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Title: Cameroon Human Rights Practices, 1995
Author: U.S. Department of State
Date: March 1996
CAMEROON
Nominally a multiparty republic, Cameroon continues to be dominated in
fact by President Paul Biya and a circle of advisers drawn largely from
his own ethnic group and from his party, the Cameroon People's
Democratic Movement (CPDM). The CPDM's power was last challenged in
1992 in relatively free National Assembly elections and highly flawed
presidential elections. The CPDM successfully dominates the National
Assembly through its controlling share of a ruling coalition. On
December 23, the National Assembly passed amendments to the 1972
Constitution which for the first time provide for presidential term
limits and certain new legislative institutions, including a partially
elected senate and regional councils. However, the amendments did
little to strengthen the independence of the judiciary or to moderate
the President's power to dominate legislation.
The national police and the gendarmerie have dominant roles in enforcing
internal security laws. The security forces, including the military,
remain under the effective control of the President, the civilian
Minister of Defense, and the civilian head of police. These forces, in
particular the police and gendarmes, continued to commit numerous human
rights abuses.
Cameroon has a diversified agricultural and industrial base, with a
small but important offshore petroleum sector. Over 58 percent of the
population lives in rural areas, and agriculture accounts for about 25
percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The petroleum sector accounts
for about only 7 percent of GDP, but it supplies nearly a third of the
Government's budget. Principal export crops are timber, coffee, cocoa,
cotton, bananas, and rubber. Although there are numerous public
enterprises and state monopolies, recent reforms have reduced the
Government's predominant role in the economy. Following years of
contraction, the economy stabilized after a 50 percent currency
devaluation in 1994 for the African franc zone, and exports shot up.
GDP declined by 6.3 percent per year from 1985 to 1993. The precipitous
decline pushed per capita income from its peak of $ 1,080 to $532 per
year. Economic growth for 1994/95 was estimated at 3.3 percent.
Cameroon's human rights record continued to be poor, and the Government
continued to commit numerous and serious human rights abuses. On many
occasions, it prevented opposition political parties and other
opposition groups from exercising the right of free assembly, with the
police sometimes using excessive force to break up demonstrations. In
midyear it launched a campaign to intimidate the private press that
included increased censorship of articles, the arrest of journalists,
the suspension and seizure of newspapers, and numerous beatings of
vendors and distributors. The Government's censorship campaign appeared
motivated, in part, by its desire to control the outcome of the
nationwide multiparty municipal elections--arbitrarily postponed in 1992
and 1994 and finally scheduled for January 1996. Citizens' ability to
change their government remained limited.
Additional egregious abuses included the routine beating by police of
suspected criminals; arbitrary arrest; the prolonged detention of
prisoners; life-threatening prison conditions; infringements on the
right to privacy; and continued violations of worker rights.
Discrimination and violence against women remained serious problems.
Discrimination against minorities and indigenous people continued. Mob
violence and intertribal disputes resulted in many deaths.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no killings known to have been politically motivated.
However, on the night of April 22-23, an unknown assailant(s) brutally
murdered the Reverend Engelbert Mveng, a Jesuit priest and prominent
Cameroonian historian, in his residence outside of Yaounde. The murder
was only the most recent of several unsolved murders of clergy over the
past several years. The police announced an investigation into the
case, but at year's end, no progress had been reported. The Government
was widely criticized for not seriously pursuing an investigation into
this and other church murders, leading to widespread speculation about
government complicity.
Security forces continued to use excessive force in dealing with
civilians, and there were a number of incidents in which civilians died.
In early January, for example, a police officer killed a 7-year-old
girl, Appolonie Ngah Essala, when he opened fire on a taxicab that
failed to halt at one of the numerous police roadblocks in the city. In
condemning the shooting, Yaounde police officials promised that the
officer would be sanctioned and face legal action in court, but such
sanctions, if applied, had not been made public by year's end. In
another incident in mid-January, gendarmes wounded a Yaounde high-school
student, Eric Tonye, who was fleeing the scene of a car crash. Shortly
thereafter, while in police custody, the student died from loss of
blood. Witnesses claimed that the youth died from a lack of medical
attention while in police custody. There was no investigation into the
case.
A number of intertribal land disputes in Northwest and West provinces
resulted in many deaths. For example, in May and June, a land dispute
between Bali and Chomba people in
Northwest province led to repeated outbreaks of fighting that resulted
in the deaths of an undetermined number of people. At year's end, no
charges had been brought against persons implicated in these incidents.
In June fighting over land rights broke out in West province between
Bamoun agriculturalists and Bororo cattle herders, reportedly killing
seven persons. The authorities created an official commission to
resolve the matter and made some arrests.
There was an upsurge of mob violence directed at persons suspected of
witchcraft and sorcery, resulting in a number of deaths. For example,
in Littoral province on the night of May 12-13, a mob burned to death a
woman, E. Madeleine, who had been accused of sorcery. Mob violence also
resulted in the deaths of a number of persons suspected of criminal
acts. In late May, a mob in Bamenda, Northwest province, beat to death
an individual named Mbete after accusing him of stealing food. Police
often fail to intervene to prevent such acts of mob violence and rarely
arrest perpetrators after they occur.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. However,
politically motivated detentions are commonplace, and police and
gendarmes frequently fail to inform detainees' family members or
attorneys of their whereabouts. Families, associations, or political
parties concerned about the whereabouts of a detained person commonly
have to make inquiries at local police or gendarme headquarters to
determine whether a family member or associate had been taken into
custody.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
The Penal Code proscribes torture, renders inadmissible in court
evidence obtained thereby, and prohibits public servants from using
force against any person. In spite of this, there were credible reports
of security forces inflicting beatings and other cruel treatment. Often
the beatings are reported to occur, not in prison facilities, but in
temporary detention cells in a police or gendarme facility.
Security forces frequently inflict degrading mistreatment on detainees,
including stripping, confinement in severely overcrowded cells, and
denial of access to toilets or other sanitation facilities. Police and
gendarmes routinely beat detainees to extract confessions and the names
and whereabouts of alleged criminals. In particular, they often beat
them on the soles of their feet with an iron bar or whip them with a
reinforced rubber tube. Although abuses are rarely punished, the
Government has made some efforts to discourage abuses by security
forces. It made available in October a report on almost 100 Gendarme
officers who were sanctioned for human rights abuses in recent years.
On June 10, Mahamamat Djibril, a member of a Cameroonian human rights
nongovernmental organization (NGO), the Movement for the Defense of
Human Rights and Liberties, was arrested in the town of Maga, Far-North
province. According to a credible report, Djibril had gone to the local
gendarmerie office to inquire into a case of alleged police abuse. Upon
stating his business, he was reportedly seized, assaulted by three
gendarmes, and detained for 3 days before being brought before a court
in Yagoua where he was charged with assaulting a police officer and
creating a disturbance.
There were numerous credible reports that police beat newspaper vendors
and distributors, particularly in the port city of Douala, who attempted
to sell suspended newspapers (see Section 2.a.).
A U.S. citizen was arrested in Douala on February 3 and charged with
theft. Before they established his U.S. citizenship, police beat him on
the soles of his feet with the flat side of a machete on two occasions.
He was reportedly gagged during one of the beatings. The police did not
provide diplomatic notification of the arrest until 5 days after it
occurred. The authorities never provided a response to a diplomatic
protest of the delay in notification, nor to a request for an
investigation into the alleged mistreatment.
On October 25, a Peace Corps volunteer was approached by an apparently
intoxicated policeman in an East province bar and, without provocation,
threatened with bodily harm. When the volunteer attempted to leave the
scene, he was struck in the face. Despite a diplomatic protest, at
year's end there was no indication that any disciplinary action had been
taken against the policeman.
Prison conditions are life threatening, especially outside major urban
areas. Serious deficiencies in food, health care, and sanitation occur
in almost all prisons, including those run by traditional rulers in the
north. Prisoners are reported to be sometimes chained in their cells.
Beatings are common, with numerous credible reports appearing in the
private press of prisoners having been burned by cigarettes or painfully
suspended over iron bars. Seriously ill prisoners are often denied
adequate medical care. Juveniles and nonviolent prisoners are often
incarcerated together with violent adults. Sexual abuse of juvenile
prisoners by adult inmates appears to be common. Corruption among
prison personnel is widespread.
Some high-profile prisoners, including several political opponents of
the Government, have been able to avoid some of the abuse that is
routinely meted out to many common criminals. Some are held in elite
wings of certain prisons where they experience relatively lenient
treatment.
In northern Cameroon, traditional Lamibe (chiefs) are permitted by the
Government to operate their own private prisons outside the government
penitentiary system. Private prisons in the chiefdoms of Rey Bouba,
Bibemi, and Tcheboa have the worst reputations, including allegations by
members of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP) that
their members have been detained in them and that some have died from
mistreatment.
Because of the Government's refusal to guarantee the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to all detention centers,
official as well as unofficial, the ICRC has declined to visit any
prisons since 1992.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Arbitrary, prolonged detention remained a serious problem. Security
forces failed to implement fully a Penal Code requirement that detainees
be brought promptly before a magistrate and have held detainees
incommunicado.
Police may detain a person in custody in connection with a common crime
for up to 24 hours, renewable three times, before bringing charges.
However, the law only provides for the right to a judicial review of the
legality of detention in the few majority Anglophone areas of the
country. Elsewhere, the Francophone legal tradition applies, precluding
judicial authorities from acting on a case until the administrative
authority that ordered the detention turns the case over to the
prosecutor. After a magistrate has issued a warrant to bring the case
to trial, he may hold the detainee in "pretrial detention" indefinitely
pending court action. Furthermore, a 1990 law permits detention without
charge for renewable periods of 15 days "in order to combat banditry."
Persons taken into detention are frequently denied access to both legal
counsel and family members. The law permits release on bail only in the
Anglophone provinces, where the legal system includes features of
British common law. Even there, bail is granted infrequently.
The Government imprisoned several journalists for alleged libel. Some
of these cases were marred by judicial improprieties and appear to have
been motivated by the Government's desire to inhibit criticism of
important government figures or government policies (see Section 2.a.).
The Government does not practice political exile. Some opposition
members who considered themselves threatened by the Government have
voluntarily left the country and declared themselves to be in political
exile. Other persons who received threats sought political asylum
abroad (see Section 2.a.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The judiciary is subject to political influence. Amendments to the
Constitution passed on December 23 provide for the independence of the
judiciary but do not make clear how this will be achieved. Under the
amendments, the President retains power to appoint members of the bench,
as he has in the past. The period for which judges will be appointed is
not defined in the Constitution. Judges and magistrates acknowledge
that rendering a decision that displeases the President may well result
in a transfer to a less desireable position or nonreappointment.
The legal system is strongly influenced by the French legal system,
although in the Anglophone provinces certain aspects of the Anglo-Saxon
legal tradition apply. The court system includes the Supreme Court, a
court of appeals in each of the 10 provinces, and courts of first
instance in each of the country's 56 divisions. The courts are
notoriously corrupt and inefficient. Justice is frequently denied or
delayed. Powerful political or business interests appear to enjoy
virtual immunity from prosecution while critics of the Government are
sometimes jailed on specious grounds of libel. Prisoners may be
detained indefinitely during pretrial proceedings.
Traditional courts are important in rural areas. Their authority varies
by region and ethnic group, but they are often the arbiters of property
and domestic disputes and may serve a probate function as well. Most
traditional courts permit appeal of their decisions to traditional
authorities of higher rank.
Because appointed attorneys receive little compensation, the quality of
legal representation for indigent persons is often poor. The Bar
Association and some voluntary organizations, such as the Cameroonian
Association of Female Jurists, offer pro bono legal assistance in some
cases. Trials are public, and those convicted have the right to appeal
their sentences.
There were no known political prisoners at year's end (see Section
2.a.). However, a controversial court case in Far North province
involving members of an opposition political party, UNDP, continued
during 1995. In mid-1994 the authorities arrested 29 prominent UNDP
activists from that province, including the party's local division head,
Amadou Adji, following a rock-throwing attack on a motorcade in which
the provincial governor and a cabinet minister, who had defected to the
Government from the UNDP, were riding. The Government charged them with
various offenses, including obstruction of a public highway, banditry,
and assault, occasioning one death. UNDP leaders claim that all were
arrested on political grounds, regardless of whether they were present
when the incident broke out, and that the real culprits were juveniles
who escaped. The authorities released 15 of the detainees, including
Adji, in February pending trial, held 7 in detention, and dropped
charges against 6 others in March. The trial opened on July 27 but was
postponed in August, first at the request of the prosecution, and later
at the request of the defense. The UNDP argued that the judge in the
case, a member of President Biya's ethnic group, was biased against the
defendants and permitted irregular courtroom procedures that favored the
prosecution.
Attorneys presented closing arguments on December 14, but the judge did
not issue a verdict. Instead, he postponed his decision until February
8, l996, after the municipal elections scheduled for January 21.
Because the accused have not been convicted of a crime they may
participate in those elections. However, a postelection conviction
would render them ineligible to hold office, and the seven that remain
in prison cannot participate in the electoral campaign. Defense
attorneys and UNDP leaders were concerned that the judge would use a
guilty verdict to annul election results unfavorable to the Government.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
Both invasions of the home and tampering with correspondence are
illegal, but there were numerous credible reports that police and
gendarmes harassed citizens, conducted searches without warrants, and
seized mail. There were numerous credible reports that the Government
kept some opposition activists and dissidents under surveillance.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Although the Constitution provides for freedom of expression and the
press, the Government does not always respect these liberties. In fact,
it vigorously censors and intimidates the large private press. A 1990
law established more liberal regulations to begin publication of
newspapers and magazines, but it also formally authorized prepublication
censorship and granted the Ministry of Territorial Administration the
authority to suspend or revoke the right to publish. In December the
National Assembly passed a new press law restricting the Government's
right to censor individual articles in advance of publication but
expanding the Government's right to ban or seize publications "which
threaten the public order or good morals," terms which the new law does
not define.
The law also provided for the licensing of private radio and television
stations, but, as of late 1995, the Government had granted no licenses
and retained complete control of the electronic media. The Government
informed license applicants that, while private stations are
theoretically legal, there exists no statutory framework for issuing
licenses. Public servants employed by the official media face
retribution for openly criticizing the Government. In addition to
direct censorship, many private newspapers were harassed and intimidated
into practicing a degree of self-censorship.
The Government publishes an official newspaper, the Cameroon Tribune,
and determines the content of radio and television broadcasts, the most
important media for reaching the public. While government reporters
sometimes run stories which implicitly criticize the ruling party or
portray government programs in an unfavorable light, the government-
controlled media provide disproportionately high levels of coverage to
CPDM functions, while giving little attention to opposition events.
There are 40 to 50 private newspapers which publish sporadically; only
about 10 appeared on a regular basis in 1994-95. While these newspapers
are often outspoken in their criticism of the President and the
Government, the press is not read widely outside the major cities
because of the high cost of a newspaper to the average citizen, as well
as distribution problems. Despite its advantage, starting in the spring
the Government waged a severe campaign of intimidation against the
press, which included frequent and arbitrary censorship of articles
(particularly those critical of leading government figures), the arrests
of journalists, beatings and arrests of newspaper vendors and
distributors, repeated seizures of newspaper copies, and finally the
outright suspension of the leading independent journals. The Government
claimed that they had violated prepublication censorship laws, although
one newspaper's suspension notice was based on the "behavior" of the
editor, grounds which have no known basis even in Cameroonian press law.
The repeated seizures of thousands of copies of newspapers dealt a
severe blow to many financially strapped independent newspapers, two of
which were bought in September by progovernment businessmen. By late
1995, fewer newspapers appeared regularly on the streets, and most of
those appearing had adopted a decidedly more cautious tone.
The manager of the government-directed Cameroon Radio and Television
Corporation arbitrarily suspended from January 1 through March 2 a
weekly radio and television program created by a 1991 law to allow
political parties represented in the National Assembly to represent
their views. The entirely illegal suspension of the program appeared
designed to inhibit expression by members of the UNDP, the only major
opposition party represented in the National Assembly, of their claim
that the Government was engaged in efforts to destabilize their party.
Of the many arrests made during the year, several stand out. On May 4,
gendarmes arrested Patrice Ndedi Penda, editor of the independent
newspaper, Galaxie, and detained him overnight in a Douala prison. His
arrest, which was made without a legal warrant, stemmed from a year-old
court case in which Penda had accused a government minister of an
impropriety. The judge in the case had declared himself incompetent to
rule on the matter, and the case had been considered closed. In
obtaining the May 4 arrest, the concerned minister is believed to have
improperly prevailed upon contacts within a Douala gendarme unit. A
Douala court later ruled that the arrest and detention had been illegal.
In the same month, several thousand copies of Galaxie's four editions
for May were seized and destroyed.
On June 6, the Government arrested Ndzana Seme, the publisher of Le
Nouvel Independant, on grounds of having committed outrage to the Head
of State and inciting to rebellion after he published an article
accusing the head of the Government's security services of embezzlement
and other financial improprieties. Ndzana Seme had been jailed on
similar charges in 1994 and held for 2 1/2 months without bail. He
received a stiff fine and a suspended sentence in that case. During the
June 6 arrest, police reportedly beat two of the publisher's associates.
Following his June arrest, the authorities held Ndzana Seme in a Yaounde
prison for 2 months and did not bring formal charges against him until 4
to 5 weeks after his arrest. In August a court sentenced him to 2
months' imprisonment but immediately released him on the grounds that he
had already served the sentence. In November a court convicted him on
additional charges of outrage to the Head of State and sentenced him to
12 months in prison and a large fine. At year's end, Ndzana Seme had
gone into hiding to evade the authorities.
In a similar case, in August a court sentenced Pius Njawe, publisher of
Le Messager, to 2 months' imprisonment on charges he defamed the head of
the Government's security services in an article alleging financial
improprieties. The sentence was suspended on appeal.
In mid-July, a court sentenced Paddy Mbawa, an outspoken critic of the
Government and the publisher of the Anglophone Cameroon Post, to 9
months in prison on two counts of having libeled a prominent
businessman. Mbawa and his supporters claimed that the charges against
him were part of a government conspiracy to silence him and to destroy
his newspaper. The 9-month sentence was unusually severe for a case of
this type, and, in addition, the court proceedings against him were
marked by judicial irregularities. Mbawa was jailed on August 10
although the court's failure to provide a written judgment in the case
prevented him from filing a timely appeal. Subsequent appeals and
requests for bail were denied. At year's end, Mbawa remained in prison,
and the Government had filed a new set of charges against him, accusing
him of libel and antigovernment rhetoric. If convicted, he could face a
lengthy prison term.
In April Julius Wamey, the former editor in chief of the Cameroon Post,
a newspaper that is often harshly critical of the Government, sought
(and subsequently received) political asylum in the United States. He
reported that he had been subject to police harassment and death threats
in Cameroon.
In August the Government arbitrarily suspended indefinitely four major
private newspapers, La Nouvelle Expression, Le Messager, Dikalo, and
Challenge Hebdo. All four had been outspokenly critical of the
Government. The Government based its suspension order of three of the
newspapers on their alleged defiance of censorship rules. La Nouvelle
Expression had the proof that it had abided by the censorship rules; it
was suspended on other grounds, that of the "behavior" of the editor.
The newspapers' editors argued, accurately, that the censorship rules
were arbitrary and capricious.
There were dozens of instances of press seizures throughout the year and
many arrests of newspaper vendors. For example, in mid-April the
authorities arrested three newspaper vendors, handled them roughly, and
briefly jailed them in Douala on grounds they were selling a banned
edition of Le Messager. The edition carried an article critical of the
Vice Prime Minister. In August the authorities arrested several dozen
newspaper vendors in Douala and Yaounde on grounds that they had
distributed suspended newspapers. While only briefly detained, the
police beat many of the vendors, and magistrates handed out heavy fines.
Although there are no legal restrictions on academic freedom, free
political discussion at the university is dampened by the presence of
armed security forces, reported state security informants, as well as
the sometimes strident pro-opposition groups. Some professors believe
that their political viewpoints and activism have had a negative impact
on professional opportunities and advancement. In August the Abbe Jean-
Marc Ela, a respected theologian and professor of sociology at the
University of Yaounde, sought political asylum in Canada claiming that
he had received death threats.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Freedom of assembly and association are provided for in law but
restricted in practice. The Penal Code prohibits public meetings,
demonstrations, or processions without prior government approval. Some
113 political parties operated legally, albeit with severe restrictions,
along with a growing number of civic associations.
The Government restricted the ability of opposition parties to operate,
generally by refusing them permission to hold meetings on the grounds
that the proposed meetings threatened public order. There were many
instances of government interference during the year, even when the
parties had followed proper advance procedures. For example, on March
25, police antiriot forces dispersed militants of the Social Democratic
Front (SDF), a major opposition party, who had gathered peacefully in a
Yaounde public square for a memorial service dedicated to deceased SDF
members. In dispersing the gathering, the police injured a number of
persons and briefly arrested 18 persons. The police also disrupted a
number of SDF municipal election rallies in the South and Center
provinces in October and November.
There were a number of examples of official interference with activities
of the Union of Democratic Forces (UFDC). On January 31, the Yaounde
authorities banned a UFDC rally intended to install newly elected party
officials. On February 1, Yaounde police dispersed a meeting of the
Allied Front for Change, a coalition of 16 major opposition parties,
including the UFDC, when Front members gathered in UFDC headquarters to
elect a coalition president. On March 22, police barricaded UFDC
headquarters to prevent Mongo Beti, a celebrated Cameroonian writer and
intellectual, from delivering a lecture on his book criticizing the
French role in Africa.
The Government attempted frequently to interrupt meetings of groups
supporting greater autonomy or independence for the Anglophone region.
On July 3, for example, gendarmes in Bamenda, Northwest province, used
tear gas to disperse a group welcoming leaders of the Southern Cameroons
National Council (SCNC), a pro-Anglophone group engaged in a public
campaign. On the same day, gendarmes surrounded the Bamenda home of an
SCNC leader and prevented free entry or exit. The governor of Southwest
province banned all demonstrations, meetings, and rallies by SCNC or the
Liberal Democratic Alliance (LDA) party throughout the Fako division of
the province. On July 13, gendarmes broke up an LDA rally in Kumba,
Southwest province, even though party organizers had followed the
required advance procedures.
The Government's efforts to intimidate opposition party meetings had an
impact. Several parties reported that the Government's repressive acts
had discouraged them from attempting to hold rallies or other
organizational activities.
In a related incident, on August 31, Yaounde police disrupted a workshop
on election monitoring by prohibiting participants from meeting in the
hotel where they had made prior arrangements or in any of several
alternative hotels. The seminar organizers, members of the private
organization Conscience Africaine, had taken all the necessary legal
steps to obtain advance approval for the seminar. The Government later
relented after the conference had already been moved to a diplomatic
venue.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government
generally does not restrict this freedom. However, religious groups
must be approved and registered with the Ministry of Territorial
Administration in order to function legally.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation
The 1972 Constitution provides all citizens the right to settle in any
place and to move about freely, subject to statutory provisions
concerning public order, security, and tranquility. In reality,
government forces commonly impede domestic travel on specious and
arbitrary grounds. Police frequently stop travelers to check
identification documents, vehicle registrations, and tax receipts as
security and immigration control measures. Security forces, including
police, frequently set up roadblocks primarily to extract bribes. This
long-standing practice appears to have increased as the economy
declined, although security forces did not take the drastic 1994 salary
cuts imposed on civil servants.
The Government occasionally uses its passport control function against
those it considers a potential threat. For example, it withdrew the
passport of Victorin Hameni Bieleu, the President of the UFDC party, 4
years ago, and he has been unable to obtain a new one.
Cameroon has long served as a safe haven for displaced persons and
refugees from the region, and it cooperates with the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees. Although the Government occasionally returns
illegal immigrants, there were no reports of forced repatriation of
recognized refugees. However, there were continuing reports that some
illegal immigrants have been subjected to harsh treatment, including
imprisonment.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens have the constitutional right to change their government, but
dominance of the political process by the President and his party limit
the ability of citizens to exercise this right.
In contrast to the relatively open March 1992 National Assembly
elections, the last presidential election held in October 1992 was
characterized by widespread irregularities; it was highly criticized by
independent observers and widely regarded in Cameroon as fraudulent.
Municipal elections, which had been repeatedly postponed in 1992 and
1994 were finally scheduled for January 1996.
Considerable controversy surrounded the Government's handling of
preparations for these local elections. The electoral registration
period was marred by widespread and credible charges that administrative
obstacles rendered it difficult for many citizens to register. There is
no independent nonpartisan national election commission, and the 1992
municipal election law, passed by a CPDM-dominated National Assembly,
favors the incumbent party. Government authorities have broad powers
permitting them to determine candidates' eligibility for office, monitor
the operations of local polling commissions, announce election results,
and invalidate entire lists of candidates.
The Government's control over Cameroon's administrative apparatus is
broad and deep. The President appoints by decree the Chief Operating
Official, the Government delegate, of Yaounde, Douala, Bamenda, and
several other large cities, which have no elected mayors. The governors
of each of the provinces are also appointed directly by the President.
Important lower level members of the provincial administrative
structures including the senior divisional officers, the divisional
officers, and the district chiefs, are all appointed by the Prime
Minister, who is also a member of the CPDM. The governors and senior
divisional officers wield considerable authority within the areas under
their jurisdiction, including, significantly, the authority to ban
political meetings that they deem likely to threaten public order (see
Section 2.b).
In December the National Assembly passed a set of government-introduced
amendments to the strongly centralized 1972 Constitution. All debate
was held behind closed doors. The amendments included term limits for
the President, the creation of a partially elected (70 percent) and
partially appointed (30 percent) Senate, and the creation of a set of
regional councils with limited powers over local affairs. The
amendments did not weaken presidential powers, and the independence of
the judiciary remained questionable.
There are no specific discriminatory laws prohibiting women or
minorities from participating in government, in the political process,
or in other areas of public life. Women are represented in the
President's Cabinet (2 of 44 members), in the National Assembly (22 of
180 members), in the CPDM, in the judicial system, and in numerous
state-run enterprises, although not in numbers anywhere near
proportional to their share of the population. In June two women were
named to secretary-general posts in the Ministries of National Education
and Tourism.
While most of the key members of the Government, such as those from the
Ministries of Territorial Administration and Defense, are drawn from the
President's own Beti ethnic group, all levels of the administration
include participants from other ethnic groups and regions. Suffrage is
universal at age 20.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
The Government permits numerous domestic and international human rights
monitoring groups to operate. It sometimes impeded the effectiveness of
these nongovernmental organizations, including the ICRC, by limiting
access to prisoners, refusing to divulge information, and otherwise
inhibiting their activities. On occasion, human rights workers have
been beaten and harassed (see Section l.c.). Some of the most active
include the National League for Human Rights, the Organization for Human
Rights and Freedoms, the Association of Women against Violence, the
Cameroonian Association of Female Jurists, the Cameroonian Association
for Children's Rights, Conscience Africaine, the Movement for the
Defense of Human Rights and Liberties, the Human Rights Defence Group,
and the Human Rights Clinic and Education Center. Financial hardships,
inexperience, and occasional fear of government reprisals sometimes
discouraged these nongovernmental civic associations from publicly
criticizing the Government's human rights record. Nevertheless, several
organizations issued press releases to denounce specific human rights
abuses. Many held seminars and workshops on various aspects of human
rights.
The governmental National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, whose
operations had been hampered in previous years by lack of official
funding, in 1995 received sufficient funds from the Government to enable
it to carry out limited activities. The Commission has submitted
reports to the President and the Prime Minister but has never released
these publicly. It organized events or hosted several human rights
seminars during the year. These included a national poster campaign in
February to educate the population about their civil and human rights
and a human rights seminar in March in Bamenda for government officials.
The Government cooperated with the ICRC in preparing a draft training
manual for gendarme units to be used in riot control and other
"maintenance of order" operations. In September the Government
permitted a U.S. military unit to offer a seminar for the first time on
peacekeeping, disaster relief, democracy, and military code of conduct
to a selected group of military officers. The seminar included
considerable human rights content. In October a government ministry
shared with diplomatic officials a report of sanctions taken against a
number of gendarmes accused of human rights violations in 1993 and 1994.
While sketchy, the report marks one of the few times the Government has
demonstrated a willingness to publicize sanctions taken against the
forces of law and order.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability,
Language, or Social Status
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on sex and mandates that
"everyone has equal rights and obligations." However, it does not
explicitly forbid discrimination based on race, language, religion, or
social status. The Government does not effectively enforce these
constitutional provisions.
Women
Credible reports indicate that violence against women has surged in
recent years and that the law does not impose effective penalties
against violators. Spousal abuse is not a legal ground for divorce. In
cases of sexual assault, a victim's family or village often imposes
direct, summary punishment upon the suspected perpetrator through means
ranging from destruction of property to beating. While there are no
reliable statistics on violence against women, the number of newspaper
reports indicate the frequency is high.
Despite constitutional provisions recognizing equal rights, women do
not, in fact, enjoy the same rights and privileges as men. Polygyny is
permitted by law and tradition, but polyandry is not. The extent to
which a woman may inherit from her husband is normally governed by
traditional law in the absence of a will, and customs vary from group to
group. In many traditional societies, custom grants greater authority
and benefits to male than to female heirs. In cases of divorce, the
husband's wishes determine custody of children over the age of 6. While
a man may be convicted of adultery only if the sexual act takes place in
his home, a female may be convicted irrespective of venue. In the
northern provinces, traditional leaders (Lamibe) prevent their numerous
wives from ever leaving the palaces.
Children
The Constitution provides that a child has the right to an education,
and the Government sets mandatory schooling through age 14.
Nevertheless, rising school fees and costs for books have forced many
families to forgo sending their children to school. The degree of
familial child abuse is not known but is one of several targeted issues
of children's rights organizations. Babies and small children sometimes
accompany their mothers to prison.
Female genital mutilation (FGM), which is widely condemned by
international health experts as damaging to both physical and
psychological health, is not widely practiced in Cameroon, but it occurs
in some areas of the Far North and Southwest provinces. It includes the
most severe form of the abuse, infibulation, and is usually practiced on
young, preadolescent girls. The Government does not recognize FGM as a
problem and has not allocated resources to educate the public on the
issue.
People With Disabilities
A 1983 law and subsequent implementing legislation provide certain
guarantees for persons with disabilities. These include access to
public institutions, medical treatment, and education. The Government
is obliged to bear part of a disabled person's educational expenses, to
employ disabled persons where possible, and, as necessary, to provide
them with public assistance. These rights and guarantees are, in fact,
rarely respected. There are few facilities for disabled persons and
little public assistance of any kind. Lack of facilities and care for
the mentally disabled is particularly acute. Society tends to treat the
disabled as tainted, leaving it to churches or foreign NGO's to provide
assistance.
Indigenous People
Cameroon's population of indigenous Pygmies (a term which in fact
encompasses several different ethnic groups) primarily resides in the
forest areas of the south and southeast. While they suffer no legal
discrimination, they are subject to much societal and economic
discrimination; other groups often treat the Pygmies as inferior and
sometimes subject them to virtual slave labor.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
There are frequent and credible allegations of discrimination among
Cameroon's more than 200 ethnic groups. President Biya's Beti ethnic
group receives special preferences in all sectors affected by the
Government. This has resulted in Betis holding a preponderance of key
positions in government, the security forces, and the military. In
other sectors, discrimination by other ethnic groups is not uncommon.
Virtually all ethnic groups tend to provide preferential treatment to
their coethnics where they are able to do so.
An important ethnic, political division falls along linguistic lines
rooted in the colonial period. The Anglophone minority (20 percent)
often charges that the Francophone majority does not share real power
and that the Government provides fewer economic benefits to English-
speaking regions.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The 1992 Labor Code allows workers to form and join trade unions of
their own choosing. It permits groups of at least 20 workers to
organize a union but also requires registration with the Ministry of
Labor. In practice, independent unions have found it extremely
difficult to obtain registration. Registered unions are invariably
subject to government domination and interference. Provisions of the
Labor Code do not apply to civil servants, employees of the penitentiary
system, or workers responsible for national security. In lieu of
strikes, civil servants are required to negotiate grievances directly
with the minister of the concerned department and with the Minister of
Labor. Some sections of the Labor Code have never taken effect, as not
all of the implementing decrees have been issued. No new implementing
decrees were issued in 1995.
The Labor Code explicitly recognizes workers' right to strike but only
after mandatory arbitration. Arbitration proceedings are not legally
enforceable and may be overturned by the Government. The Labor Code, in
theory, provides for the protection of legal strikers and prohibits
retribution against them. In fact, the Government responded
aggressively to a number of strikes, many of which were occasioned by
long-term arrearages in civil service salaries. In January it dismissed
20 University of Yaounde administrative employees after they staged a
strike demanding payment of several months salary arrearages. While in
May the Government acceded to part of the demands of the Yaounde urban
council workers for back pay, in June and July it used security forces
to help terminate strikes over salary arrearages by members of the
Cameroon Public Servants Union (CAPSU), an independent and unregistered
union, and by Public Works Workers (Grands Travaux). In the latter
instance, on August 7 the Government called out the Presidential Guard
to evict workers from a state-owned building.
In September the National Union of Secondary School Teachers (SNAES), a
registered union, filed a complaint with the International Labor
Organization (ILO), charging that the Government had illegally assigned
members of the union's executive committee to remote areas in
retaliation for union participation in a December 1993 to February 1994
strike over salary arrearages and improved professional status for
teachers. SYNES, the National Union of Teachers of Higher Education,
submitted a complaint to the ILO concerning the Government's long-term
refusal to register it.
In March the Government encouraged the creation of a new labor
confederation, the Union of Free Trade Unions of Cameroon (USLC), with
which it maintains close ties. Previously, the sole labor confederation
had been the Confederation of Cameroonian Trade Unions (CCTU), formerly
affiliated with the ruling CPDM party under the name Organization of
Cameroonian Trade Unions. While both organizations appear to be
dominated or at least thoroughly intimidated by the Government, the
creation of the USLC was widely interpreted as an effort by the
Government to create a rival trade union confederation more firmly under
its control.
Earlier, in January the Government had permitted the CCTU to hold a
congress and agreed not to interfere in the union's activities and to
respect the decisions of the CCTU majority. In 1994 the Government had
engineered the ouster of Louis Sombes, who was seen as a threat to
government control of the union, from his post as Secretary General.
The ILO and other international trade union organizations criticized the
Government's action, and Sombes was reelected to the secretary general
post in the January election.
In June the ILO expressed regret over the Government's silence in
response to its 1994 inquiries concerning government interference in the
leadership of the CCTU.
The CCTU is a member of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity
and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. The USLC,
established in March, filed an application for membership with these
organizations.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The 1992 Labor Code provides for collective bargaining between workers
and management in local work places, as well as between labor
federations and business associations in each sector of the economy.
Nevertheless, no sectoral collective bargaining negotiations had been
undertaken by year's end.
The Labor Code prohibits antiunion discrimination, and employers guilty
of such discrimination are subject to fines ranging up to the equivalent
of $2,000 (1 million CFA francs). However, employers found guilty of
antiunion discrimination do not have to reinstate workers fired for
union activities. The Ministry of Labor reported that there were no
complaints of such discrimination in 1995. In contrast, CCTU delegates
reported that many trade unionists were dismissed from their jobs in
1995 due to union activities. The Cameroon Railroad Corporation
suspended all union activities in 1995 and fired some union members.
Cameroon has an industrial free zone regime. The Government approved
several firms to operate under it in 1994 but none in 1995. Free zone
employers are exempt from some provisions of the Labor Code but must
respect all internationally recognized worker rights.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced or compulsory labor is prohibited by the Labor Code. However,
prisons continued to allow inmates to be contracted out to private
employers or used as communal labor for municipal public works. There
are credible reports that slavery continues to be practiced in the
Lamidat of Rey Bouba, an isolated traditional kingdom in North province.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Labor Code establishes that no child may be employed before age 14.
Ministry of Labor inspectors are responsible for enforcing the minimum
age of employment but lack resources for an effective inspection
program. In rural areas many children begin work at an early age on
family farms. Often, rural youth, especially girls, are employed by
relatives as domestics, while many urban street vendors are under the
age of 14. There are no special provisions limiting working hours for
children.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
Under the Labor Code, the Ministry of Labor is responsible for setting a
single minimum wage applicable nationwide in all sectors. In February
the Prime Minister set the wage at approximately $47 (24,000 CFA francs)
per month. The wage does not provide a decent living for the average
worker and family.
The Labor Code establishes a standard workweek of 40 hours in public and
private nonagricultural firms and 48 hours in agricultural and related
activities. The Code makes compulsory at least 24 consecutive hours of
weekly rest. The Government sets health and safety standards, and
Ministry of Labor inspectors and occupational health doctors are
responsible for monitoring these standards. However, they lack the
resources for a comprehensive inspection program, and there is no
provision in the Labor Code authorizing workers to remove themselves
from work situations that endanger health or safety. Workers do have
the right to report a dangerous situation to a Ministry of Labor medical
doctor. The doctor may inspect the suspect work site and recommend
remedies but, in many cases, fails to do so.
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