Statement Of The African Movement For Democracy On The Ongoing Protests In The Anglophone Regions Of Cameroon

The African Movement for Democracy expresses deep concern about ongoing events - loss of life, injuries and damage – in protests that turned violent in the North West and South West regions of the Republic of Cameroon.

The African Movement for Democracy condemns the violence being perpetrated by some individual citizens in the ongoing protests and encourages citizens to engage peacefully in airing their grievances.

The African Movement for Democracy strongly condemns the continued human rights violations and the acts of torture and inhuman, degrading and unjustified treatment that some members of the forces of law and order have inflicted on some Cameroonians and students and the blatant abuse of human rights carried out in the cities of Bamenda and Buea in the ongoing protests.

We urge the government of Cameroon to respect its obligations under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it has duly ratified. Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights explicitly states that, “Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status.” Part II of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights equally states that, “Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

We call on the Government of Cameroon to immediately end all such abuses and attacks against civilians, protect its population and fully comply with its obligations under international law.
We urge the government of Cameroon to address the problems of the populations including teachers, students and lawyers, in a comprehensive, appropriate, timely and responsible manner.
We ask the government of Cameroon to conduct a prompt, thorough and independent investigation into the massive violations of Human rights and killings by members of the armed forces and arrests of University students during the peaceful protests, and ensure that all perpetrators of human rights violations are brought to justice.

We call on all parties to exercise restraint, refrain from further violence, and engage in dialogue for a peaceful resolution to the problems that led to the ongoing protests.

The Africa we want is an Africa where democratic culture, values, practice, universal principles of human rights, gender equality, justice and the rule of law are entrenched.

Signed by the member organizations of the Steering Committee

Democracy Techsquad – Mali
Youngstars Foundation – Nigeria
Tag a Life International – Zimbabwe
NAYMOTE Partners for Democratic Development– Liberia
Organization for Youths and Elections in Botswana – Botswana
Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement – Nigeria
Network for Solidarity, Empowerment and Transformation for All – Cameroon