Kah Walla Makes Key Clarifications after Visit Of UN Human Rights Chief

The National President of the Cameroon People’s Party has outlined key points to note following the visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to Cameroon.
Michelle Bachelet who was in Cameroon early May, met with Edith Kah Walla Pandora other opposition leaders on May 4th 2019 in Yaounde.
After concertations, the CPP came up with the following points:

At Stand Up For Cameroon, we believe that the responsibility of change for Cameroon belongs to Cameroonians. If we do not create a strong, determined, consolidated dynamic for change in Cameroon, it will not happen. No foreign country, nor international organization will fight our fight for us.

As Cameroonians, we believe that the agreements and treaties that bind us to other countries and international organizations are for the benefit of the Cameroonian people.

When the government that represents us, is not respecting those agreements, to the detriment of the Cameroonian people, it is our duty to remind the other parties to the agreement that the principles and values that bind us as peoples are not being respected. Without hesitation we will use the instruments available to pressure the Government of Cameroon to act in a manner that is in the interest of the Cameroonian people.

That said, please note the following:

1⃣It is the Republic of Cameroon, represented by its government, that is a member of the United Nations.
No high-level UN officer can come to Cameroon except on express invitation of the Cameroonian government. No one can get an audience with the Head of State, without being expressly invited by the Government of Cameroon. It is therefore ridiculous to suggest NGOs or opposition political parties are inviting the UN to Cameroon. Mme Michelle Bachelet may have requested an invitation to Cameroon, if so, that request was accepted, and she was invited by the President of the Republic of Cameroon.

2⃣ Mme Bachelet’s meetings with opposition parties and civil society are standard practice for the United Nations. In its various accords to which Cameroon is a signatory, it is acknowledged that these groups constitute key components of the nation and have a certain number of political freedoms. When the Government of Cameroon invited Mme Bachelet to Cameroon, they knew she would be meeting with these groups. We simply took advantage of the opportunity provided by this space to firmly and honestly communicate our assessment of the situation in our country and to request that the UN use the instruments at its disposal to pressure our Government into acting in the interest of the Cameroonian people.

3⃣No opposition party or civil society organization determined the agenda of Mme Bachelet’s visit.
Given her diplomatic rank, this was decided upon between the Office of the High Commissioner and the Presidency of Cameroon.

4⃣The United Nations is a member-state organization. Cameroon, represented by its government, is its member. The primary actions of the UN are carried out at the request of and in support of its member-states. These actions are determined by the different declarations, principles and accords of the UN. When one of its member-states contravenes the agreements it has signed, the UN has a variety of instruments with which to query, pressure and intervene with that member-state.

5⃣At Stand Up For Cameroon, we are requesting that the UN use its instruments of diplomacy and pressure, including individual, targeted sanctions to put an end to the violation of human rights and state violence in Cameroon.

No other type of intervention has been requested.

Only Cameroonians can bring about sustainable, non-violent change for a democratic, prosperous Cameroon that guarantees basic rights and freedoms to its citizens. No one can fight this fight for us. It is ours.

Edith Kahbang Walla

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