[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 684 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 684
Calling on the Government of Cameroon and separatist armed groups from
the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions to end all
violence, respect the human rights of all Cameroonians, and pursue a
genuinely inclusive dialogue toward resolving the ongoing civil
conflict in Anglophone Cameroon.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 8, 2020
Mr. Risch (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Young, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Rubio,
Mr. Markey, Mr. Coons, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Durbin, Mr.
Warner, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Kaine) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
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RESOLUTION
Calling on the Government of Cameroon and separatist armed groups from
the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions to end all
violence, respect the human rights of all Cameroonians, and pursue a
genuinely inclusive dialogue toward resolving the ongoing civil
conflict in Anglophone Cameroon.
Whereas Cameroon is beset with multiple security challenges, including a Boko
Haram insurgency in the Far North region, cross-border conflict and
criminality by Central African militia groups to the east, and a civil
war involving the Government of Cameroon and Anglophone separatist armed
groups in the Northwest and Southwest regions;
Whereas the official actions and policies of the Francophone-dominated
Government of Cameroon have repressed English-speaking Cameroonians
politically and economically throughout the history of Cameroon, dating
back to the reunification of British-administered Southern Cameroons and
French Cameroun under a federal system in October 1961;
Whereas Paul Biya, the oldest head of state in Africa, has been the President of
Cameroon since 1982, maintaining his grip on power by centralizing
authority in the executive, undermining the Constitution of Cameroon,
impeding democratic governance through corrupt practices, using security
services to repress the opposition, and conducting elections marred by
widespread irregularities and allegations of fraud;
Whereas key decentralization reforms enacted in the Constitution of Cameroon in
1996, which mandated the establishment of a decentralized unitary state,
``equality of all citizens before the law'', the equal status of French
and English as official languages, and the establishment of local
authorities with ``administrative and financial autonomy'', remain
largely unrealized, though an enabling law was adopted in December 2019;
Whereas, throughout his tenure, President Biya has spent extended periods in
Europe, pursued government policies exclusively benefitting the
Francophone majority in Cameroon, and crippled many parastatals and
private enterprises in the Northwest and Southwest regions, further
marginalizing English-speaking Cameroonians;
Whereas, in October 2016, English-speaking lawyers, students, and teachers in
the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon took to the streets to
peacefully protest marginalization of English-speaking Cameroonians by
the Government of Cameroon in the legal and education systems, as
exemplified by the appointment of French-speaking judges and teachers in
the Northwest and Southwest regions and the publishing of important
legislation solely in the French language;
Whereas those peaceful protests by English-speaking lawyers, students, and
teachers were met with excessive force by the police and gendarmerie of
Cameroon, which led to gross human rights violations, the arrest of
lawyers, teachers, and Anglophone civic leaders, and their detention in
the notorious Kondengui prison in Yaounde;
Whereas, amid broader protests across the Northwest and Southwest regions
demanding greater autonomy from the central government of Cameroon, on
October 1, 2017, the 56th anniversary of the end of British trusteeship
over Southern Cameroons, the Anglophone crisis escalated as separatist
armed groups declared independence from Cameroon;
Whereas, in late 2017, Anglophone separatist armed groups escalated attacks,
targeting government officials and facilities as well as civilians and
traditional leaders seen as sympathetic to the Government of Cameroon
and brutally enforcing ``ghost town operations'' (general strikes) and
school boycotts in the Northwest and Southwest regions;
Whereas lengthy government-imposed shutdowns of the internet and social media in
the Northwest and Southwest regions, totaling 240 days between 2017 and
2018, had a devastating impact on the economies and educational
institutions in the regions, undermined freedom of expression, prevented
the free flow of information related to the conflict, and restricted the
ability of local communities to interact and communicate;
Whereas the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon has
caused considerable instability and human suffering, with more than
3,000 deaths linked to the conflict, and according to United Nations
agencies, approximately 3,000,000 people are in need of humanitarian
assistance, approximately 60,000 Cameroonian refugees have fled to
Nigeria, and approximately 700,000 persons are internally displaced;
Whereas the Department of State 2019 Country Report on Human Rights Practices
for Cameroon cited ``significant'' human rights abuses by security
forces and separatist armed groups in Cameroon, including unlawful or
arbitrary killings, forced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention,
repression of fundamental rights, and violence against women and
children;
Whereas the United Nations Children's Fund estimates that more than 855,000
children are out of school due to the conflict, and the Department of
State added Cameroon to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act List in the
2020 Trafficking in Persons Report as a foreign government ``identified
during the previous year as having governmental armed forces, police, or
other security forces, or government-supported armed groups that recruit
or use child soldiers'';
Whereas United States citizen Charles Wesco was shot and killed near the town of
Bamenda, Cameroon, on October 30, 2018, and, in November 2018, the
Department of State stated, ``In memory of American missionary Charles
Wesco and all others who have lost their lives in the Anglophone Crisis,
we urge all sides to end the violence and enter into broad-based
reconciliatory dialogue without preconditions.'';
Whereas, in June 2019, the Government of Switzerland announced that, together
with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, it was facilitating a
dialogue between the Government of Cameroon and armed opposition groups
to support a resolution of the Anglophone crisis;
Whereas, in September 2019, President Biya hastily announced a Major National
Dialogue, chaired by Prime Minister Ngute from September 30 to October
4, 2019, in Yaounde, ``to examine the ways and means to respond to the
deeply-held aspirations of the populations in the Northwest and
Southwest'';
Whereas, though the Major National Dialogue led to some concessions by the
Government of Cameroon on broader democratization issues, including the
release of some political prisoners, including the leader of the
Cameroon Renaissance Movement, Maurice Kamto, and some of his associates
after nine months of detention, attempts at conflict resolution have
failed to bring all parties to the table, as high levels of deaths,
brutality, and suffering continue;
Whereas national and international outrage followed the massacre of at least 23
people, including 15 children and 2 pregnant women, by government
security forces and allied militia on February 14, 2020, in Ngarbuh,
Donga Mantung division, in the Northwest region, and a commission of
inquiry established by Cameroonian authorities ultimately led to the
arrest and charging of 3 soldiers for murder;
Whereas, on June 5, 2020, amidst increasing concern over attacks on freedom of
the press and detention of journalists on politically motivated charges
in recent years, Cameroon authorities confirmed that an Anglophone
journalist covering the conflict, Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, known as Wazizi,
who was arrested in August 2019 and transferred to a military facility,
died in custody shortly after his arrest, an acknowledgment that led to
widespread condemnation and calls for an independent inquiry;
Whereas the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) of the Government of Cameroon,
which has been accused of torture and extrajudicial killings and
implicated in massacres like that of February 14, 2020, has received
training and support from the United States, potentially in
contravention of legal requirements that ``no assistance shall be
furnished . . . to any unit of the security forces of a foreign country
if the Secretary of State has credible information that such unit has
committed a gross violation of human rights'';
Whereas, in February 2019, the Department of State announced that it would
withhold some security assistance to Cameroon, including equipment and
training, citing credible allegations of human rights violations by
state security forces and a lack of investigation, accountability, and
transparency by the Government of Cameroon in response;
Whereas, on December 26, 2019, the United States terminated the designation of
Cameroon as a beneficiary under the African Growth and Opportunity Act
(19 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) because ``the Government of Cameroon currently
engages in gross violations of internationally recognized human
rights'';
Whereas a European Parliament resolution, passed on April 18, 2019, urged
inclusive political dialogue to resolve the Anglophone crisis, called
for the conflict to be considered by the United Nations Security
Council, and urged the European Union to ``use the political leverage
provided by development aid and other bilateral programmes to enhance
the defense of human rights in Cameroon'';
Whereas France maintains considerable interests in Cameroon, including
significant economic and security cooperation, but has not adequately
used its influence to stem atrocities committed in the Anglophone
regions or support stronger international action to seek resolution to
the conflict;
Whereas the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Cameroon
stated on January 24, 2019, that ``Cameroon can no longer be a forgotten
crisis; it needs to be high on our agenda'', and, on June 22, 2020, a
group of former world leaders and 5 Nobel Peace Laureates called on the
United Nations Security Council and the United Nations Secretary-
General, the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, and La
Francophonie to ``ensure that Cameroon's Anglophone conflict is on the
agenda of the forthcoming UN Security Council meeting and all UNOCA
sessions before the UNSC'';
Whereas, on May 13, 2019, an Arria-formula meeting on the humanitarian crisis in
Cameroon was held for the United Nations Security Council, but a formal
meeting on the situation in Cameroon has not yet been placed on the
United Nations Security Council agenda;
Whereas, on July 1, 2020, in Resolution 2532 (2020), the United Nations Security
Council unanimously underlined its support of the appeal of the United
Nations Secretary-General for a global ceasefire in all conflicts as the
world battles the COVID-19 pandemic; and
Whereas there is a significant Cameroonian diaspora in the United States, and
Cameroon is a longstanding security partner and aid recipient of the
United States, participating in the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism
Partnership (TSCTP) led by the Department of State and in United States-
supported efforts to counter Boko Haram and the Islamic State-West
Africa, both of which have mounted terrorist operations in the Far North
region of Cameroon since 2014: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) strongly condemns abuses committed by state security
forces and armed groups in the Northwest and Southwest regions
of Cameroon, including extrajudicial killings and detentions,
the use of force against civilians and nonviolent protestors,
torture, rape, kidnappings, and other forms of violence against
women, and violations of the freedoms of press, expression, and
assembly;
(2) urges all parties to the Anglophone conflict in
Cameroon, including political opposition groups, to--
(A) conclude and uphold an immediate ceasefire;
(B) guarantee unfettered humanitarian access and
assistance to the Northwest and Southwest regions;
(C) exercise restraint and ensure that political
protests are peaceful; and
(D) establish a credible process for an inclusive
dialogue that includes all relevant stakeholders,
including from civil society, to achieve a sustainable
political solution that respects the rights and
freedoms of all of the people of Cameroon;
(3) affirms that the United States Government continues to
hold the Government of Cameroon responsible for safeguarding
the safety, security, and constitutional rights of all
citizens, regardless of their region of origin or the regions
in which they reside, or their religious beliefs or political
views;
(4) urges the Government of Cameroon to--
(A) initiate a credible, inclusive, good-faith
effort to end the armed conflict in the Northwest and
Southwest regions of Cameroon by addressing the root
causes of the crisis and grievances and seeking
nonviolent solutions to resolve the conflict, including
possibly involving an independent mediator in
negotiations;
(B) follow through on initiatives developed to
address the grievances that sparked the conflict,
including the National Commission for the Promotion of
Bilingualism and Multiculturalism, the Ministry of
Decentralization and Local Development, and the
National Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration
Committee;
(C) fully implement recommendations of the Major
National Dialogue held in late 2019;
(D) respect the rule of law and the constitutional
rights of all Cameroonians, including members of the
political opposition, civil society activists, and
journalists;
(E) allow for credible, independent, and
transparent investigations of all allegations of human
rights abuses committed in the Northwest and Southwest
regions;
(F) release all political prisoners and journalists
currently detained and immediately stop all arbitrary
detention, torture, forced disappearances, deaths in
custody, and inhumane prison conditions; and
(G) work with United States law enforcement to
thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible
for the murder of Charles Wesco;
(5) urges the Anglophone armed separatist groups to--
(A) engage peacefully with government officials to
express grievances and engage in nonviolent efforts to
resolve the conflict, including participation in a
credible and inclusive dialogue, possibly involving an
independent mediator;
(B) immediately cease human rights abuses,
including killings of civilians, torture, kidnapping,
and extortion;
(C) immediately end the school boycott in the
Northwest and Southwest regions and attacks on schools,
teachers, and education officials, and allow for the
safe return of all students to class; and
(D) immediately release all kidnapped and detained
civilians;
(6) urges the Department of State, Department of the
Treasury, and United States Agency for International
Development, in coordination with other relevant Federal
departments and agencies, to--
(A) consider imposing targeted sanctions on
individual government and separatist leaders
``responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or
other gross violations of internationally recognized
human rights'';
(B) press the Government of Cameroon to provide
unfettered humanitarian access to vulnerable
populations in the Northwest and Southwest regions of
Cameroon;
(C) support credible efforts to address the root
causes of the conflict and to achieve sustainable peace
and reconciliation and efforts to aid the economic
recovery of and fight coronavirus in the Northwest and
Southwest regions;
(D) support humanitarian and development
programming, including to meet immediate needs, advance
nonviolent conflict resolution and reconciliation,
promote economic recovery and development, support
primary and secondary education, and strengthen
democratic processes, including political
decentralization, enshrined as a fundamental principle
of state governance in the Constitution of Cameroon;
(E) continue to limit security assistance to
Cameroon and ensure that United States training and
equipment is not being used to facilitate human rights
abuses in the Northwest and Southwest regions;
(F) prioritize efforts to help develop and sustain
effective, professional civilian oversight of law
enforcement and security services in Cameroon to ensure
they are held accountable for abuses; and
(G) engage in an ongoing effort to ensure that the
crisis in the Anglophone regions is discussed in
international fora, including the United Nations
Security Council, that focus on urgent international
diplomatic engagement and response; and
(7) urges members of the international community to--
(A) join in a strategic collective effort to
pressure the Government of Cameroon and separatist
armed groups, including through the use of available
diplomatic and punitive tools, to immediately conclude
and uphold a ceasefire, participate in an inclusive and
meaningful dialogue to address the root causes of the
conflict and pending grievances, and seek nonviolent
solutions to the conflict, including by possibly
involving an independent and credible mediator;
(B) mobilize and coordinate funding for local and
international organizations to provide humanitarian and
development assistance, including to fight coronavirus,
to communities affected by the crisis in the Northwest
and Southwest regions of Cameroon;
(C) leverage bilateral relationships to encourage
key partners of Cameroon, particularly France, to help
foster a peaceful resolution to the crisis in the
Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon and
implement a mutually agreed-upon program to address
longstanding grievances and marginalization; and
(D) use regional and international fora, including
the African Union, the Economic Community of Central
African States, and the United Nations Security Council
to discuss the ongoing crisis in the Northwest and
Southwest regions of Cameroon and push for a cessation
of violence, an expedient resolution, the
implementation of a mutually agreed-upon program for
addressing the root causes and pending grievances, and
the investigation and prosecution of human rights
abuses and crimes committed against civilians.
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