American Bar Association opposes Cameroon’s use of military courts to try civilians

The American Bar Association (ABA) has firmly criticised the use of military courts to try civilians, notably journalists, lawyers, and peaceful protesters in Cameroon.

The institution has demanded the immediate release of all journalists and human rights defenders arbitrarily arrested and detained on terrorism-related accusations.

The ABA’s demand is made known in a report published recently about the military court system in Cameroon, which is being used to try all persons accused of terrorism-relatedoffencess, including those involved in peaceful protest and advocacy.

Aside from just urging the release of those illegally detained, the ABA said the repeated use of the military by the Cameroon government to judge civilians contravenes Cameroon’s obligations to international law.

According to the association, since the start of the Anglophone conflict in the North West and South West Regions in 2016, Cameroon has witnessed a rapid deterioration of the rule of law and human rights. 

As a result, cases of harassment, intimidation, and persecution of human rights defenders have spiked, with lawyers and journalists who have been at the forefront of the struggle for justice and the promotion of human rights becoming victims of the government’s crackdown. 

“Many of these defenders have been arrested, detained, tortured, or even killed while carrying out their work, leaving many in fear for their lives,” it said.

The Camerooniann government has responded to the crisis by cracking down on civic space, including counter-terrorism laws to try civilian human rights defenders and journalists in military courts.”

Aside from calling on the government to release those arbitrarily detained, it also demanded that the government respect its obligations under international law by amending its Law N°2014/028 on Repression of Acts of Terrorism to prohibit journalists and other civilians from being tried by military tribunals, ensure a public interest defense, and ensure that unnecessary and disproportionate limits to freedom of expression are removed such that the law cannot be used to jail or harass journalists and other human rights defenders about their work. 

The report that analyzes Cameroon’s use of the military courts says the use of such tools to persecute human rights defenders advocating for the rights of Cameroon’s Anglophone minority contradicts Cameroon’s international, regional, and national legal obligations.

“The report finds that the Cameroonian government uses its anti-terrorism law to prosecute human rights defenders and journalists in military tribunals rather than impartial civilian courts and consistently denies them the right to a fair trial and appeals process, coupled with incommunicado and lengthy pre-trial detention.

“This strategy by the Cameroonian government to use military tribunals to try civilians, including human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists, violates human rights law as the very structure of these courts undermines the right to be tried before a competent, independent, and impartial court and the right to a public hearing,” it added. 

Among journalists who have been victimized by this law are Tsi Conrad and Thomas Awah Junior, who were given extended prison sentences by military courts following their coverage of anti-government rallies and peaceful protests in the Anglophone Regions in 2017. 

“The opacity surrounding these cases and the perceived limited avenues for defendants to challenge their detention or sentence have raised further questions about the impartiality and fairness of such proceedings,” the ABA report furthers.

It added that the use of military tribunals to try civilians in Cameroon has drawn widespread international criticism and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has repeatedly found contrary to Cameroon’s obligations under international law.

©Mimi Mefo Info