PRESS STATEMENT BY #RELEASETHEM ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE DISAPPEARED
August 30th, 2022
On the occasion of the International Day of The Disappeared, which comes up on 30th August every year, the #ReleaseThem Campaign, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, Stand Up For Cameroon, Popular Action Party and other partners organize a series of outreach and advocacy activities aimed at engaging the Cameroonian and international community on the continued need to press for the State of Cameroon to take a lead in ending this practice, which has become rampant in Cameroon over the past decade, in the aftermath of multiple conflicts pitting the state against non-state fighters across the country.
It should be recalled that on December 21st, 2010, the UN declared August 30th the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance in order to draw attention to the fate of people detained in places unknown to their families, communities and lawyers. According to a 2021 statement by US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, “Every year, friends and family members vanish after being arrested, detained, or abducted by government officials or those working in concert with them or with their tacit assent”. As recently as August 12th, 2022, prominent Southern Cameroonian Activist, Abdul Karim, was arrested and was being held in similar incommunicado detention for days before pressure forced the Cameroon troops to allow him access to lawyers. This is the typical modus operandi of the military in Cameroon, where enforced disappearances after arbitrary arrest and torture are usually linked to summary executions and other barbaric acts. The practice has reached epidemic levels as the State of Cameroon faces political crises such as Boko Haram, the post electoral crisis of 2018 and above all, the armed conflict in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon that started in November 2017. However, most of the persons arrested in the English speaking regions between October of 2016 and September of 2017 are still in prison and with most of them missing. The belief that all persons arrested have committed crimes is not the case with Cameroon. Representatives of the State and the law are those at the forefront to break the laws as none of these prisoners was arrested with a Warrant of arrest following due process as required by the law.
Disappearances are also alleged to have been committed by non-State combatants defending various groups in the abovementioned Armed Conflicts especially Boko Haram and the non-State armed groups in the North West and South West. We decry all disappearances; responsibility for the collapse of security and order ultimately lies with the State of Cameroon, and this is why supranational action is the best, if not the only, means to end the dangerous out of control situation.
As such, beyond drawing attention to the fate of the victims or merely sympathizing with them and their families as intended by the UN, we call on Cameroonians home and abroad to pick interest in matters that concern fellow compatriots, the international governance and human rights organizations as well as any other institution capable of influencing the State of Cameroon to press the Cameroon to end the practices and engage in peaceful conflict resolution with respective belligerents. To this effect, we have deemed your presence and active participation in all these activities necessary, mindful of your personal or organizational capacity. Please, contact us for more information.
Statistics on missing persons in Cameroon
Since 2016, 1144 persons have been missing in Cameroon 52% link with English speaking regions and 48% concerning Boko Haram. The data we have, show that the Cameroonian government does not provide effective solutions to the various conflicts it faces. In the case of the Boko Haram crisis, the number of missing people has stabilized around fifty per year since 2019 (Figure 2). While we see an increase in the number of missing people in the case of the armed conflict in the English-speaking regions. After stabilizing around a hundred disappeared between 2017 and 2020, the number rose to 125 in 2021 (Figure 1).
The government of the Republic of Cameroon does not keep public data on the various crises and conflicts that are taking place throughout the country. There is a real challenge to be met on the quality of data on missing persons. Also, the statistics we give are based on data collected by human rights defenders and civil society actors. It is also about cross-checking the testimonies of detainees, families of people kidnapped either by the defense and security force of Cameroon, or by unidentified armed groups. Information from press organs and NGOs fighting against human rights violations also enabled us to consolidate our figures.
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