Some Anglophone detainees in detention facilities in Cameroon have decried living conditions, stating that they are being tortured.
Talking to MMI, one of the inmates, Joseph (other names withheld for security reasons) says he has been tortured several times since his arrest on February 19, 2018.
Charged with terrorism and other crimes against the state, Joseph says he has made several court appearances with the most recent on December 20.
One of the major challenges he says, is that most of the court sessions are coordinated in French, a language he has “no understanding of”.
In addition, he says the torture he has undergone so far is unbearable and has almost “cost him his life”.
“They used an electric pressing iron to burn my body and put electricity on my man-hood so i was urinating blood” he says.
In the process of torture, another detainee called Leslie lost his life Joseph tells MMI.
With his next court session booked for February 17 next year, Joseph says he feels abandoned and is in dire need of financial help.
“People have been using my pictures and making money while I am sleeping on the floor with wounds” he says.
Joseph’s story is one of several others by Anglophones detained in connection to the crisis in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon. Most cells in the Cameroon’s prisons are reported to be congested, and many say torture of detainees is the order of the day.
According to Prison Insider, “majority of prisons in Cameroon are old and unsanitary. Buildings are poorly ventilated, and accessing toilets and water is challenging. Poor hygiene conditions and difficulties accessing health care, compounded by overpopulation, lead to health problems”.
