By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai*
The alarm bell sounded by Amnesty International on the
vicious cycle of violence currently taking place in the Anglophone regions is
hardly surprising, coming as it were amidst the grotesque campaign of human
savagery and barbarism by murderous nihilistic soldiers, responsible for the
brutal killing of hundreds of innocent Anglophones and burning down over 100
villages till date. In its latest report, the London-based human rights group
said “security forces have tortured people, fired on crowds and destroyed
villages, in a spiral of violence that keeps getting more deadly.” Amnesty said
security forces have tortured at least 23 people, including minors to extract
confessions, while Ambazonia fighters have killed at least 44 security forces
and targeted suspected Anglophone sympathizers ofthe Biya regime. The report is
bound to cause consternation within and outside Cameroon with adverse
consequences for the army chain of command, including President Biya as
commander-in-chief, who risks potential criminal liability for individual or
command responsibility for war crimes of murder, torture, extra-judicial
executions and enforced disappearances. It is certainly impossible to live down
the damning report, but the combative government riposte of dismissing the
report as biased;accusing AI of hostility is an unacceptable impudent display
of statecraft. Any effort to discredit AI will instead attract global
opprobrium against Cameroon, which might inevitably lead to the nation’s
military and political leaders being dragged to the International Criminal
Court (ICC) at The Hague for prosecution.
Titled:
“A turn for the worse: Violence and human rights violations in Anglophone
Cameroon,” the reportwhich is based on in-depth interviews with victims and
eye-witnesses, and material evidence including satellite images, documents how
Anglophones are paying the highest price as violence escalates in the North
West and South West regions. The report details a range of war crimes and
possible crimes against humanity committed by security forces deployed to
counter the Anglophone insurgency. Amnesty particularly noted that: “People in
Cameroon’s Anglophone regions are in the grip of a deadly cycle of violence.
Security forces have indiscriminately killed, arrested and tortured people
during military operations which have also displaced thousands of civilians.”
According
to the report, victims described being blindfolded and severely beaten with
sticks, ropes, wires and guns, as well as being electrocuted and burnt with hot
water. Some were beaten until they lost consciousness, and Amnesty documented
that at least one person died in custody. One man who was arrested on December
13, 2017 in Dadi gave a harrowing account of the torture he suffered: “… They
tied our hands behind our backs, gagged us and tied our faces with our towels
and shorts, which they tore. They then made us lie in the water, face down for
about 45 minutes… During three days, they beat us with shovels, hammers,
planks, and cables, kicked us with their boots and poured hot water on us… when
I tried to move and shouted, one of them used the cigarette he was smoking to
burn me.”
AI said
satellite images and photographic evidence show the complete destruction of
Anglophone villages, burned to the ground by soldiers in response to the
killing of security officers by Ambazonia forces. “In some cases, following
these security operations, people were arbitrarily arrested and tortured while
detained in illegal detention facilities and in secret. For instance, at least
23 people, including minors, arrested in Dadi village in Akwaya by security
forces, spent three days incommunicado during which, they were tortured to
extract confessions of supporting the separatists. “In another instance, the
bodies of four men, arrested in Belo by the security forces the day before, were
found bloodied; with signs of torture at the Bamenda regional hospital
mortuary,” AI noted.
The
Amnesty report epitomizes, in a dramatic fashion, the rampaging culture of
impunity in the army. It is indeed a tragedy that the nation’s military would
be accused of such egregious human rights violations that cast the country
negatively in terms of moral accountability and respect for the rule of law.
That the army could be accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, hints
of an imprudent display of lawlessness.That security forces, whose prime
responsibility is the protection of lives and property should be accused of
having the blood of many civilians on their hands, is neither edifying to the
military, nor the nation. It is one more embarrassment that Cameroon can do
without.
The
report also reflected the heightened state of impunity and indecorous
professional conduct in military circles.The images of torture and systemic
abuse of Anglophones in secret detention centers, which have gone viral on social
media, advertised a certain violation of even the basic rules of war, which
exposed a breakdown in the leadership command chain. Notwithstanding the
situation, as the ethos of modern democracies demand, the military cannot
operate outside the law. This is what makes the excesses documented in the
report, all the more puzzling!
Be that
as it may, the Amnesty report was also an unwholesome expression of the
helplessness of the commander-in-chief. All in all, the impression created is
that President Biya, as commander-in-chief has been taken hostage by the army
chiefs and their cohorts who are profiteering from the crisis. This being the
case, the import of the report is for Biya now to take effective action to
protect the Anglophone population against the army’s campaign of terror within
the boundaries of the rule of law; to change the scorched-earth strategy for
handling the Anglophone crisis by discarding the indiscriminate use of brutal
force that inevitably creates a vicious cycle of violence.
Rather
than dismiss the Amnesty report as a grossly impaired document that is baseless
and not grounded in facts, President Biya should take the opportunity to
restore the rule of law and engage in genuine dialogue with the Ambazonia
leadership. Peace will not be achieved unless the culture of impunity among the
security forces is broken and Cameroon outlaws torture. The military high
command must be investigated for sanctioning or failing to prevent the torture
and deaths of people in their custody, arrested in the counter-insurgency
operations. The soldiers certainly have no reason to raze villages and kill
innocent civilians, including a 96-year-old bed-ridden woman, burnt to death by
soldiers in Kwakwa. If things went wrong in the past, this is the time to
correct them.
Mr.
President may find it necessary, as an image boosting measure, to commit his
government’s willingness to conduct a thorough investigation into all the
allegations with a view to determining the truth, sanctioning those culpable,
and preventing a recurrence. The government must, as a matter of urgency, set
the record straight with verifiable data of the number of detainees in various
detention cells, the charges preferred against them, the status of their
prosecution and the number of those that have died in custody. The government
can continue to wallow in self-delusion, but the obstinate refusal to dialogue
with the Ambazonia leadership, and the misguided demonization of Ambazonia
forces as terrorists will neither end the insurgency norrepair Cameroon’s
battered international image.Despite all the rampage, the army has been
struggling to counter the Ambazonia fighters. The soldiers remain on the
defensive.
Amnesty
is however unequivocal that these breaches including torture, extrajudicial
executions and detention without trial, including the trail of blood and death
wherever the army appears, can only make an already desperate situation worse.
In AI’s view, “the government’s heavy-handed response will do nothing to calm
the violence - in fact it is likely to further alienate Anglophone communities
and fuel further unrest,” noted Samira Daoud, Amnesty Deputy Director for West
and Central Africa. Amnesty concluded by saying: “Authorities must ensure
accountability for crimes committed by the security forces as well as by the
armed separatists. They must immediately end the use of unlawful, unnecessary
and excessive force and ensure that people are protected.” Mr. President should
create a commission of inquiry with parliamentary oversight to undertake an
independent investigation not just of the Amnesty report; but the entire
anti-Anglophone counter-insurgency operation to ensure security forces operate
within the rule of law and with respect for the rights of citizens. The report
of such an enquiry should be made public and those found to have compromised
service integrity made to face the full wrath of the law. That is what is
expected of any responsible government confronted with such grievous
allegations.Trying to kill the messenger because the government hates the
message is a self-defeating strategy.
No comments:
Post a Comment