The kidnapping and severe torturing of 30 women in Cameroon‘s western region in May is one of the most prominent cases of human rights violations in the country this year.
Development Diaries reports that the women, abducted by ‘heavily armed terrorists’ in Kedjom Keku, in the country’s restive Anglophone region, had been protesting against violence and illegal taxes levied by separatists.
Cameroon has continued to impose restrictions on the freedoms of assembly, association, and speech, and dozens of leaders of the opposition parties and other anglophone groups are being arbitrarily detained.
The Central African country has experienced political instability, particularly in the Anglophone regions, where there has been a long-standing conflict between English-speaking separatists and the government.
The government’s response to the separatist movement has raised human rights concerns, including reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and the displacement of civilians. Detainees have sometimes faced harsh conditions and limited access to legal representation.
More than 6,000 people have died as a result of violence in the country’s north-west and south-west regions and this prompted a violent crackdown by security forces.
It is understood that during the conflict, security forces perpetrated extrajudicial killings and widespread sexual and gender-based violence (GBV).
For instance, the police in Yaoundé, the country’s capital, violently broke up peaceful demonstrations organised by the visually impaired on 27, 28, and 30 June, 2022, according to reports from the media and the Collectif des Aveugles et Malvoyants Indignés du Cameroun.
Data from Human Rights Watch (HRW) shows that 598,000 people were internally displaced as of August 2022 as a result of the crisis.
In its 2023 Freedom in the World study of political rights and civil liberties, Feedom House ranked Cameroon as ‘not free’, with the Central African country earning 15 points out of a possible 100.
As the world observes this year’s Human Rights Day, Development Diaries calls on the government of Cameroon to investigate allegations of human rights violations and respect the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which the country ratified in 1986.
Also, the government must promote a culture of respect for human rights by training law enforcement agencies on international human rights standards and ensuring that they operate within the bounds of the law.
Photo source: United Nations
