but often the quality of interpretation was described as poor. Defendants may appeal convictions. In some cases, authorities did not give the victim a chance to confront the offender and present witnesses or evidence to support his or her case.
On August 31, the Cameroon Bar Association announced a five-day lawyers’ strike from September 16 to 20. The lawyers said that they had consistently been denied access to their clients in various detention centers. They stated the government repeatedly violated at all phases of the judicial process the rights of the defense as enshrined in domestic and international law. They cited as key areas of concern that trials were sometimes held in a language not understood by the accused, the use of torture and inducements to extract confessions, and illegal and prolonged detentions.
Political Prisoners and Detainees
There were reports of newly identified political prisoners or detainees, but no comprehensive or accurate statistics were available. Political prisoners were detained under heightened security, often in SED facilities and at the Principal and Central Prisons in Yaounde. Some were allegedly held at DGRE facilities. The government did not readily permit access to such persons.
There were allegations that the government falsely charged peaceful dissidents with violence, including former presidential candidate Maurice Kamto. In a statement signed in March, Kamto and four of his supporters, including campaign manager Paul Eric Kingue, Albert Zongang of the La Dynamique political party, Penda Ekoka of the Mouvement Agir, and popular singer Gaston Philip Abbe, popularly known as Valsero, all of whom were detained at the Kondengui prison, claimed they were political prisoners, along with their 160 supporters in other prisons throughout the country.
On October 3, President Biya announced the pardoning of 333 lower-level Anglophone detainees, and on October 5, the Military Tribunal ordered the release of Kamto and hundreds of his associates.
Former minister of state for territorial administration Marafa Hamidou Yaya, who was convicted in 2012 on corruption charges and sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment, remained in detention despite a June 2016 decision of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention describing Marafa’s detention “a violation of international laws.” The government did not respond to repeated requests for members of the diplomatic community to meet with Marafa.
Politically Motivated Reprisal Against Individuals Located Outside the Country
There were credible reports that for politically motivated purposes the government attempted to exert bilateral pressure on other countries aimed at having them take adverse legal action against specific individuals, including Anglophones separatists and other political opponents.
On August 20, the Yaounde military court sentenced Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and nine other Anglophone leaders to life imprisonment and a fine of 250 billion CFA francs ($425 million) in the early morning hours without their lawyers present. In January 2018 Nigerian special forces had arrested Sisiku and 46 other Anglophone separatists in a hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, and forcibly repatriated them to Cameroon, in spite of the fact that some had applied for asylum. From the time of their transfer to Cameroon, the group had been held in pretrial detention.
Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies
Citizens and organizations have the right to seek civil remedies for human rights violations through administrative procedures or the legal system; both options involved lengthy delays. Individuals and organizations may appeal adverse decisions domestically or to regional human rights bodies, but the decisions of regional human rights bodies are not compelling. There were reports that entities associated with the government had failed to comply with civil court decisions pertaining to labor matters.
Property Restitution
The government continued to compensate relocated families in connection with infrastructure projects, including the Kribi Sea Port and the Yaounde-Douala highway projects. In 2014 the government initiated a judicial procedure against officials suspected of having misappropriated money earmarked for compensations. On February 26, the newspaper Cameroon Tribune reported that the Special Criminal Court arrested the mayor of Lobo in Lekie division, Center Region, and 13 others under suspicion of embezzling funds from the Yaounde-Douala highway construction project. There were no reported developments on the cases of previously arrested officials.
f. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
Although the constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, these rights were subject to restriction for the interests of the state, and there were credible reports police and gendarmes abused their positions by harassing citizens and conducting searches without warrants.
The law permits a police officer to enter a private home during daylight hours without a warrant only if pursuing a person suspected of or seen committing a crime. Police and gendarmes often did not comply with this provision and entered private homes without a warrant whenever they wished.
An administrative authority, including a governor or senior divisional officer, may authorize police to conduct neighborhood sweeps without warrants, and this practice occurred, especially in the restive Southwest and Northwest Regions.
g. Abuses in Internal Conflict
Killings: There were credible reports that members of government forces deliberately killed innocent citizens. On January 21, for example, according to credible organizations, members of government security forces removed a young man from his bike at Squares Kumbo, Northwest Region, and killed him. The victim reportedly had just dropped off a passenger when security forces laid hands on him. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a video circulated on social media showing the military harassing a group of men, reportedly from Kurt-Nwa, Northwest Region. These men were reportedly found dead after the incident.
Boko Haram and ISIS-WA intensified deadly attacks on civilians and members of security forces in the Far North Region. On July 22, in Amchide, Boko Haram fighters killed a man in his residence because they believed he had notified the army of their presence. On July 28, individuals believed to be Boko Haram operatives killed three vigilance committee members in Double, Far North Region. On August 1, assailants believed to be Boko Haram fighters attacked the border village of Guederou in the Mayo Sava Division and killed four persons, including three brothers ages 11 to 16. On September 14, six security force members were killed and nine others were wounded during a Boko Haram attack on the Multilateral Force Post in Souarem, Far North Region.
Abductions: As in the previous year, armed separatists carried out abductions in the Anglophone Northwest and Southwest Regions and held noncombatants as hostages, including public officials, political leaders, teachers, schoolchildren, and traditional leaders. There were credible allegations that separatists physically abused abduction victims, including forcing them to sit in excrement, putting them in stress positions, beating them, and flogging them with the flat edges of machetes. In most cases, the abductors subsequently freed the victims, after either negotiations or payment of ransoms.
A June 30 situation report by OCHA indicated that kidnapping rates increased in June. On June 7, gunmen kidnapped the owner of a travel agency in Bamenda, Northwest Region, before releasing him hours later. On November 5, armed Anglophone separatists stormed a Presbyterian school in Bamenda, Northwest Region. The head of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon and the Council of the Protestant Churches of Cameroon reported 79 children and three adults were kidnapped, adding that 11 students had also been kidnapped on October 31. In November Anglophone separatists kidnapped three Franciscan sisters and 13 novices who were traveling in the Northwest Region.
Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture: There were credible reports that members of government forces physically abused civilians and prisoners in their custody, including those detained in the conflicts in the Far North and Southwest and Northwest Regions, especially after the July 22-23 riot at the Yaounde and Buea prisons.
Child Soldiers: The government did not directly recruit or use child soldiers, but vigilance committees may have employed children. Some community neighborhood watch groups, known as vigilance committees, may have used and recruited children as young as 12 in operations against Boko Haram. Boko Haram continued to use child soldiers, including girls, in its attacks on civilian and military targets. There were also some reports that Anglophone separatist armed groups in the Southwest and Northwest Regions used children.
Other Conflict-related Abuse: There were reports of repeated attacks on health workers and institutions and the use of firearms around health facilities by both members of security forces and Anglophone separatists. On February 13, security forces reportedly attacked the Bangolan Baptist Health Center using heavy weapons, destroyed property, and took valuable items belonging to the institution and its personnel.
On September 3, according to online media platform Cameroon Info, armed men believed to be Anglophone separatists attacked the Bonakanda community radio in Buea, Southwest Region. The assailants abducted Mary Namondo, a journalist working with the station. Namondo was released on September 5.