Cameroon: US government unveils 2019 Human Rights report

The government of the United States of America has officially released the 2019 report on Human Rights practices in Cameroon.

Titled 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Cameroon the report released on March 11, 2020, is produced by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the Department of State of the United States of America.

The document highlights alleged violations perpetrated by the judiciary, security forces and government officials, as well as praises government moves towards improving human rights in Cameroon.

“Cameroon is a republic dominated by a strong presidency. The president retains the power over the legislative and judicial branches of government. In October 2018 Paul Biya was re-elected president in an election marked by irregularities.” This is an excerpt of the introductive sentence of the executive summary of the report, published on the website of the State Department of the United States of America.

In essence, the human rights issues discussed throughout the 49 page report turn around targeted topics. They include “unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings, by security forces, armed Anglophone separatists, and Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa (ISIS-WA) fighters; forced disappearances by security forces; torture by security forces and nonstate armed groups; arbitrary detention by security forces and nonstate armed groups; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; political prisoners Cameroon is a republic dominated by a strong presidency,” among others

Thus, the report discusses varied issues among which are events that occurred throughout the year all over the national territory. They range from political happenings, to the Anglophone crisis as well as the supposedly violation of the rights of LGBT.