Report of Promotional Visit to Cameroon by Prof. E.V.O. Dankwa - September 13-19, 1998
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24 REPORT OF PROMOTIONAL VISIT TO CAMEROON BY PROF. E.V.O. DANKWA - SEPTEMBER 13-19, 1998 Introduction And Acknowledgement My visit to Cameroon was originally planned to take place shortly after my promotional visits to Uganda and Kenya in July. Cancellation of the departure flight from Ghana by the airline I was scheduled to travel with led me to reschedule it for early August. However, at the request of the government of Cameroon, it was postponed to September, and it eventually took place from 13 to 19 September, 1998. The Secretariat of the Commission transmitted to the government of Cameroon my desire to meet the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Interior as well as the Chief Justice, the Heads of the Police Force and the Prison Service. I was also looking forward to meeting as many non-governmental organizations working in human rights as were prepared to meet me. Shortly before my departure for Cameroon, the above Secretariat passed on to me allegations of extra-judicial executions at Maroua and its environs in the northern part of the country. It had wanted me to visit the area and ascertain the facts as best as I could during such a brief stay, but since this, if at all possible, was unlikely to be accomplished, and my ticket could not accommodate such an addition to my itinerary, I advised the Secretariat about not expecting me ta comply with its request. Noting that Cameroon is a bilingual country, the Commission had assigned it to both Prof. Isaac Nguema from French-speaking Gabon and myself for promotional activities. But even for an English-speaking Comdssioner, Douala could not be avoided because it was the port of entry and departure; indeed, two nights were spent there for connecting flights. Equally, as the seat of government, Yaounde was inescapable. I was, therefore, determined to include a predominantly English-speaking city, Bamenda in my itinerary, in spite of the fact that it was going ta involve travel by road on two days. Sad to relate however, events recounted below confined me to Douala and Yaounde. I exchanged countless communications with Mr. Rolf Ring of Raoul Wallengberg Institute in Lund, Sweden in preparation of my visit. I appreciate the time and effort he spent towards making this mission possible. the Swedish government through his Institute provided the funds for the visit, and I am grateful to all three. Apart from liaising with the government about the visit, the Secretariat informed all Cameroonian NGOs having observer status with the Commission about the visit with all its change of dates. In response 1 25 The Human Rights Defence Group in Bamenda exchanged correspondence with me, and ais() agreed to arrange meetings with NGOs with me as far as was practicable having regard to the vast expanse of the country and financial constraints. Useful background material on Cameroon was supplied to me by the Secretariat, and I am much obliged to it as I am to the Bamenda NGO mentioned above. I must also record my relief and gratitude at being met at Douala airport by representatives of NGOs. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable Professor Augustin Kontchou Kouomegni made time out of his busy schedule to grant me audience on two occasions: first, to warmiy welcome me to Cameroon, and secondly to enable me to express my appreciation through him to the government and people of Cameroon for facilitating my mission. Many officiais in his ministry worked very hard towards this end. Save for the solitary experience with the Minister of Justice, when what I had expected to be a friendly encounter with exchange of information and ideas as had been my experience with ail the many officiais I had met in Cameroon as well as on similar visits to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Namibie, Uganda and Kenya, turned out unnecessarily to be a very hostile attitude to me despite ail my entreaties to the contrary. I have warned myself against the danger of letting this single unpleasant experience becloud my judgement and appreciation of the picture so kindly and patiently presented to me by Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs and ail the other officiais I met. It was my first visit to Cameroon, and I eagerly looked forward to seeing the land, with its people, of Roger Millar and the Indomitable Lions, a football enthusiast that I am, and in that I was not disappointed. I found a land of friendly people to ail of whom I am extremely grateful, and my wish for them is nothing but the very best which they also desire and deserve. Dictatorship, Democracy and Human Rights As recounted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cameroon was a state of dictatorship when His Excellency Paul Biya assumed office as Head of State in 1982. He decided to transform the country into a democracy, and asked Cameroonians to work together in a New Deal that would achieve that noble goal. The political dimension of the New Deal had three essential aspects: human rights, participation of Cameroonians in government and dialogue. With regard to human rights under the earlier dispensation, there were thousands of political prisoners imprisoned in a number of prisons ail over Cameroon. President Biya closed down ail of those prisons. 2 26 Under the new dispensation political parties have mushrodmed to 140, 7 of which are represented in Parliament without any of their leaders being imprisoned. There used to be Lens of thousands of exiles, but now there is hardly a Cameroonian who will claim to be living abroad as an exile. Indeed, many of the present political leaders returned to Cameroon from exile. Freedom of expression is respected and guaranteed. To illustrate, before President Biya's accession to power "Cameroon Tribune" was the only newspaper in the country. Censorship made it impossible for it to be otherwise. The high increase in the number of newspapers attest to the positive development in this area. No authorization is required for the publication of a newspaper. The only prerequisite is a declaration that an individuel or group of individuels will publish a newspaper. Even the police are prohibited by law from entering premises where newspapers are published. At this juncture I asked the Foreign Minister about the aftermath of the reported arrest, unlawful detention and conversion of the car of Ansong Ndifor a journalist with the "Herald" newspaper. An action by this gentleman in 1991 against the Commissioner of Public Security Limbe and Chief of Sector Customs, Limbe for the above claims led to the award of 1,150,000 Frs but it is yet to be satisfied. My information was that "the Legal Department" is "scared to issue a writ of fifa." The Minister seemed genuinely unaware of this case. Other individuel and collective freedoms were made meaningful with the enactment of new laws in 1989/1990. During the same period a National Commission of Liberty was established by the President with the objective of reco•mending for repeal legislation which impeded the realisetion and enjoyment of individuel liberty. It was also empowered ta make proposais for legislation. promulgated as laws. 38 of such proposais were adopted and This glowing picture of human rights in Cameroon contrasts markedly with Amnesty International's "Cameroon: Blatant disregard for human rights" of 16 September 1997, which deals with, inter alia, "harsh prison conditions." and "torture and ill-treatment." But to return to the Minister of Foreign Affairs' presentation, participation in government of Cameroonians was further addressed. There is a simple and transparent electoral process: at the local, district, provincial and national levels representatives of political parties observe the elections and the counting of votes. It is, therefore, not necessary to have an independent electoral body, the Minister responded to my inquiry about setting up such a body. None of the established democracies of the United States of America, Germany, France and the United Kingdom has such a body, he added. 3 27 As regards dialogue, the Minister explained that a tripartite conference of government, political parties and civil society took place. in 1990 and 1996 and it was organized for the purpose of constitutional drafting. Asked about marginilisation of the Anglophones and their absorption by the Francophone sector, as is perceived by some of the former, the response was that nothing could be further form the truth. For instance, Mr. John Fru Ndi, leader of the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF) nearly won the presidential election of October 1992; and without the support of the Francophones he could not have achieved this feat. Furthermore the change from a Federation to a unitary state under President Ahidjo was determined by a referendum. The other change under President Biya was by a decision of the National Assembly presided over by an Anglophone. A minority of the Anglophones with foreign backers are known to be working towards secession, he concluded. I reiterated an appeal I had made to Mr. Ambroise Behalal, Secretary General and other officiais of the Ministry: the submission of the overdue report of Cameroon to the Commission. In unison ail promised that it would be forthcoming, having dealt with reports to United Nations bodies. In a very welcome and promising remark, the Honourable Minister stated that Cameroon had done a lot in respect and protection of human rights, but was also aware that a lot more is expected of her. Allegations of Extra-judicial executions As narrated above, the Secretariat brought to my attention communication it had received concerning extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions by "the law and order forces fighting" highway robbers" "in the Northern provinces." I was expected ta visit the areas of the alleged executions and also take up the matter with the authorities.