Following an attack on the Bafut palace in the North West region, Human Rights Watch, HRW has issued a statement condemning the act and calling for accountability.
The palace HRW notes was included on a tentative list of world heritage sites by UNESCO since 2016. Being party to World Heritage Convention and the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property Cameroon has the obligation to protect the structure.
The attack carried out by the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR, “is not the first time government forces have disregarded UNESCO obligations. In September 2018, BIR soldiers destroyed parts of the Bafut palace roof, again on the pretext of searching for separatists. In the 2018 and 2019 attacks, no separatists were found” the statement read.
“The government should rein in BIR forces and hold commanders of the recent assault accountable for their actions … In the current unrest in the Anglophone regions, belligerents should make sure that this cultural heritage is protected” it adds.
The attack on the Bafut palace it should be noted adds to several other structures and villages in the English speaking regions of the country attacked In the wake of the armed .
According to the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, CHRDA, hundreds of villages have been torched as a result of the Anglophone Crisis that has left thousands dead and more displaced.
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