[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 188 (Thursday, November 29, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7233-S7235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                CAMEROON

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, today I wish to raise the alarm about 
the escalating violence in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon and to 
urge the administration to develop

[[Page S7234]]

and execute a meaningful strategy to help prevent additional bloodshed.
  For several years, Cameroon, a historically stable country bridging 
west and central Africa, has faced a significant security threat in its 
far north. Boko Haram combatants, originating from Nigeria, have 
crossed the border into Cameroon and carried out hundreds of attacks on 
local residents. Reports indicate Boko Haram killed more than 900 
people in 2017 in Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin subregion, which 
includes northern Cameroon. Boko Haram's Islamic State-aligned splinter 
faction, ISIS-West Africa, also poses a threat to the country. With 
U.S. help, Cameroon has been responding to the challenge, although some 
of these efforts have prompted concerns about its military's respect 
for human rights.
  Now, Cameroon faces another challenge, one that some observers fear 
has already burgeoned into a civil war. A budding separatist insurgency 
emerged in Cameroon's Anglophone regions in 2017. Insurgent attacks and 
a brutal military crackdown have caused significant internal 
displacement and given rise to credible allegations of serious human 
rights abuses by both separatists and government security forces. The 
separatist movement grew out of longstanding grievances among 
Anglophones over their perceived political and economic 
marginalization. These tensions worsened in 2016 due to the central 
government's appointments of French-speakers to local schools and 
courts in Cameroon's Anglophone majority western provinces in 2016. The 
government violently suppressed a largely peaceful protest movement 
that arose in response, quashing demonstrations by force, arresting 
prominent civil society activists on what appear to be trumped up 
terrorism charges, cutting internet access to the region, and banning 
some civil society organizations.
  On October 1, 2017, secessionists symbolically declared the 
independence of ``Ambazonia.'' According to Amnesty International, 
security forces responded by killing at least 20 protestors and 
arresting over 500. Cameroonian soldiers have reportedly killed 
civilians, used excessive force against peaceful demonstrators, 
tortured and mistreated suspected separatists and detainees, and burned 
hundreds of homes in several villages as violence has escalated. Some 
extremist Anglophone separatists, meanwhile, have burned down schools; 
kidnapped traditional leaders, police, and government administrators; 
and killed civilians. More than 220 civilians have lost their lives, 
according to the International Crisis Group, including an American 
missionary killed in October when he was caught in crossfire between 
armed groups. As of May, at least 160,000 people were internally 
displaced, 80 percent of whom are reportedly hiding in forests. At 
least 25,000 Cameroonians have sought refuge in Nigeria since late 
2017, according to UN agencies, although some observers on the ground 
assess the number of refugees and internally displaced to be higher.
  The separatist insurgency and the heavy handed government response 
has put thousands of innocent lives at risk, destabilizing an already 
fragile region.
  There is no military solution to this problem. Immediate, strategic 
action by the government, the diaspora, separatist leaders, as well as 
the U.S, and other international partners could bring peace, but the 
window of opportunity to prevent widespread civil conflict is quickly 
closing. I therefore call on each of the aforementioned actors to take 
steps right away to avert the worst case scenario.
  The Trump administration must develop a comprehensive strategy to 
prevent widespread conflict and violence. This strategy must go beyond 
military support. The State and Defense Departments have administered 
training and equipment in support of the Cameroonian military's 
counterterrorism efforts, as well as its peacekeeping deployment to the 
Central African Republic. However, disturbing reports of security force 
abuses in the far north and Anglophone regions merit serious attention. 
I trust and expect that the administration is conducting Leahy vetting 
on all of the individual and units with whom it is working. But we must 
do more. Given that security force abuses have been shown to be a major 
driver of extremist recruitment in Africa, the State Department should 
conduct a thorough policy review of our decision to partner with 
Cameroon on counterterrorism and in security assistance more broadly.
  A critical element of the administration's approach must be support 
for building democratic practices, assistance aimed at opening 
political space, and activities to combat corruption in Cameroon. While 
this administration may fail to understand that democratic values, 
human rights, and good governance promote long-term sustainable peace, 
Members of this body understand that these values are and must remain a 
core component of U.S. foreign policy. I am pleased that the 
administration has finally seen fit to set aside money in Fiscal Year 
2018 funds for such activities, after years of disappointing neglect 
for the sector. But $1 million is far too modest an amount to have an 
appreciable impact. Our actions must match our rhetoric. Our Ambassador 
in Cameroon has been outspoken, forthright, and, as perhaps a 
predictable result, has been unfairly criticized by the government. 
State Department officials at the highest levels here in Washington 
must support him in speaking truth to power both publicly and in 
private messaging, and follow that messaging with actions that will 
have a tangible impact.
  The government of Cameroon must take urgent steps as well. President 
Paul Biya's administration has applied a military solution to a 
political problem. It must now must take critical steps to forestall a 
worse-case scenario by committing to a political resolution. The 
highest levels of government--including President Biya--must rethink 
the wisdom of sending the Cameroonian military to make war upon its own 
citizens. It should publicly and unequivocally instruct security forces 
to stop targeting civilians, cease abuses and excesses, and hold those 
responsible for human rights abuses accountable--including through 
military prosecutions where appropriate--in a clear, transparent 
manner.
  The government should facilitate access to the Anglophone regions by 
humanitarian organizations and independent human rights investigators. 
I urge the government to consider neutral third party mediation to 
engage organizations that represent Anglophones and facilitate a 
dialogue without preconditions to end the violence. In January 2018, 
Nigerian authorities forcibly returned 47 Anglophone activists, 
including reported asylum seekers, to Cameroon, where they were 
detained as ``terrorists.'' To show its good faith support for a 
peaceful resolution, the government should release peaceful, moderate 
voices from the Anglophone region who represent those with legitimate 
political grievances. And the Biya administration must be willing to 
contemplate greater political decentralization to address legitimate 
grievances in peripheral regions--possibly including a return to 
federalism.
  The government needs to open political space more broadly. In the 
wake of October's elections, President Biya, who has been in office 
since 1982, will serve a seventh term in office. October's elections 
are the latest in a string of elections marred by controversy, 
harassment of opposition, and other irregularities. A press conference 
broadcast on state-run television featuring people identified as 
international election observers from Transparency International--who 
in fact were in no way affiliated with that organizations endorsing the 
conduct of elections, was a brazen attempt to provide a veneer of 
legitimacy to a process that was deeply flawed due to restricted 
political space.
  It is time for President Biya to cement his legacy by laying the 
groundwork for meaningful political competition in Cameroon. As Benin's 
then-President Mathieu Kerekou said in 2009 when he decided not to 
change the constitution and run for a third term, ``if you do not leave 
power, power will leave you.'' Future elections must take place on a 
level playing field. In this year's elections the field was heavily 
tilted in favor of the ruling party. Addressing meaningful barriers to 
political participation may go a long way towards addressing the root 
causes of discontent in the Anglophone regions.
  I call upon separatist leaders and their supporters to commit to 
seeking a peaceful, negotiated solution to the

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Anglophone crisis. The separatists too must support accountability for 
all actors engaged in hostilities who may have committed human rights 
abuses. Attacks on civilians are inexcusable. All armed and political 
actors must unequivocally condemn human rights abuses,
  Finally, the diaspora has a critical role to play. I urge members of 
the diaspora to clearly and unambiguously condemn violence in the 
Anglophone regions of Cameroon. The inflammatory rhetoric on social 
media by some Cameroonians at home and abroad is unhelpful. All 
diaspora should scrupulously investigate the charities and 
organizations to which they are contributing funding, lest they 
unwittingly send money to organizations that have engaged in violence 
against the very people they are trying to help.
  Mr. President, the U.S. and Cameroon have a long history of cordial 
relations. Peace Corps has been in Cameroon since 1962. State 
Department and USAID-administered bilateral funding amounted to $83 
million in FY2017. And for the past decade we have partnered with 
Cameroon to counter terrorism and maritime piracy, with U.S. security 
assistance rising substantially since 2014 in response to the Boko 
Haram crisis. Since 2015, Cameroon has hosted hundreds of U.S. military 
personnel who conduct regional intelligence, reconnaissance, and 
surveillance operations and otherwise support counterterrorism efforts. 
As conditions on the ground deteriorate, the U.S. is in a position 
where immediate concentrated action to support a resolution of the 
problem might disrupt the cycle of violence and help all parties work 
toward a negotiated solution. Our diplomatic intervention, if well 
thought out, could make a difference. I urge the administration to take 
swift, meaningful action.
  I yield the floor.

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