US congress Foreign Affairs Committee chairman calls on UN to send fact-finding mission to Cameroon

Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the House of Representatives has penned a letter to the UN on the “deploring crisis” in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions.

With over 3000 dead, 800.000 Internally Displaced and another 35.000 seeking asylum in Nigeria, the house of Representatives member notes that peace the restive regions is of utmost importance.

Stating that about 4.3million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance, it is challenging accessing them as “the government of Cameroon refuses to provide access to international human rights organisations seeking to identify perpetrators of atrocity crimes”.

Urging the UN to pass a resolution calling for an end to the violence and establishing an independent fact finding mission, Eliot Engel said “such a mission could help determine the facts and circumstances of the gross international human rights violations being committed by the country’s military, security forces and armed separatists and hopefully bring an end to the overall impunity with which these crew and atrocities are being committed”.

Peace he added will not only serve in the interest of minority rights in Cameroon, but will enhance stability in the country and sub region as a whole, as well as serve US interest in bilateral and multilateral relations with African countries.

The recent letter comes just hours after another by some nine US congressmen to President Paul Biya warning against the ongoing rights abuses in the country.