Urgent Press Release!

Biya Gov’t Influencing Human Rights Watch to Publish a Watered-down Human Rights Report on Cameroon Early July

The Southern Cameroons Civil Society Consortium has just received information that a Two-man delegation of the international non governmental organization, Human Rights Watch is in Yaounde to hold talks with government authorities there in prelude to the publication in early July, 2018 of its report on the human rights situation in Cameroon, particularly on the prevailing crisis in Southern Cameroons.

The delegation is made up of Messrs Philippe Bolopion and Jonathan Pedneault. These two Human Rights Watch experts will be in Yaounde until the 23rd of June, 2018.

According to instructions dished out by the Head of State, Paul Biya through the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, the two experts will be received by Prime Minister Philemon Yang, External Relations Minister, Lejeune Mbella Mbella, Issa Tchiroma Bakary of Communication, Laurent Esso of Justice, Joseph Beti Assomo of Defense, Atanga Paul Nji of Territorial Administration, Hadidja Alim Youssouf of Basic Education, Nalova Lyonga Pauline Egbe of Secondary Education and the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

The information received by the Consortium makes clear these experts from Human Rights Watch are in Yaounde on a public relations initiative, meant to spray perfume on the unimaginable human rights atrocities / genocidal acts being committed by soldiers loyal to Mr. Biya in Southern Cameroons- Ambazonia, more so because the evidence of human rights violations is not in Yaounde but in the Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia which they even intend not to visit.

The Southern Cameroons Consortium is hereby expressing concern as to the quality and credibility that should be accorded to any report that emanates from such a corrupt process. This is especially so because the Secretary General at the Presidency in a note giving directives to the officials mentioned, constraints them to stay glued to a copy handed down to them by hierarchy. Mr. Ngoh Ngoh even intimates that; “LE GOUVERNEMENT VOUDRA BIEN DEFENDRE LES MEME POSITION…S’EXPRIMER D’UNE SEULE VOIX ET OEUVRER A FAIRE REFLETER LESDITES POSITIONS DANS LE RAPPORT FINAL DES EXPERT”- This literally translated in to English suggests the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic is not only seeking a presentation of a unique position whether true or not, but especially lies, he is also simply asking the government to pay for their positions to be given prominence in the report that will be served to the world early next month.

This leaked information demonstrates more than enough that Yaounde is never going to be ready for any negotiated solution to our crisis; rather Mr. Biya prefers to waste all the money in that country buying the silence and cooperation of gullible international experts and, why not, organizations that cannot resist such “blood money”.

The Southern Cameroons Consortium is by this press release calling the attention of both national and international public opinion to witness such wanton manipulations that will only go a long way to make mincemeat of public declarations by seemingly respectable world bodies to uphold high standards in the process of monitoring and reporting human rights abuses across the world. Worse still, it is no longer news that Yaounde has consistently denied entry to other Human Rights bodies, including experts of the UN Human Rights Commission.

While expressing regrets, that a credible organization like the New York based Human Rights Watch could allow itself to be dragged this low by a bloodthirsty system with a track record of manipulations, the Southern Cameroons Consortium calls on the authorities of Human Rights Watch to investigate the activities of their experts in Cameroon during the three-day visit.

The Southern Cameroons Consortium seizes this opportunity to remind the both national and international opinion that the peace loving people of Southern Cameroons are only defending themselves against a colonial occupier with all nature of sophisticated war weapons.

Our people never declared war; war was forced on us and we are only fighting in exercise of our right to self defence.

Done in Buea, this 22nd Day of June, 2018.