A lot of people have asked us for more information about the political situation in Cameroon, so here I will try to answer some questions. If you have anymore please post them and I will do my best to answer. I am not an expert on Cameroon, I am drawing on human rights reports written by the US State Department and the UK Home Office, the words are theirs, not mine. These are the reports that the Home Office uses in assessing an individual’s asylum claim. However, as you will see the ways in which they are used are highly selective.

Is Cameroon a democracy?

Cameroon, with a population of approximately 17.3 million, is a republic dominated by a strong presidency. Despite the country’s multiparty system of government, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) has remained in power since it was created in 1985. In October 2004 CPDM leader Paul Biya won re-election as president. The election was flawed by irregularities, particularly in the voter registration process, but observers believed the election results represented the will of the voters. The president retains the power to control legislation or to rule by decree. He has used his legislative control to change the constitution and extend the term lengths of the presidency. Although civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, security forces sometimes acted independently of government authority.

What is the human rights situation?

The government’s human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit numerous human rights abuses. Security forces committed numerous unlawful killings; they regularly engaged in torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners. Impunity was a problem in the security forces. Prison conditions were harsh and life-threatening. Authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained anglophone citizens advocating secession, local human rights monitors and activists, and other citizens. The law provides for the arrest of homosexuals and persons not carrying identification cards. There were reports of prolonged and sometimes incommunicado pretrial detention and infringement on citizens’ privacy rights. The government restricted citizens’ freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, and harassed journalists.

What is the situation in prisons?  

The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, there were credible reports that security forces continued to torture, beat, and otherwise abuse prisoners and detainees.

Numerous international human rights organizations and some prison personnel reported that torture was widespread; however, most reports did not identify the victim because of fear of government retaliation against either the victim or the victim’s family. Most victims did not report torture for fear of government reprisal or because of ignorance of, or lack of confidence in, the judicial system.

In Douala’s New Bell Prison and other nonmaximum security penal detention centers, prison guards inflicted beatings, and prisoners were reportedly chained or at times flogged in their cells. Authorities administered beatings in temporary holding cells within police or gendarme facilities.

Two forms of physical abuse commonly reported by male detainees were the “bastonnade,” where authorities beat the victim on the soles of the feet, and the “balancoire,” during which authorities hung victims from a rod with their hands tied behind their backs and beat them, often on the genitals.

Security forces reportedly continued to subject prisoners and detainees to degrading treatment, including stripping them, confining them in severely overcrowded cells, denying them access to toilets or other sanitation facilities, and beating detainees to extract confessions or information about alleged criminals. Pretrial detainees reported that they were sometimes required, under threat of abuse, to pay “cell fees,” a bribe paid to prison guards to prevent further abuse.

* The New Bell prison mentioned here was where Guy was detained the last time and where he sustained his head injury.

Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. Prisons were seriously overcrowded, unsanitary, and inadequate, especially outside major urban areas. The government did not provide funds to cover serious deficiencies in food, health care, and sanitation, which were common in almost all prisons, including “private prisons” operated by traditional rulers in the north. Prisoners were kept in dilapidated, colonial-era prisons, where the number of inmates was four to five times the intended capacity.

Does the law protect citizens’ rights?

The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, security forces continued to arrest and detain citizens arbitrarily.

The law provides that detainees must be brought promptly before a magistrate; however, bureaucratic inefficiency and, at times, arbitrary actions led to prolonged pretrial detention, and sometimes persons were held incommunicado for months or even years

The law provides for freedom of assembly; however, the government restricted this right in practice.

The law requires organizers of public meetings, demonstrations, or processions to notify officials in advance but does not require prior government approval of public assemblies and does not authorize the government to suppress public assemblies that it has not approved in advance. However, officials routinely have asserted that the law implicitly authorized the government to grant or deny permission for public assembly. Consequently, the government often did not grant permits for assemblies organized by persons or groups critical of the government and repeatedly used force to suppress public assemblies for which it had not issued permits.

Security forces forcibly disrupted the demonstrations, meetings, and rallies of citizens, trade unions, and groups of political activists throughout the year.

The law provides for freedom of association, but the government limited this right in practice.

* This was demonstrated by the events of Saturday 23rd February 2008. The SDF arranged a rally to protest against the President extending his powers. This rally was denied permission and went the organizers went ahead anyway, it was disrupted by security forces and 2 people shot dead.

* It is important to note the difference between what the laws says and what happens in practice. The Home Office uses the report to say that human rights are enshrined in Cameroonian law. What the Home Office fails to do is to go on and include the paragraphs which state that in practice these rights are not respected.

* The difference between political association and political assembly is also important. The SDF is not an illegal party. The government tolerates the exisitence of opposition parties to maintain a facade of being a democracy. People are not persecuted merely for belonging to opposition parties. However, when an individual decides to play an active role, the situation changes. So invdividuals like Guy, who was the district officer of propaganda for the SDF, was involved in distributing material and speaking at rallies, become targets for detention and torture.

US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006: Cameroon

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78723.htm

UPDATED: 06/06/08

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