Human rights organisations endorse September 22 nationwide protest

Four human rights groups in Cameroon have reiterated the need for the government of Cameroon to respect the fundamental rights of her citizens to carry out peaceful protest on Tuesday, September 22, 2020.

In a press conference Thursday, September 17 in Douala, leaders of the Network for the Defense of Human Rights in Central Africa (RHEDAC), Centre for the promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, Anous Le Cameroun and Nouveau Driot de L’homme agreed that threats from the government of Cameroon to brutalise Cameroonians that will dare to protest is a flagrant violation of the fundamental rights of human beings.

Reading a join declaration, Maximilliene Ngo Mbe, Coordinator of RHEDAC says ” the government of Cameroon should allow political parties and Cameroonians to exercise their rights. We as human rights groups will hold the government responsible if there is any violence and brutality on the 22nd of September. We therefore call on the military to protect civilians that will protest”.

As concerns tension in the North West and the South West regions of Cameroon, the human right groups accuse the government of being largely responsible for the killings, kidnapping, destruction and torture. To the human rights defenders, one year after the organisation of major national dialogue, nothing positive has taken place except killings and destruction.

“The situation is degenerating in Cameroon. Government should draw lessons from what is happening in Libya, Somalia and Afghanistan.”

To the human rights group, a decision by the Minister of Territorial Administration demanding authorization for the purchase of cutlasses and iron rods is an unreasonable one that has nothing to resolve the crisis. They notice that despite the decision, killings and other destructions continue to take place in the restive regions.

By Mbatho Ntan