The international human rights organisation Amnesty International has demanded the immediate release of Anglophone peace activist Abdul Karim Ali.
The Yaounde military court sentenced Karim to life imprisonment on April 16, 2025.
The tribunal charged him with “hostility against the homeland” and “secession”.
According to Amnesty International, the “deplorable life sentence” slammed on Abdul Karim Ali is an “affront to justice”.
“The life sentence handed down to Anglophone peace activist Abdu Karim Ali is an affront to justice, and he should be released immediately,” Amnesty International said on Thursday, May 15, in a statement sent to us via email.
Abdul Karim was arrested without a warrant in Bamenda in August 2022 after he denounced torture committed and broadcast online by a member of the Cameroon Rapid Intervention Battalion, Chief Moja Moja, who is also in detention now.
It took three years before the military court tried and sentenced him to what Amnesty International describes as an “extreme punishment simply for exercising his right to freedom of expression”.
“This shameful judgement breaches international human rights law and standards,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Interim Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
“The authorities unlawfully held Abdu Karim Ali in prolonged arbitrary detention and tried him in a military court, in violation of Cameroonian law and international human rights law and standards. Amnesty International calls for his immediate and unconditional release,” the regional director added.
Abdu Karim Questions Court Jurisdiction
Though the case has been appealed, Abdul Karim, following his conviction, refused to recognise the jurisdiction of the military court.
He identified himself as an Ambazonian – a breakaway territory – and said the court in Yaoundé lacked jurisdiction.
According to Amnesty International, Abdul Karim did not appear in court on the day of his sentencing.
“To think that he was prosecuted for his thoughts, national origins, associations and political opinion is the quintessential case of political persecution,” his lawyer told Amnesty International.
Runs Peace Research Centre
Before his imprisonment, Abdu Karim Ali ran the Peace Research Centre in Bamenda and regularly delivered speeches and training on peace and security.
He was a vocal advocate of the Swiss-led mediation process as a way out of the Anglophone Crisis.
After his arrest in Bamenda on August 11, 2022, security forces detained him for 84 days – four of which were incommunicado – at a military police station.
Amnesty International says the detention conditions were inhumane.
“While no formal reason was given for his detention, he was repeatedly questioned about a video he made on 9 July 2022 denouncing a Cameroonian military chief known as ‘Moja Moja’ for torturing civilians,” Amnesty International said.
“In February 2023, Amnesty International denounced Abdul Karim Ali’s arbitrary detention and called for his release,” the human rights organisation added.
One Among Several Detained Anglophones
Abdul Karim is just one of thousands of Anglophone Cameroonians who have been detained following the outbreak of the armed conflict in the North West and South West regions of the country.
Amnesty International said many of them have been convicted by military courts on charges that criminalise the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
“The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has ordered the immediate release of several detained Anglophone activists, including Mancho Bibixy Tse, Tsi Conrad and ten others illegally deported from Nigeria to Cameroon,” it said.
