Cameroon Anglophone crisis: Human Rights Watch Says Separatist Abuse Rife, Warns Of Consequences

After receiving serious bashing from the government of on a seemingly ‘bias’ report on rights abuses said to have been allegedly committed by the military in March 2020 in Ebam village, in the restive South West region, renowned international rights group, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has made public another report considered by keen observers as a meal culpa, in which it details atrocities of separatist armed gangs in the crisis-hit Anglophone regions.

The right group in the report published 12 March 2020 by Ilaria Allegrozzi, Senior Central Africa Researcher, with focus on recent kidnappings and ongoing killings says armed separatists’ abuse is “rife” in the North West and South West regions.

“Armed separatists kidnapped John (not his real name), a medical doctor in Cameroon’s English-speaking North-West region, on February 27 and took him to their camp. They accused John of “not contributing to the struggle,” pointed a gun at his back, and threatened to kill him. He was released six hours later, after a 300,000 CFA [US $544] ransom payment,” partly read the report.

According to the report, separatist asked John to support the ongoing struggle financially in order to secure his freedom. 

“They said I had to give them money to support their struggle for independence, to buy guns. They told me not to tell what happened to anyone; otherwise, they would kill me and anyone in my family,” disclosed the kidnapped medic to HRW investigators after his release. 

HRW stated that the narrative of John is “far too common in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions”. “Since 2017, armed separatists have kidnapped hundreds of people, including students, clergy, political leaders, and humanitarian workers, while calling for the Anglophone regions to separate. The separatists have enforced a boycott of education in the English-speaking regions to protest against what they perceive as the assimilation of the Anglophone education system into the central, French-speaking one,” HRW report stated, adding, that the recent kidnapping occurred amidst a wave of renewed separatist violence over the past two months.

He went further and disclosed that “on February 13, separatist fighters killed three tribal chiefs in Essoh Attah village, South-West region, allegedly for refusing to hand over profits from their cocoa sales and for promoting education, according to media reports. On January 9, suspected separatist fighters killed the principal of a high school in Eyumojock, South-West region, and wounded another principal from a high school in Tinto, South-West region, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and media reports”.

They equally nailed separatists for preventing humanitarian response to the needy in the crisis zones. “Separatist have hindered the delivery of humanitarian assistance and killed and tortured those who they suspect of collaborating with authorities and security forces,” the report revealed.

The report urged state security to step up their game in order to provide effective civilian protection in the crisis zones. The report urged government and her international partners to remind separatist fighters of the consequences for these crimes, including through targeted sanctions, such as travel bans and asset freezes on those who bear responsibility for those committing the abuses as indicated by the United Nations Security Council.