French Cameroun: Human Rights Abuses Attract US Sanctions

By Mbah Godlove

La Republique Du Cameroun (LRC) will no longer benefit from the economic aid that Sub-Saharan African countries receive
from the United States of America. American President, Donald Trump flushed the country out of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) earlier on October 31.

In a letter addressed to Congress, President Trump chided the Biya regime for its poor human rights records. He accused the conflict-ravaged nation of extrajudicial killings, torture, and illegal detention.

“I am providing notice of my intent to terminate the designation of the Republic of Cameroon (Cameroon) as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

“I am taking this step because I have determined that the Government of Cameroon currently engages in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, contravening the eligibility requirements of section 104 of the AGOA,” the President declared.

Meantime, the decision which is to be effected on January 1, 2020, comes amidst alarming human rights abuses perpetrated by LRC’s troops in Ambazonia. According to human rights groups, the colonial military has torched hundreds of villages, killed thousands and forced nearly a million Ambazonians out of their homes.

Sources say some of the displaced Southern Cameroonians seeking refuge in neighboring French Cameroun died in a landslide which recently occurred in Bafoussam. Thousands of Ambazonians, amongst them, President Sesekou Ayuktabe and Muslim clergy, Abdul Karim are illegally being detained by French Cameroun’s Government.

It is not the first time that the Trump administration is levying sanctions on La Republique Du Cameroun. Months back, America withdrew military aid from the said country, owing to the atrocities committed by her brutal military in Ambazonia.