Abdul Karim’s wife petitions Canada over husband’s ‘illegal’ detention

By David Atangana

Mariama Frida Abdou, wife of detained Muslim scholar, Abdul Karim Ali, has written an emotional letter to Melanie Joly, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, asking the country to push for her husband’s release.

She asked the Canadian Government “to bring pressure to bear on the government” so that her husband could be freed.

In a three-page document, Mariama said her family has been harassed time and again by government security agents since her husband was arrested in Bamenda in August last year.

She revealed that she was forced to flee the country and seek refuge elsewhere, as her life and those of her close relatives were under threat.

“…my family and I are victims of this war. This letter is to tell you our story, our persecution, and the trouble we have faced since the abduction and incarceration of my husband, Mr. Abdul Karim Ali, by the government of Cameroon,” she wrote, adding that, “My husband and I are from a minority Muslim community in Bamenda, in the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons.”

Arrest of Abdul Karim

Arrested on 11 August 2022, in Bamenda and transferred to the National Gendarmerie Secretariat, SED, Abdul Karim Ali was again on Thursday, February 2, 2023 transferred to the Yaounde Kondengui prison

Human Right Watch said he was initially detained under ‘horrible’ conditions in a crammed cell in Bamenda after he was arrested without a warrant.

His lead defence lawyer Amungwa Tanyi had said his detention was arbitrarily and illegal. He has not been officially charged but he is reportedly being investigated for allegedly fueling the armed conflict in the English-speaking Regions.

On January 20, Canada announced that it was mediating in talks between the Cameroon government and some separatist leaders to resolve the crisis.

Congratulating the Canadian Government for stepping in to broker peace in Cameroon’s Anglophone Regions, Mariama Abdoul said her husband Abdul Karim was arrested for upholding the ideals of peace, justice and freedom, which Canada also upholds.

“We believe in our right to free speech, the right of non-discrimination, equality, autonomy, and the right to participate in the organization and development of our community. Therefore, my
husband and I have always stood for protecting these fundamental rights, justice, peaceful negotiations, and a mediated settlement to the war in Southern Cameroons,” she said.

She added that she was threatened multiple times by soldiers in Bamenda as she tried to dig into her husband’s whereabouts just after he was arrested and held incommunicado.

“I was threatened on multiple occasions by Cameroonian soldiers. On October 10th, 2022, Colonel
Bissoue Raymond, one of the colonels managing the barracks where Abdul was incarcerated, called and requested Abdul’s passport, my passport, and the passports of all our children.

“On that day, I realized there was a diabolic plan to cause the disappearance of the entire family or use us as a price against Abdul. They threatened to arrest and kill me if I did not comply. I realized my
life was in danger, and I had to disappear. It was the most dreadful experience of my life,” she went on.

Failing health condition of Abdul Karim

Three weeks back, Abdul Karim’s lawyers, Barrister Amungwa Tanyi and Barrister Tamfu Richard, said his health was fast deteriorating and that the government wanted to kill him.

A video they circulated showed Abdul Karim looking quite frail.

“The health of my husband is fast degenerating as a result of the inhumane conditions of his incarceration, characterized by physical and psychological torture. Thus I fear for his life,” Mariama said.

Rights groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International termed Abdul Karim’s detention illegal and asked the government to release him.

Mimi Mefo Info