The ReleaseThem Campaign is deeply concerned about the recent human rights situation in Cameroon’s prisons and detention centers. The past two weeks have seen the deaths of three prisoners. At a minimum, 5 deaths have been reported within the prisoner population over the last three months. The primary cause of death is illness due to denial of access to medical care at critical moments. The Nelson Mandela Rules, specifically Rule 24, states that the healthcare of prisoners is the government’s responsibility and every time a prisoner dies, the government is directly responsible. The family and friends of prisoners have shown a willingness to cover the cost of medical care for their loved ones in prison due to the absence of adequate medical facilities within the prisons. Still the prison authorities have denied access to medical care for many prisoners which has resulted in some losing their lives unnecessarily.
The prison conditions have made it such that prisoners have to deal with diseases at all times. Some causes include; over crowdedness coupled with the unhygienic conditions of the prisons and lack of potable water.
There have been reported cases of deaths from Cholera and tuberculosis that are easily spread as patients are not isolated from the prison population. Malaria is also endemic and treatment options are extremely limited.
Many prisoner deaths are entirely preventable with timely access to medical care, but minor illnesses are left unattended until they develop into life threatening conditions due to denial of access to medical care. Testimonies from inmates indicate that they are only given medical attention when their situation is critical and beyond rescue. We fear this is now becoming a deliberate trend on the part of prison authorities to eliminate prisoners through a combination of derelict facilities, degraded conditions of detention and denial of timely medical attention when prisoners fall ill as is inevitable. This is a stark reminder of the situation of Tangem Thomas Nganyu who was refused medical attention and later on died handcuffed and chained to his hospital bed like an animal. The ReleaseThem Campaign Team is deeply concerned with this new trend and seeks to draw the attention of the Cameroon authorities and the international community.
It should be recalled that about 85% of detainees have either not been tried or have ongoing cases which have not been completed and therefore not yet found guilty.
Cameroon has ratified the conventions against torture even though it has refused to adhere to the treaty creating the International criminal tribunal to try crimes against humanity and war crimes. The ReleaseThem Campaign calls on the government to take responsibility and bring to justice the prison authorities who have been working in direct contravention of these conventions, even as the ReleaseThem Campaign continues to document and detail the names of these individuals.
The Current Record of Prisoners who have died in Cameroon’s jails include:
- Asang Viginus: kondengui Central prison (passed away within the last 2 weeks)
- Venyemi Romanus: Bamenda Central prison (passed away within the last 2 weeks)
- Tanger Rudolph: Buea Central prison (passed away within the last two weeks)
- Nkongi Jackson: Buea Central prison (passed away approximately 1 month ago)
- Besong Nkongo: Buea Central prison, he died about 5 months ago
- Francis Nkeku (Pa Francis) : New Bell, august 7, 2019,
- Rodrigue Ndagueho Koufet : New Bell, april 7, 2022, cholera
- Tangem Thomas Nganyu : Kondengui Central, August 2020,
- Ambe Louis : Kondengui Central, april 16, On the Recent Spate of Deaths in Cameroon’s Prisons2022, poison
- Samuel Abuwe (Wazizi) : secret detention, August 7, 2019, tortured and killed.
- Wolen Vitalist : (Yaounde Central Prison) – Denied medical aid and died from torture (2018)
- Wirsey Frederick (Yaounde Central Prison): Denied medical aid in prison -2018
- Tibah Mendini Hadisson (Yaounde Central Prison): Died from torture and denied medical aid (2021)
- Chief Foretia (Yaounde Central Prison): Died from torture
- Ayafor Quinta, (2021) (Yaounde Central Prison): Died as a result of neglect by prison administration
- Achu Vitalis (2020) (Yaounde Central Prison): Died shortly after he left prison from torture.