UN warns on rights violations in Cameroon, Namibia
Cameroon President Paul Biya.
What you need to know:
- Cameroon government has launched a violent crackdown on armed separatists seeking separation of minority English language speakers.
- The UN Committee against Torture has also expressed concern about reports of prolonged pretrial detention routinely exceeding legal limits in Namibia.
The United Nations says it is alarmed by numerous reports of gross human rights violations in Cameroon and Namibia, both State parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The UN Committee against Torture published findings of it latest review on Friday November 22. Cameroon and Namibia are among State parties to the convention that were reviewed during the latest session, from October 28 to November 22. Others include Jordan, Kuwait, Mongolia and Thailand.
On Cameroon, the committee said it is alarmed by reports of intimidation, threats, harassment, excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and detentions, prosecutions, including by military courts, torture and ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions of human rights defenders, civil society members, journalists, political opponents, and peaceful demonstrators in the country.
It also noted that incommunicado detention in unofficial places, and sexual and gender-based violence, committed by defence and security forces in the context of counter-insurgency operations and by non-State armed groups in the English speaking regions and Far North region of the country.
Cameroon government forces have launched a violent crackdown on armed separatists seeking a separation of minority English language speakers from the majority French-speaking country since 2016.
The separatist want to create an independent English-speaking country which they call “Ambazonia”. It is made up of the two English-speaking semi-autonomous administrative regions of the country.
The country’s military has also been battling cross-border raids by Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram in several towns and villages of the Far North region since the insurgency spilled over the border into Cameroon in 2013.
“The Committee requested that Cameroon take necessary steps to guarantee that these individuals are adequately protected from human rights violations that may occur due to their activities, all such violations are thoroughly and impartially investigated, those responsible are tried and convicted, and that victims or their families receive compensation,” it recommended.
Cameroon authorities did not immediately respond to the review publication, but have previously rejected characterisation of operations in the restive region as a violation of civil rights.
The Committee has also expressed concern about reports of prolonged pretrial detention routinely exceeding legal limits in Namibia.
It said it was concerned that the majority of pretrial detainees in the Southern Africa country are held in severely overcrowded and dilapidated police detention cells with inadequate facilities and services.
“The Committee called upon Namibia to uphold the provisions governing pretrial detention, including statutory limits on the duration, and resort to it only when strictly necessary with no other possible measures, for limited periods and according to the law,” it stated.
It also asked Namibia to stop placing pretrial detainees in police detention cells but hold them in appropriate detention facilities.
The Committee noted that there is lack of progress in codifying torture as a specific criminal offence in Namibia’s criminal legislation, as the revised Prevention and Combating of Torture Bill has been awaiting parliamentary approval since 2019.
“The Committee called on Namibia to adopt the bill as soon as possible and to ensure that its provisions define torture as a specific offence in its domestic legislation, incorporating all the elements of Article 1 of the Convention”, it said.
