Anglophone crisis: Separatist groups, others, write open letter to US president, accuse Cameroon of rights violations, seek intervention to resolve armed conflict

The letter chronicled gross human rights violations perpetrated by government forces from 2021 to 2023 - which includes the killing of women and children, burning of civilians' homes, forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and detentions, amongst others.

Some diaspora separatist groups and others under the banner of the Southern Cameroons Stakeholders Platform (SCSP) have written an open letter to the president of the United States of America, Joe Biden seeking for intervention to resolve the 6 years-long armed conflict in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions.

The English-speaking North West and South West Regions of Cameroon have been a theater of gun battles between armed separatists and government forces for more than five years and counting.

In a letter dated April 27, 2023, the groups campaigning for the independence of the English-speaking regions from french dominated Republic of Cameroon said “The government of Cameroon has failed to address concerns regarding persistent human rights violations being committed by Cameroon government security forces. These violations have continued unabated and worsened since the AGOA suspension that took effect on January 1, 2020.”

The letter chronicled gross human rights violations perpetrated by government forces from 2021 to 2023 – which includes the killing of women and children, burning of civilians’ homes, forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and detentions, amongst others.

Citing credible human rights reports, the groups noted that:

“According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) situation report of April 12, 2023, close to 700,000 persons remain internally displaced. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ March 2023 monthly brief reported over 87,000 refugees in neighboring Nigeria. Thousands of civilians have been killed and more than 300 villages burnt down.”

Acknowledging the Temporary Protection Status granted by the US government to those fleeing the conflict, the groups said due to the raging conflict, “former British Southern Cameroonians have become one of the leading asylum seekers from Africa at the US southern border with Mexico”

Reiterating their commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, the separatist groups called on the US President to put pressure on Cameroon to comply.

“Use your authority to compel the Cameroon government to demonstrate continual progress provided in the AGOA, in the respect of human rights by respecting international law, stop arbitrary arrests, release those detained in connection with the conflict, and pay reparations to the families whose houses were razed by government forces,” the letter reads in part.

Calling on the US to mobilize allies to compel Cameroon to genuinely engage in the resolution process, they proposed sanctions for perpetrators of atrocities in the two regions:

“Impose sanctions on any individual from the Cameroon government or armed groups who commit international rights violations on civilians, including the burning of villages, schools, churches, and hospitals,” the groups said.

Amongst other things, they demanded “an independent international investigation of the atrocity crimes, gross and serious human rights violations committed and to hold perpetrators to account in order to prevent, mitigate and respond to a culture of impunity that continues to breed violence.”

They as well expressed the need for the Cameroon government to allow humanitarian access so that close to 2 million people who need aid can be reached without any blockage or interference from the government as was the case with Doctors Without Borders.

Some of the groups that signed the letter include the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), Southern Cameroons Activist Front (SCAAF), Southern Cameroons Civil Society Consortium (SCACSC), Ambazonia Youth Council (AYC), Global Takumbeng, Diaspora Ambazonia Community (DAC), West Cameroon Association (WCA), and several others.

By David Atangana