Cameroon 2025 —Tchiroma’s Lawyers Demand International Probe into Killings

In a statement released late in the evening, the lawyers — including Me Dior Diagne, Me Jemal Telab, Me P.M. Felix Sow, Me Moustapha Ndoye, Me Éric Diamantis, Me Benjamin Grundler, Me Claude Coelho, and Me Augustin Ngefack — accused the Cameroonian security apparatus of using live ammunition to suppress constitutionally protected assemblies.

“These acts amount to crimes under international law,” the collective wrote, calling on the United Nations, the African Union, and all partner governments to open an independent investigation into the killings and the conduct of the defense forces.

The statement further denounced what it described as the “ethnicization of repression”, warning that the crackdown has begun to target specific communities in the northern regions that voted overwhelmingly for Tchiroma in the disputed October 12 presidential election. The lawyers argued that such selective violence “undermines the very fabric of national unity” and risks igniting a wider conflict.

Beyond condemning the shootings, the collective urged the international community to treat the silence surrounding these violations as complicity. They emphasized that Cameroon, a signatory to multiple human-rights treaties, is legally bound to protect citizens’ right to peaceful protest and political expression.

The call follows days of unrest in Douala, Garoua, Ngaoundéré, and Maroua, where demonstrators have marched demanding the “truth of the ballot box.” Witnesses and rights groups reported the use of live rounds, arbitrary arrests, and the deployment of military reinforcements around the home of Issa Tchiroma in Garoua.

The lawyers concluded by urging a halt to state-inflicted violence and a restoration of civil liberties, reminding the government that “justice, dignity, and respect for life must prevail over fear and division.”

As tensions mount ahead of the Constitutional Council’s final proclamation of results, calls for accountability are growing both within Cameroon and among the diaspora.