As the struggle for the Restoration of the Independence of the
Southern Cameroons continues, one of the issues which has halted the healing
process or preventing the country from tearing itself apart, is the popular demand
for the unconditional release of all those arrested in connection with the 56
years struggle.
 |
| Notorious Kondengui Prison |
Things struggle took a different twist on November 21, 2016,
with the demand by teachers and then lawyers for the respect of the Anglo
–Saxon Educational and Common Law Legal systems in Cameroon.
This forum has taken upon itself the responsibility to give a
face to those arrested and then probe into presumed roles, in socio political
unrest in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon herein after
referred to as Southern Cameroons. There
are speculations that the Cameroon Government (now popularly known as La
Republique du Cameroon, LRC, at least in the Southern Cameroons), might not be
able to account for all of them at a point in time. This is against a backdrop
of rumors about the existence of mass graves in the Center Region, where some
Southern Cameroonians feared dead or killed might have been buried.
From a general observation, those arrested are responsible
Southern Cameroonians held down because they were expressing their right for
discussions on the nature of the state. Others are for the Restoration of the
Southern Cameroons Statehood. Simply put they are prisoners of conscience, given that most of the issues some of them raised are being given attention by the government albeit, halfheartedly.
These Southern Cameroonian detainees, however face almost similar charges, notably,
hostility against the nation, secession, acts of terrorism, revolution,
insurrection, group rebellion, contempt of institutions, inciting civil war,
looting, destruction of public property, and spreading of false information. Curiously, some of them have not been charged
or tried, more than five months after their arrest!
In the course of gathering information on each of them, there
were outcries of adductions following the Hollywoodian manner in which some of
the arrests were conducted. Several
witness and some of the detainees said they were rounded up, blindfolded, handcuffed,
chained, worn bullet proofs, before being whisked off from Southern Cameroons to
the Republic of Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé in particular. Some complained they
were tortured then locked up under life threatening conditions in the different
cells they passed through.
 |
| Buea Prison |
Following interviews with many direct family members,
it was observed that some discovered the arrest of their relatives, days after their
‘disappearance.’ This raises concerns as to whether all those arrested reached
any of the overcrowded detention centers and makes it difficult to know the
exact number of detainees. Besides, the abductions have continued. Worthy of note, the Southern Cameroonian detainees, for the most
part are professionals-lawyers, journalists, teachers, trade unionists, opinion
leaders and those who dared to question bad governance, decry marginalization of
Southern Cameroons and demand reforms.
Their detention location include the Kondengui prison in
Yaoundé, the Yaoundé principal prison, the Secretariat of State for Defense in
Charge of the Gendarmerie in Yaounde, (better known by its French acronym, SED)
the Counter Espionage and Intelligence Services in Yaounde (known in French as DGRE)
and then the Bamenda and Buea prisons. It also emerged in the course of
investigations that there are many who had been detained prior to the general
socio-political crisis that have gripped the two English Speaking Regions of
Cameroon for almost eight months, resulting in the shutting down of schools and
courts.
Cameroon’s Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma, had
justified their trial in Yaounde instead of courts in areas where they were
arrested or abducted, by arguing that the Military Tribunal (now used to try
civilians) had a national jurisdiction. The Cameroon government is using the
2014, ruthless anti-terrorism and cyber criminality laws to prosecute the
prisoners of conscience. The law carries a possible death penalty.
Legal luminary Barrister Akere Muna still argues that the detainees
should be freed to ease the ongoing tension in the country. “As regards the detainees and the different trials going on in the
Military Tribunal Regions, as well in the courts in the Anglophone regions,
against citizens, clerics and prelates, it is important to recall the
provisions of Article 64 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code which states: “The
Procureur General of a Court of Appeal may, by express authority of the
Ministry in Charge of Justice, enter a nolle prosequi, at any stage before
judgment on the merits is delivered, if such proceedings could seriously
imperil social interest or public order.” This provision of the law describes
the exact situation we are in. It is applicable to the ordinary courts. An
equivalent provision exists for the proceedings instituted before the Military
Jurisdictions. This is section 12 of the Law No.2008 of December 2008 Organizing
Military Justice anyone talking about peace and reconciliation in good faith
should immediately resort to these provision, to put a halt to the current
situation, which is accelerating the country’s glide towards division and
conflict,” he stated.
 |
| Barrister Akere Muna : Free The Detainees if We Want Peace |
In our first category, we would be profiling those who stood as
perceived ‘leaders’ in their own right, to conscientise Southern Cameroonians
about their plight and suffering and the need for the respect of the
dignity of the Southern Cameroonian. They are Barrister Agbor Balla, Dr Fontem
Neba, Hon Justice Paul Ayah Abine and Mancho Bibixy! But who are the more than
100 Southern Cameroonians held in prisons in the country.
Watch out for more on this same forum!
No comments:
Post a Comment