UN Human Rights Council Nails Yaoundé; Can they go Beyond just Nailing?

At the opening session of the 38^th UN Human Rights Council on Monday June 18, 2018, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, nailed the bloody Yaoundé regime before the world. He revealed that the colonial regime of La Republique du Cameroun (LRC) has since the beginning of the conflict in the Cameroons refused the Council access to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in the occupied territory of Ambazonia.

“In Cameroon, I trust that recent promising discussions with the authorities will swiftly lead to approval for a mission by the Office to all parts of the country. To date this access has been refused, despite the growing crisis in the Anglophone regions, with fighting between up to a dozen armed groups and the security forces. We have received reports of abuses and violations by all sides, including burning of schools and private property; mass arrests and arbitrary detentions; and the use of torture and excessive force by security personnel, leading to the displacement of 150,000 people within the country and over 20,000 to neighboring Nigeria.” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein noted.

LRC’s refusal of access to the commission, automatically makes the regime guilty of the accusations against it, isn’t it? An innocent government with nothing to hide should instead be proud to expose its clean image to such international bodies like the UN and Amnesty International to clear its name from “baseless accusers.” But they chose to deny them access and inadvertently validating the accusations.

While the colonial regime is said to have boycotted the secession, the representatives of the interim government of Ambazonia, Mr. Awudu Francis, had the opportunity to corroborate the presentation of the Commissioner. He requested that the UN Human Rights Commission should recommend for a UN “humanitarian protective assistance that will ensure that Cameroon’s armed forces and civil administrative personnel leave the areas for a smooth return of refugees and IDPs as well as putting in place UN administration for the organization of an independence referendum.”

The questions one is tempted to ask are: do Ambazoians even need a referendum to restore their independence? On what legal basses will such a referendum be organized? The colonial regime is claiming ownership of a territory she has no legal right over. Ambazonians shall therefore not be compelled to a referendum on whether to separate or not to separate something that has never been one. Resolution 1608 (XV) gave Ambazonia independence and the UN is under natural justice and the rule of its own laws to recognize and protect the Independent sovereign people of Ambazonia. The UN must do this and very urgent too for the sake of correcting its own historical blunders and for the sake of the innocent citizens being massacred daily by the terrorist and blood sucking regime.

James Agbor

BaretaNews Analyst