A bunch of hungry and remote-controlled Cameroonians are currently in front of the French embassy, thereby blocking roads and disrupting public order, just to express their frustration with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who on Saturday told the plain truth that it was thanks to his pressure that Professor Maurice Kamto was released.

The French president also expressed his indignation with the Yaounde dictator who has resorted to killing his own people as a way of perpetuating himself in power.

The French president had to express his frustration when questioned by a Cameroonian activist who called on the French president to help end the killings in Southern Cameroons.

The French president said he was aware of the Ngarbuh massacre, adding that he was totally aware of what was playing out in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

He indirectly confirmed the activist’s figures of 12,000 deaths due to the conflict that has pitted the moribund Yaounde government against its English-speaking minority.

The crowd in front of the French embassy comprises mostly unemployed Cameroonians hastily rushed to the venue of the demonstration by the higher education minister, Jacques Fame Ndongo, and defense minister, Joseph Beti Assomo, who are tribesmen of the dying 87-year-old Paul Biya who has made tribalism and nepotism the hallmarks of his corrupt regime.

After enormous pressure from the United States Administration which has threatened to directly intervene in Cameroon, the French government has decided to throw up Paul Biya who has become more of a lightning rod for controversy and an international embarrassment.

Meanwhile, as the pressure mounts on the government, officials of the regime have started using threats against staff of international organizations who simply want to do their job.

It has been reported that a UN official has fled  Cameroon after receiving threats from the country’s territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji.

The UNOCHA representative in the Northwest region, Jack Andrew Pendleton, has fled Cameroon following threats from the crude and ruthless territorial administration minister.

Mr. Pendleton who left Cameroon yesterday night, had gone into hiding since last Thursday after he received a call from Paul Atanga Nji following comments he made to the media after his visit to Ngarbuh where over 30 women and children had been killed on February 14 by the country’s army.

After his visit to Ngarbuh, Mr. Pendleton and the UN team discovered that the number of deaths stated by the government was much higher. The findings were buttressed by testimonies from IDPs that the military was behind the heinous crimes.

The UN official with over 37 years of experience in humanitarian affairs was not impressed by the situation and spoke out his mind to the local press after the visit to the scene of the crime.

This eventually led to the government of Cameroon going after him. He received threats from the governor of the Northwest region, Adolphe Lele L’Afrique, and the territorial administration boss, Paul Atanga Nji.

Security operatives were also sent to his residence on many occasions, thereby violating his diplomatic immunity.

This led to his decision to escape before the country’s secret service could lay hands on him. But before his escape last night, he brieved the United States ambassador to Cameroon on the situation last Friday.

More on this story will be yours as we get more details.

By Francis Ashu in Yaounde

As the Cameroon government continues to be on the defensive about the Ngarbuh massacres, the global human rights watchdog, Human Rights Watch (HRW), has already completed its investigations and it is clearly pointing a finger to the country’s military as the guilty party.

Speaking on TV5 Monde on Sunday, a HRW researcher, Ilaria Allegrozzi, said that there had not been any confrontation between the military and Ambazonia fighters on Valentine’s day in Ngarbuh.

The HRW expert added that there was no explosion as claimed by government, stressing that the rights watchdog’s figures showed that 21 people had been killed which is  far from the 5 claimed by the Yaounde government.

The expert pointed out that the massacre was the government’s decision to punish villagers, claiming that they were hiding Ambazonian fighters in their houses.

The HRW findings tie in well with those released by civil society organizations and the  UN.

Meanwhile, the government has sent its troops to Ngarbuh to investigate the massacre and this move comes after the international community expressed shock that a government was killing its own citizens.

The general consensus in the country is that the government is not credible and that it will continue to cover up, as that had been its modus operandi for decades.

Across the country, many people are calling for Cameroonian leaders to be taken to The Hague where they should be tried for crimes against humanity.

Those considered responsible for the massacres in the country’s two English-speaking regions include: Paul Atanga Nji, Rene Sadi, Joseph Beti Assomo, Fame Ndongo and the governors of the two English-speaking regions of the country.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The country’s military is currently heading to Ngarbuh, the little village in the Northwest region where over 30 people were slaughtered by the country’s military and militiamen set up by the country’s defense minister, Joseph Beti Assomo, and territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji.

The international community had called for a partial and thorough investigation, but no international team has been set up to help with the investigations.

On the contrary, the country’s president, Paul Biya, who is under enormous international pressure, has ordered an investigation into the killings although he already knows who committed the crime.

Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent in the Northwest regional capital of Bamenda has indicated that there is an unusual troop movement towards Ngarbuh.

This comes a day after the French President, Emmanuel Macron, said that he would mount pressure on President Paul Biya and his fragile and old government for the issue to be investigated.

An anonymous source which contacted Cameroon Concord News Group confirmed in an SMS that there was a lot of pressure in the corridors of power.

The source added that “a Gendarmerie team has been dispatched from Yaounde to Ngarbuh to investigate the Valentine’s Day Massacre in Ngarbuh.”

The Source stressed that “They leave for Ntumbaw on Monday or Tuesday. Part of their mission is to exhume the corpses laid to rest and count them. They have an order that the number of corpses must not be more than seven. Those innocent victims have been laid to rest and are currently resting in peace, but for political reasons, their graves will be desecrated early next week by government forces which want to present the government’s story to the international community.”

The source questioned the objectivity of the process, adding that no truth will emerge from such an investigation, as a thief is being asked to investigate himself.

There will be a lot of cover up, as the government will do all in its powers to hide the truth, another source that elected anonymity said.

While the world looks forward to the truth, many people are sceptical about the government’s sincerity concerning these investigations.

It should be pointed out that ever since information of the massacre emerged on social media, the Yaounde government has offered multiple explanations for the incident.

While the defense minister said those killed by the military were simply collateral damage and that the fire was due to fuel that was stored in those homes, the communication minister, Rene Sadi, came out with his own version that clearly smacked of arrogance, denial and provocation.

He clearly exonerated the military, insulting those who said the military was to blame for the massacre of children and pregnant women.

The sending of Cameroon’s military to the crime site is a good beginning, but the international community must set up a team to support any efforts made by the Yaounde government so that the truth can be known.

It should also be emphasized that there are a few people in the village keeping shell casings of the bullets that were fired. Those people should be contacted by UN experts on the ground in Bamenda.

With ballestic analyses, it will be possible to determine the killers of the innocent citizens in Ngarbuh who had nothing to do with the civil war that is tearing the country apart.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is disturbed by news of the killing of a beneficiary by military men at the site of a food distribution near Ekona, in the South West Region of Cameroon.

“Our sympathies and condolences are with the bereaved family,” said WFP West Africa Regional Director Chris Nikoi, “and we condemn the breach of humanitarian space by armed groups and security forces in the crisis affecting the South West and North West regions of Cameroon.”

“We strongly urge respect of humanitarian operations and the protection of civilians by all parties,” Nikoi said.

Violent clashes between armed groups and security forces in the two regions of Cameroon have led to displacement, leaving tens of thousands of people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Four senior UN officials issued a joint statement on Friday deploring the continued human rights abuses committed against civilians, including women and children, in the south-west and north-west regions of Cameroon.

“We are deeply concerned about reports of violence, including the 14 February attack on Ngarbuh village in the Northwest region that left 23 civilians dead, including 15 children”, they said.

The UN officials sounding the alarm were: Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba; Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten; Special Representative on Violence against Children Najat Maalla M’jid; and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng,

They deplored reports of continued attacks against civilians, including extra-judicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and destruction of property, as well as retaliatory attacks, rape and other forms of sexual violence that disproportionately affect women and children in the north- and south-west regions of the country that are forcing many to flee their homes.

“Children continue to be particularly affected by the crisis”, they lamented.

Citing reports of school attacks and extensive closures in the affected regions, they said that “thousands of children out of school”.

The senior UN officials added that information received on the recruitment and use of children by armed actors and their detention for actual or alleged association with armed actors “raise further protection concerns.”

Moreover, hundreds of thousands of people are reported to have been displaced in the affected regions, with a lack of security further exacerbating the plight of marginalized and vulnerable groups.

“It is urgent to prevent further violence and to protect all women, girls, boys and men from grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law”, they continued.

“Severely constrained humanitarian access and limited resources for service-providers has reduced the availability of sexual and reproductive healthcare for women, including urgent treatment for survivors of sexual violence”.

Government call

The four senior officials called on the Cameroonian Government to discharge its primary responsibility in protecting the population by addressing the root causes of violence and ensuring that victims of the attacks are provided with protection and the appropriate assistance.

They further called on the authorities to fully investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the serious violations and abuses that have been committed.

“We urge the Government of Cameroon to ensure full respect for human rights, including the rights of women and children, and to ensure that the humanitarian needs of civilians are met”, the UN officials said.

In closing, they reminded the Government that “children associated with armed groups should be considered primarily as victims and their detention used only as a last resort and for the shortest period of time”.

“We also emphasize that all forms of sexual violence are categorically prohibited under international humanitarian and human rights law”, the four UN officials concluded.

They offered UN support and assistance to the Cameroon authorities to address the situation and improve protection and service-delivery for civilians in affected areas, and for those who have been forcibly displaced.

Culled from News.UN

The whole world has been holding France responsible for the killings in Southern Cameroons, but the Macron government is sick and tired of supporting an uncompromising, corrupt and inefficient Yaounde government that is hell bent on killing its own people.

French President, Emmanuel Macron is tired of being accused of aiding and abetting dictators in Africa.

In a public discussion with a Cameroonian activist, Calibri Calibro, last week in Paris following the brutal killing of more than 30 people in Ngarbur in the country’s northwest region, Mr. Macron said he had put a lot of pressure on the beleaguered Cameroon leader, Paul Biya, for him to seek a peaceful and long-lasting solution to the crisis in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

“I have been putting pressure on President Paul Biya to deal with the issue of the English-speaking regions of Cameroon and his opponents.  I told him that I would not receive him in Lyon until Maurice KAMTO was released.  And he was released because we put pressure on the government.  But the situation continues to deteriorate,” Macron said.

“I will call President Biya next week and I will put maximum pressure on him to end this situation.  I am fully aware of the violence in Cameroon which is intolerable.  I am doing my maximum best,” he stressed.

“France is still caught in a complicated game in Africa.  We are a state of law and we defend the rule of law everywhere.  But when in Africa, a French president says that this leader is not democratically elected, Africans always say, why are you getting into our affairs? You have no lessons to give us,” he pointed out.

“Everywhere, I want democratically elected leaders and where the presidents are not democratically elected, I will work with the civil society.  I work with the African Union and international organizations to put pressure on those governments,” he said

“When President Joseph Kabila, DRC’s former president, was in power, there were opposition figures like you in that country.  We put pressure on the government.  We worked with several other presidents and we managed to get political alternation in the country which led to President Tshisekedi taking over power,” he revealed.

“Regarding President Paul Biya, I have told him that he must open up the system. He must decentralize.  He must liberate political opponents.  He must uphold the rule of law.  I will do everything in my power to ensure the issues are addressed.  I really want you to know that it is not for France to institute democracy in Cameroon. Cameroonians must bring about democracy in their own country,” he concluded.

But not many people around the world have faith in the French president who has been quiet ever since Mr. Biya started slaughtering English-speaking Cameroonians in 2016.

It should be recalled that in 2019 during a European Union session, France was the only European Union country that stood by Cameroon and its corrupt government while other European Union countries called on the beleaguered government to address the issues that had triggered the violence in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon.

By Staff man Francis Ashu

The Commonwealth yesterday condemned the killing of 23 people in Cameroon’s northwest region. A village in the southern part of Cameroon was attacked last Friday, leaving 23 civilians, especially children dead.

Condemning the attack, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland called for an impartial investigation into the incident.

The statement, which was signed by Scotland’s media aide, Temitope Kalejaiye, quoted the Secretary-General as saying: “I strongly condemn the recent killings of civilians, including women and children in the North-West of Cameroon on 14 February 2020.

“We noted the government’s announcement that there would be a full investigation into the incident. We encourage the government to conduct an impartial investigation, for perpetrators to be held accountable and for results to be made public.

“The Commonwealth strongly condemns all forms of violence, and in particular, the loss of lives of innocent civilians including women and children.

“Cameroon is a noted member of the Human Rights Council and as such we are minded of General Comment 13 to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to freedom from all forms of violence which is underscored by the understanding that no violence against children is justifiable, all violence against children is preventable.

“I continue to convey these concerns to the government of Cameroon, and the Commonwealth stands ready to support solutions that will address the root causes of this conflict.”

Cameroon, Africa’s bilingual country, has since 2016 battled insurrection arising from agitations for self determination by its southern region, a former British colony, a demand the President Paul Biya led government considered treasonous.

Source: The Nation

Cameroon’s international partners including France and the United Nations have condemned last week’s killing of 23 villagers in a troubled English-speaking region.

The incident on Friday took place in a region where armed separatists are campaigning for independence from the rest of Cameroon, which is majority French-speaking.

More than 3,000 people have died and at least 700,000 have fled their homes in the nearly 29-month-old conflict. Rights watchdogs say they have documented killings of civilians and other abuses by the armed forces as well as by separatists.

There will be no military victory for any side.

United Nations wants investigation

The United Nations on Tuesday urged authorities in Cameroon to conduct an independent investigation into the “shocking” incident and ensure the perpetrators are held accountable.

Citing information from colleagues on the ground, the UN rights office said two pregnant women and 15 children, nine of them aged under five, were among those killed.

“We urge the authorities to ensure that the investigation is independent, impartial and thorough, and that those responsible are held fully to account,” the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement.

The UN had previously put the toll from Friday’s attack at up to 22, but Tuesday’s statement said 23 people had died in the “shocking episode”.

France condemns the violence

Part of Cameroon’s opposition blamed the deaths on members of the armed forces, an allegation that the army on Monday blasted as “duplicitous”.

It said a woman and four children died in an “unfortunate accident” when fuel containers were set ablaze in an exchange of fire between security forces and separatists in the village of Ntumbo.

But France, a strong ally of Cameroon’s 86-year-old President Paul Biya, on Tuesday condemned “the violence”.

“We wish total light to be shed on this tragic event and for those responsible to be brought to account,” the foreign ministry’s spokesman said in Paris.

Witnesses had told the UN that around 40 armed men had attacked the village, “opening fire on people and burning down houses”, the UN rights office said.

The UN rights office said the already tense situation in Cameroon’s anglophone regions had worsened ahead of this month’s parliamentary and municipal elections.

“The government deployed some 700 additional troops in the North-West and South-West where armed separatists reportedly kidnapped dozens of candidates, most from the Social Democratic Front which is one of the country´s biggest opposition parties,” the UN said.

While most of the candidates had since been released, the UN said it had also received information that voting centres and the homes of those involved in the election campaign had been attacked by separatists.

Catholic bishops call for dialogue

On Monday, 16 Catholic bishops from around the world sent a letter to Biya, urging his government to talk to the separatists.

Biya, in power for 37 years, has repeatedly ruled out demands for autonomy or a return to Cameroon’s federal structure, although he has recently endorsed a decentralisation of some powers from Yaounde, the capital.

“There will be no military victory for any side,” the bishops warned.

“A lasting solution to Cameroon’s problems must come from a mediated process that includes anglophone armed-separatist groups and non-violent civil-society leaders.”

The “best path” lies in a Swiss proposal to broker talks, they said.

English-speakers account for nearly a fifth of Cameroon’s population of 24 million — a legacy of the French and British decolonisation of West Africa in the late 1950s.

Most anglophones live in the Northwest Region, where Ntumbo is located, and the adjoining Southwest Region.

Years of grievances at perceived discrimination snowballed into a declaration of independence in October 2017 and a government crackdown.

“We call on the government to ensure that the security forces abide by applicable international law norms standards during the conduct of their operations,” Tuesday’s UN statement said.

“We similarly remind armed separatist groups of their responsibilities under international law and call on all parties to refrain from deliberate attacks on civilians.”

Source: AFP