Human Rights Watch demands immediate release of activist, Junior Ngombe

Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization, has called for the “immediate release” of social media activist, Junior Ngombe, and the dropping of all charges against him.

In a statement released on Monday, July 29, the rights group stated, “Cameroonian authorities should listen to peaceful demands for reform instead of stifling freedom of expression.”

Ngombe, a 23-year-old hairdresser and social media activist, was apprehended outside his shop in Douala, Littoral Region, by three men in plain clothes working for Cameroon’s intelligence services.

He was initially taken to a gendarmerie post in Douala before being transferred the following day to the State Secretariat for Defense (SED), a gendarmerie-run detention facility in Yaoundé.

Human Rights Watch has “previously documented widespread use of torture at the facility.”

Defense lawyers report that Ngombe has been charged with “incitement to rebellion” and “propagation of false information.”

The charges stem from a TikTok video in which Ngombe encouraged people to register to vote in the February 2025 presidential elections, advocated for democratic change, and criticized authorities’ intolerance of dissent.

“For many years, the Cameroon Government has carried out a pervasive crackdown on opposition and dissent, jailing dozens of political activists, human rights defenders, journalists, and other government critics,” Human Rights Watch noted.

“In recent months, as presidential elections approach, it has increasingly restricted freedoms of expression and association.”

The organization also highlighted several recent incidents. In March, the Territorial Administration Minister, Paul Atanga Nji, banned two opposition coalitions, labeling them clandestine movements.

In June, gendarmes in Ngaoundéré, Adamawa Region, arbitrarily arrested Aboubacar Siddiki, known as Babadjo, a prominent artist and member of the opposition party, National Union for Democracy and Progress.

This was shortly after his release from a three-month imprisonment for “insulting” the Adamawa Regional Governor. He had criticized the authority in a WhatsApp group.

Additionally, in July, the head of the Mfoundi administrative division, Emmanuel Mariel Djikdent, issued a decree threatening to ban from the division “anyone who dangerously insults the State institutions or the person (President Paul Biya) who embodies them.”

These events have further stifled freedom of expression as the country prepares for the 2025 presidential elections.

©Mimi Mefo Info