THE 2014 ANTI- TERRORISM LAW IN CAMEROON AND ITS EFFECTS ON SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS

THE   2014 ANTI- TERRORISM LAW IN CAMEROON AND ITS EFFECTS ON SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS;

(December 18, 2014) Cameroon’s legislature has passed new anti – terrorism legislation that includes the death penalty for citizens who, either as individuals or in a group carry out, abet or sponsor terrorism.

The draft law also prescribes the death penalty for persons who carry out ‘’ any activity which can lead to a general revolt of the population or disturb the normal functioning of the country’’ and for anyone who supplies arms, war equipment, bacteria and viruses with the intention of killings.

The same law applies for people guilty of kidnapping with terrorist intent, as well as for ‘’ anyone who directly or indirectly finances acts of terrorism’’.

This Anti- terrorism law is manifestly against the fundamental liberties and right of the Cameroon people.  In the guise to fight terrorism, the government real intent is to stifle political dissent ‘’Kah Wallah, a leader of the Cameroon people’s party lament.

The 2014 anti –terrorism law has sparked a wave of criticism across the political sphere from opposition political leaders to civil society, church ministers, trade unions and civil society.

They argued that the law is designed to terrorise the people and kill their freedoms.

Various opposition political leaders and civil society exponents have vowed to fight the proposed law to its logical end. Cameroonians must resist and say no to this manoeuvre ….. We will fight this law by every means said Fru Ndi, leader of the SDF opposition party in Cameroon

Furthermore, the 2014 anti-terrorism law has been use to silent dissent of the southern Cameroon separatist’s movement.

Seseku Ayuk Tabe leader of the southern Cameroon separatist movement and nine of his followers have been given life sentences by a military court in Cameroon capital Yaoundé in the early hours of Tuesday 20th of August 2019. They were convicted of secession, insurrection, rebellion, destruction of state properties, demonstration against the state of Cameroon amongst other charges. Their lawyers accused the judge of bias and withdrew from the proceedings.

The 2014 anti-terrorism law has earlier sparked a wave of criticism and many political analysts had seen this as a means to silent dissent most especially SCNC activists and opposition parties. Some people believe that the law has been enacted to terrorise the people of southern Cameroon and possible killing their freedoms.

The 2014 anti-terrorism law is also against the fundamental liberties and the rights of the southern Cameroonian people who are clamouring for a complete separation from French Cameroon and the formation of a new nation known as Ambazonia.

More than 2000 southern Cameroonians are being incarcerated in prisons all over French Cameroon for merely expressing their political views on the on-going crisis in Southern Cameroon.  Most of them have been sentence to 12-15 years imprisonment using the anti-terrorism law while others are still lamenting behind bars with deplorable prison conditions.

WRITTEN BY LUM WINIFRED ACHU

SCNC ACTIVIST LONDON UK

 

 

TOLE HOSPITAL BURNT BY BIYA SOLDIERS

What actually happened at Tole health centre on 30 October 2019

As part of the SCNC-UK Human rights monitoring project ,we look at what happened when Tole Hospital was burnt down.

Background

Tole health centre was set ablaze in Buea ,Southern Cameroons on Wednesday 30th of October 2019.
The act is believed to have been be carried out by Cameroun Soldiers. Their motive was that the Hospital was suspected to be used to treat Southern Cameroons revolutionary fighters wounded in the on going Ambazonia war of independence. So they wanted to make sure anyone wounded or sick should have no access to healthcare ,including the unfortunate civilians they assault everyday as they ravage villages. Unsurprisingly, the government of Cameroon decided to blame the same revolutionary fighters for burning the hospital.

                         

The evidence:

The claim by Cameroun government that Ambazonians or even revolutionary fighters set their own Hospital ablaze is preposterous. Firstly, locals with eyewitness accounts have pointed the fingers at Cameroun Soldiers. The government’s account looks unreasonable since it is a well know fact that the Military of French Cameroun dress up like Ambazonian revolutionary fighters in other to Camouflage their true identity. Burning of houses , villages and  Hospitals has been the modus operandi of the rogue military of Cameroun. Journalist Mimi Mefo was unequivocal of the culprits when she twitted about the incident. That same week, another group of BIR soldiers burnt almost an entire village in Bafut in the Northern Zone of Southern  Cameroons. At least 20 homes were razed to the ground.

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/Lovert53606288/status/1189820805250764800

 

 

Anyone who doubts the veracity of these facts can watch the ground breaking investigative documentary by the BBC about the systematic burning of villages by Cameroun military in Ambazonia.

 

Interpretation of the facts:

The government of French Cameroun claims it is trying to protect civilians but there is no evidence to support this. On the Contrary, they seem intent to carry out a genocide in Southern Cameroons while the international community silently watches. France trains and supports  Cameroun Military particularly the rapid intervention Battalion(BIR), the main unit sent to the front lines and already accused of numerous war crimes and acts of genocide.

 

 

The systemic  pattern and frequency in which these soldiers burn villages can be no coincidence. They are trained to carry such acts . They have been seen on video carrying equipment to ignite houses. These acts are sanctioned by the military hierarchy, including Cameroun president  Paul Biya and even their facilitators the government of France. French mercenaries  are directly involved in the training, deployment and coordination of the activities of the BIR Soldiers. Additionally, despite the methodical pattern of burning villages and hospitals , rape of young girls and women,inhumane  torture of civilians, there has never been any condemnation from France.

The recent money pledged by Mr Emmanuel Macron for reconstruction in Southern Cameroons is very laughable since France is directly involved in the continued destruction and genocide in Southern Cameroons. Are the villagers whose homes have been burnt down in Bafut ever receive such money to rebuild their homes or lives back?  Properly never.  Most are now living in bushes or depend on scarce humanitarian support in hope the international community can finally intervene to bring lasting peace.

 Conclusion and recommendations

 Lasting peace can only be possible by the recognition of the failed decolonisation process of the  UN trust Territory of Southern Cameroons. By also acknowledging the ineligible right of Southern Cameroonians to determine their future .The United nations and UN security Council must set out a road-map for an independence referendum where the people can decide their destiny.  In the meantime,the world must condemn these war crimes being committed by the military of dictator Biya and make sure those  involved are arrested and tried before  the international criminal court.

 

By Magdelaine Ngemu

Prominent Muslim Scholar and Southern Cameroons activist finally released.

 

                  Prominent Muslim Scholar and Southern Cameroons activist finally released after a month in detention

The Director of  Peace research Center Bamenda was released from detention on 1 Novenber 2019 by the Dictatorial regime in Yaounde.Abdul Karim Ali was taken to the State Defence Secretariat (Secrétariat d’État à la défense, SED) in Yaoundé. His whereabouts were finally made public on September 30 when he was taken before the Yaoundé Military Court and charged with acts of terrorism, financing terrorism, and secession.

 

 

This is not the first time Mr Abdul Karim Ali has been apprehended without any justifiable cause.This year he  was arrested in front of the Public Security Police Post old town  Bamenda on  January 25, 2019, few minutes after taking part in the evening prayers and latter released.

 

 

Human rights organisations including Amnesty international have been calling for him to be freed .This international pressure on the oppressive dictatorship in Yaounde may have helped his liberation,but thousands of  Southern Cameroonians remain incarcerated across the Country under very difficult conditions including Southern Cameroons leaders illegally abducted in Nigeria and handed to oppressive regime in Yaounde without due process,in violation of international law.

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