Cintia A. , Lebledparle.com
Amnesty International has openly accused the Cameroonian authorities of using the judicial system as a weapon to intimidate Alice Nkom. By “harassing” this human rights defender, the government is demonstrating its total disregard for the fundamental principles of justice and the rule of law. The NGO demands an immediate end to these attacks and the protection of Alice Nkom.
Read the reaction below:
Cameroon. The authorities must stop harassing human rights defender Alice Nkom and attacking civil society organisations.
Reacting to the convocation of Alice Nkom, a Cameroonian lawyer and president of the Central African Human Rights Defenders Network (Redhac), by the prefect of the Wouri department on 10 January and by the national gendarmerie on 14 January, Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s interim regional director for West and Central Africa, said:
“The ban on activities and the arbitrary three-month suspension of Redhac and three other civil society organisations are contrary to the country’s international human rights obligations to guarantee everyone’s right to freedom of expression and association.
“Furthermore, the use of the judicial system to intimidate human rights defender Alice Nkom demonstrates the authorities’ blatant disregard for the human rights of those who defend the rights of others.
“The Cameroonian authorities must put an end to the suspension of the organisations concerned, restore their status and allow them to carry out their activities without arbitrary interference, as well as immediately put an end to the abuse of the judicial system targeting Alice Nkom and other human rights defenders and activists”.
Background
In March 2020, the Minister of Territorial Administration accused Redhac and several other civil society organisations of being “engaged in a conspiratorial approach against Cameroon’s defence and security forces”.
On 6th December 2024, the same minister suspended four organisations, including Redhac, citing “illicit and exorbitant funding inappropriate to the profile of the activity“, “lack of authorisation“, “activities likely to undermine the integrity of the national financial system” and a “lack of justification for the use of the funding received”.
“On December 10, Alice Nkom was summoned for the first time by the prefect of the Wouri department after breaking the seal on the doors of the building housing the Redhac offices. She did not attend this summons or a second one, requesting a postponement until January to ensure the presence of her lawyer.
On 31 December, she was once again summoned by the head of the national gendarmerie’s central judicial investigation department for “investigative purpose“. This followed a report made to the Douala military court on 18 December by a Cameroonian NGO accusing her of raising funds to oppose the current authorities and support armed groups in the English-speaking regions.
In its concluding observations on Cameroon published in December 2024, the United Nations Committee against Torture expressed concern about “reports of intimidation, threats, harassment, excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and detentions, prosecutions, including before military courts, torture and ill-treatment, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions of which human rights defenders, members of civil society, journalists, political opponents and peaceful demonstrators continue to be victims“.
