2018 Human Rights Report:

NCHRF Indicts Soldiers, Separatists for Killings in NOSO
By Doh Bertrand Nua in Yaounde

NCHRF Boss, Dr Chemuta Banda talking to the press

The National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms (NCHRF) has in a recent report published on the situation of human rights in the country accused security forces charged with maintaining peace in the two troubled Anglophone regions and separatist fighters of rights abuses. The revelation was made public by Dr. Chemuta Divine BANDA, Chairman of the commission Thursday 28 November 2019 in a ceremony to officially publish the commission’s 2018 report. 
    The 235 page report published in both national languages focused on domains of violence in the Northwest and Southwest regions, violence against women, business and human rights, rights of indigenous populations, poor detention conditions and elections as well as other issues including; the closure of schools in some areas and the difficulty in realising free education in public primary schools; early and forced marriages; the various ways in which lives were lost (road accidents, armed conflict, mob justice and extra-judicial killings); the loss of property especially through fire, increasing unemployment and underemployment, judicial delays and non-enforcement of court decisions; the continuums decline in the freedom of expression and low voter turn-out during elections.
    Chemuta blamed the continuous rise violations on continuous use of violence which to him has led to the emergence of unidentified armed groups from the initial groups that were identified to defend themselves and created those he called ‘warlords’, capturing people to collect ransom. He said the confusion on both sides has brought about suspicion were people are killed mercilessly. “Even our security and defence forces would look at the population in the villages as supporting the Amba boys and when they want to attack sometimes it is indiscriminate…they just attack and kill without making sure that they identify the people who are committing the offence and deal only with them...the same thing will be with the Amba boys who will suspect some villagers of cooperating with the security forces to commit atrocities on them” Chemuta revealed. 

    The report revealed that in 2018, 193 civilians were killed in the two Anglophone regions with 114 of the killings attributed to separatist groups, 69 to defence forces and 10 on unknown perpetrators. It adds that 50 security elements were killed in the two regions as a result of separatist attacks with two gendarmes killed by their colleagues. The report furthered that in addition to the 52 deaths, there were 50 unidentified military and separatist killed in Bali in the NW during a clash between both sides.
    The report also indicated that 194 suspected members of separatist groups died in clashes with security forces in addition to the 50 unidentified military and separatist killed in Bali. The report also points to attacks on physical and moral integrity of persons wounded, kidnappings of members of the educational community, lawyers, administrative, traditional, political and religious authorities, countless cases of injuries, residences, markets, hospitals, administrative offices and public buildings, houses, rolling stock, village communities among many others. 
    The chairman noted that because of the vast scope of human rights and other difficulties faced as a result of limited resources and threats in some regions, the commission was unable to document and denounce certain abuses recorded adding that for such lapses to be curb, the collective efforts of all and sundry is needed.
    Chemuta during a question and answer session with invitees to the event revealed the problem of persistence underdevelopment in the country is as a result of over centralisation of power in the Yaoundé where the regions do not have the right to decide on what obtains in their areas. To him, the only panacea to the problems affecting the country is an effective decentralisation that would help curb the rate of bad governance which has further compounded the problems of the country. He called on civil society activists to embark on responsible vibrancy in their desire to promote human rights and urged government to be receptive to the aspiration of these bodies and desist from violent measures.