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Supporters of Guy in Belarus.

Cameroon: Two months after riots, children remain in prison

IRIN, 13 May 2008 (IRIN)

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78181

- Many people under the age of 18 were arrested and imprisoned during riots over high food prices in February and more than two months later some are still behind bars.

“Currently we have five minors being detained at the central prison,” said Joseph Tsala Amougou, the warden of Douala’s central prison. “None of them have yet been tried.”

But human rights groups said they had evidence of at least eight minors who were arrested during the riots and taken to the prison where they remain.

Even worse, Alice Kom, a lawyer in Douala told IRIN that all eight had been illegally convicted by a court and sentenced to serve time. “What [the children] did was not an offence that can be punished by sending them to prison,” she said.

Imprisoning children for misdemeanours was made illegal under a 2007 amendment to Cameroonian penal law, she said.

The law states that people under the age of 14 can only be imprisoned for murder while people between 14 and 18 of age must have committed felonies. “Otherwise the warden may not authorise a minor’s imprisonment,” Kom said.

In 2005, some 800 minors were incarcerated in 19 prisons in Cameroonian receiving an average sentence of seven years, according to research by the non-governmental organisation Défense Enfants International (DEI).

In the central prison in Douala the young prisoners live in particularly unpleasant conditions. According to prison records, 3,792 prisoners are currently incarcerated in the facility which was designed to accommodate no more than 700.

Minors frequently come into contact with adult inmates, the prison warden, Amougou, told IRIN. “There is a system of separation but it is not very effective,” he said.

“Unfortunately minors often find themselves alongside criminalsŠ [including] paedophiles and rapists,” he said.

In 2003, the UN Committee Against Torture recommended that minors in Cameroon’s prisons be separated from adults or that the state build special prisons for them.

The prison warden said the government has not yet constructed such facilities.

Ze Messomo, a former prisoner who is now a member of the Association of Christians for the Abolition of Torture said locking children up with adults will only create a future generation of criminals. “[The children] will learn to do much worse things than they knew before,” he said.

Cameroon: Politics and Government

House of Commons  -  9 May 2008 : Column 1246W

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080509/text/80509w0013.htm#08050971000013

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications of the recent change to the constitution of the Republic of Cameroon altering the limits of presidential terms for the political situation in that country. [203937]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 7 May 2008]: The amendment to the Cameroonian constitution to remove presidential term limits was passed in the Cameroonian National Assembly on 10 April. The constitution now places no restrictions on the number of terms a president, including the incumbent, may serve. It also accords some immunities to the president for acts committed during their tenure and allows a longer period for the organisation of elections in the case of a presidential vacancy.

As noted in my answer of 23 April 2008, Official Report, column 2121W, the Government supported an EU public statement concerning the amendment of the constitution of Cameroon on 27 March. We will continue to work with EU partners. In addition, our high commission in Yaounde has raised the constitutional amendment bilaterally with a number of Cameroonian Ministers and stressed the need for urgent action to deal with the democratic deficits and other reforms that need to be addressed.

Day of action to support the people of Cameroon

Massive day of action to support of the people of Cameroon & its struggle for Human Rights, Freedom of Expression and an end of Arbitrary Arrests

Tuesday 20th May 2008

Assemble Trafalgar Square 11:00am

March to 10 Downing Street

London  SW1

Dear Cameroonians and Friends,

We are calling a mass demonstration in Central London on 20th May 20008 to highlight the plight of millions of Cameroonians who are currently oppressed by the autocratic regime of Paul Biya for protesting against the then proposed amendment of the 1996 Constitution.

Last February civil unrest to denounce the proposed change of constitution and the alarming rise in the price of essential domestic goods led to a government clampdown that left over 100 Cameroonian’s dead in the street of many cities across the country.

ave seen a high number of army forces patrolling the streets. Thousand of innocent citizens are currently in detention for protesting against the amendment of the constitution.

Suspected opponents to the regime are arbitrarily being arrested, some simply disappearing without trace.

The plight of Joe La Conscience, a musician currently in detention for organising a one man march to protest and writing a song against the government’s constitutional theft, is evidence of the brutal and oppressive tactic currently employed by Paul Biya’s regime all to the indifference of the International Community while Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tibet have all taken central  stage.

We are called upon all Cameroonians and all those who care about Human Rights and the Freedom of Expression to join us in Trafalgar Street to call on the British Government and the Commonwealth to make an equally strong and firm stance against Dictatorial Regime of Paul Biya.

Francis Ngale

Cameroon Support Network