Two gendarmes, 2 soldiers, four police officers detained for torturing civilian in Ndu

The members of Cameroon’s security and defense forces who tortured a civilian in Ndu on Youth Day, February 11, are currently behind bars.

Navy Captain Atonfack Guemo, Head of Communication Division at the Ministry of Defence made the revelation Monday, 15 February 2021.

“The Ministry of Defence hereby communicates: on Saturday, 13 February 2021, an amateur video appeared on the web, presenting a man being interrogated, then assaulted and severely beaten by some elements of the Defence and Security Forces. The scene took place in the afternoon of Thursday, 11 February 2021, in the locality of NDU, Donga-Mantung Division, North-West Region,” Atonfack said.

According to preliminary investigations, Atonfack said the victim was identified as Jean FAI FUNGONG, who is “suspected to be a criminal relay and local terrorist.”

“It was also easy for the commanding authorities to identify the elements of the Defence and Security Forces compromised in this despicable act. They include, in the meantime, two (02) Gendarmes, two (02) Soldiers, and four (04) police officers,” Atonfack said.

The four police officers, two soldiers, and two gendarmes are currently detained at the NDU Territorial Gendarmerie Brigade on the instructions of the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence.
Atonfack says the officers in question breached the rules of engagement and will face the music.

He said Cameroon’s defense and security forces are trained to respect human rights at all times, a cardinal principle that cannot be compromised for any reason whatsoever.

“The disciplinary, administrative and judicial investigations prescribed by the High Command and opened by the local administrative authorities and the Defence and Security Forces, will help in determining the magnitude of these intolerable acts,” Atonfack said. “The act contradicts the respect of the rules of engagement on the one hand, and on the other hand, the protection of human rights, which constitute cardinal principles to which the elements of the Defence and Security Forces are firmly bound.”

In the about 10-minute video in which the uniform officers took laws into their hands, the victim was being asked to produce his brother suspected to be a separatist fighter. The victim said he did not know the whereabouts of his brother and if he did, he would not hesitate to inform the authorities.

Although the forces acknowledged in the video that the victim was not a separatist fighter, they beat him to near-death.

Reports say he was later handed over to his family and is responding to treatment in hospital.

Mimi Mefo Info