[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 23, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7203-H7204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CALLING ON GOVERNMENT OF CAMEROON AND ARMED GROUPS TO RESPECT THE HUMAN
RIGHTS OF ALL CAMEROONIAN CITIZENS
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 358) calling on the Government of Cameroon and
armed groups to respect the human rights of all Cameroonian citizens,
to end all violence, and to pursue a broad-based dialogue without
preconditions to resolve the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest
regions.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 358
Whereas many Anglophone Cameroonians have long felt
marginalized by official actions and policies of the
Government of Cameroon, including the abolishment of a
federal form of government, which was the constitutional
basis under which English-speaking Southern Cameroons entered
into the union, and replacing it with a unitary state
dominated by the Francophone majority;
Whereas, beginning in late 2016, protests organized by
lawyers, teachers, and students were violently repressed by
the Government of Cameroon, leading to numerous deaths and
imprisonments, including of journalists, teachers, lawyers,
and an Anglophone judge on the country's Supreme Court;
Whereas the conflict escalated in late September and early
October 2017, when Cameroonian security forces brutally
cracked down on peaceful Anglophone civilian demonstrators,
resulting in dozens of deaths and leaving over 100 injured;
Whereas, in 2017, separatists launched a campaign to
pressure school officials in the Northwest and Southwest
Anglophone regions to go on strike as part of a boycott
against the Government of Cameroon, and reportedly began
burning school buildings, threatening education officials
with violence if they did not comply with a boycott, and
kidnapping for ransom children and teachers who defied the
boycott;
Whereas numerous human rights monitors have documented
armed separatists killing traditional leaders and targeting
civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, who
are perceived to be supporting or working with the Government
of Cameroon, and reports indicate that armed separatists have
killed scores of security force personnel;
Whereas the security forces of the Government of Cameroon
have attacked medical facilities and health workers in the
Northwest and Southwest regions;
Whereas numerous credible reports from human rights
monitors, including the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, have documented the excessive use of force by
government security forces against Cameroonian civilians
living in the Anglophone regions, including the burning of
villages, the use of live ammunition against protestors,
arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, sexual abuse, and
killing of civilians, including women, children, and the
elderly;
Whereas the Department of State has expressed serious
concern over the manner in which the government has used
force to unlawfully restrict the rights to free expression
and peaceful protest that are protected under the Cameroonian
Constitution and international law;
Whereas the government has charged journalists, social
activists, and members of political opposition parties with
terrorism-related crimes and prosecuted them in military
tribunals;
Whereas the Government of Cameroon arrested opposition
leader Maurice Kamto and roughly 150 members of the Cameroon
Renaissance Movement party following peaceful protests on
January 26, 2019, charging them with crimes that could result
in the death penalty and handling their cases at the Military
Tribunal even though they are civilians;
Whereas the Government of Cameroon continued to place bans
on Cameroon Renaissance Movement's attempts to hold peaceful
protests, and civil society reported that security forces
interfered with MRC registration processes in Yaounde,
Douala, and Bafoussam in February 2019;
Whereas the Government of Cameroon has repeatedly
restricted freedoms of expression by shutting down the
internet, harassing and detaining journalists, refusing
licenses to independent media, and intensifying political
attacks against the independent press;
Whereas the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs stated in April 2019 that more than
530,000 people were internally displaced in areas affected by
the Anglophone conflict;
Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees reports that more than 32,000 Cameroonian
refugees have registered in Nigeria;
Whereas the Department of State has expressly called on the
Government of Cameroon to respect the rights, including the
right to due process, of 47 Cameroonians forcibly returned in
January 2018 from Nigerian custody to Cameroonian
authorities, many of whom had reportedly submitted asylum
claims in Nigeria; and
Whereas ten of the 47 Cameroonians forcibly returned from
Nigeria now face charges before a military court punishable
by the death penalty, while the other thirty-seven reportedly
remain in detention without charge: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) strongly condemns the abuses committed in Cameroon's
Anglophone regions by the Government of Cameroon security
forces and armed groups, including extrajudicial killings and
detentions, the use of force against nonviolent civilians and
protestors, and violations of the freedoms of press,
expression, and assembly;
(2) affirms that the United States continues to hold the
Government of Cameroon responsible for upholding the rights
of all citizens, regardless of political views or beliefs or
the regions in which they reside, in accordance with
Cameroon's international obligations and Cameroon's own
Constitution;
(3) urges all parties, including political opposition
groups, to exercise restraint and to ensure that protests
remain peaceful;
(4) urges the Government of Cameroon to--
(A) initiate broad-based dialogue without preconditions and
make a credible, full faith effort to work with religious and
community leaders in the Anglophone region to address
grievances and seek nonviolent solutions to resolve conflict
and constitutional reforms that would protect minority
concerns, such as reconstituting a Federal system;
(B) follow through on the initiatives developed to address
grievances, including the Commission of Bilingualism and
Multiculturalism, the Ministry of Decentralization, and the
National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization,
Reintegration, that currently offer no visible evidence of
having played a constructive role in resolving the crisis;
(C) respect the fundamental rights of all Cameroonian
citizens, including political activists and journalists;
(D) ensure that any security operations are conducted in
accordance with international human rights standards,
including efforts to ensure security forces only use force
under appropriate circumstances;
(E) transparently investigate all allegations of human
rights violations committed in the Anglophone regions and
take the necessary measures to prevent arbitrary detention,
torture, enforced disappearances, deaths in custody, and
inhumane prison conditions;
(F) promptly charge or release all those detained in the
context of the Anglophone crisis, including the Cameroonians
forcibly returned from Nigeria, and ensure that any future
detainees are treated with due process, in line with
Cameroon's penal code;
(G) allow unfettered access to humanitarian and health care
workers in accordance with humanitarian principles of
humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence;
(H) release the leaders and members of the Cameroon
Renaissance Movement party who were arrested following their
peaceful protests, and ensure that this party, like others,
can participate unfettered in upcoming municipal,
parliamentary, and regional elections;
(I) release human rights defenders, civil society
activists, political prisoners, journalists, trade unionists,
teachers, and any other citizens who have been arbitrarily
arrested and detained without trial or charge;
(J) ensure that detainees are treated fairly and humanely,
with proper judicial proceedings, including a registry of
those detained by the Cameroonian security forces, and with
full access to legal resources; and
(K) ensure that Cameroon's antiterrorism legislation is
used only to prosecute offenses that would be considered acts
of terrorism under international legal standards, and cease
to use this legislation to sanction activities that are
protected by national and international guarantees of freedom
of expression, peaceful assembly, and association with
others; and
(5) urges the separatist groups to--
(A) engage with Cameroonian government officials, as well
as civil society and religious leaders, in a broad-based
dialogue without preconditions to peacefully express
grievances and credibly engage in nonviolent efforts to
resolve the conflict;
(B) immediately stop committing human rights abuses,
including killings of civilians, use of child soldiers,
torture, kidnapping, and extortion;
(C) end the school boycott immediately and cease attacks on
schools, teachers, and education officials, and allow for the
safe return of all students to class;
(D) end incitement to violence and hate speech on the part
of the diaspora; and
(E) immediately release all civilians illegally detained or
kidnapped in the Anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Engel) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
[[Page H7204]]
General Leave
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on H. Res. 358.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this measure.
I want to start by thanking Ms. Bass and Mr. Smith for bringing
forward this resolution, which calls on the Government of Cameroon and
armed groups to respect the human rights of all Cameroonian citizens,
to end all violence, and to pursue a broad-based dialogue without
preconditions to resolve the conflict in the anglophone regions of
Cameroon.
Since October 2017, the region has been mired in conflict, with both
the Government of Cameroon and armed separatists fighting one another
and perpetrating human rights abuses.
While armed actors refuse to pursue a negotiated settlement to the
conflict, innocent civilians continue to suffer. According to UNICEF,
more than 80 percent of the schools in the anglophone regions of
Cameroon remain closed, putting at risk the future prospects of
children who are being denied access to education. In addition, 1.3
million people, including approximately 650,000 children, are in need
of humanitarian assistance.
This resolution urges the Government of Cameroon to respect the
fundamental rights of all Cameroonian citizens and follow through on
initiatives developed to address grievances in the anglophone region.
It also urges separatist groups to engage with Cameroonian government
officials, civil society, and religious leaders to express grievances
and engage in efforts to resolve the conflict and to stop committing
human rights abuses and inciting violence.
For several months, the Swiss Government has been attempting to
mediate a peaceful resolution to this crisis, and I am pleased this
resolution demonstrates Congress' strong support for a negotiated
settlement.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to support this resolution, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 358, calling on the
Government of Cameroon and armed groups to respect fundamental human
rights and pursue dialogue to resolve the crisis in the anglophone
region of that country.
Mr. Speaker, I especially want to thank Congresswoman Karen Bass, the
chairwoman of the Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and
International Organizations Subcommittee, of which I serve as the
ranking member, for this resolution. It is a bipartisan resolution,
and, again, I thank her for her leadership.
Mr. Speaker, I would note that in the last Congress, I chaired a
hearing on this Cameroon crisis as it was festering, seeking a way
forward for peace. Sadly, that effort and all efforts made by the
international community have been elusive thus far.
The conflict in Cameroon has its roots in long-simmering tensions
between that country's francophone majority and the anglophone
minority, concentrated in the northwest and southwest regions.
In 2016, protests by anglophone teachers and lawyers over
marginalization and the lack of government services were met with a
heavy-handed response. The government failed to genuinely address those
legitimate grievances, which further inflamed tensions.
Brutal fighting between government security forces and local armed
groups who called for separatism continues.
Today, there are over 500,000 displaced persons in the anglophone
region.
Mr. Speaker, entire communities have been burned to the ground.
Humanitarian convoys struggle to reach local populations or are even
blocked and attacked by armed groups. Over half of the health
facilities and hospitals have been damaged and forced to close.
Children have been out of school for over 2 years.
According to the U.S. Department of State's Human Rights Report on
Cameroon from 2018: ``Government security forces were widely believed
to be responsible for disappearances of suspected anglophone
separatists, with reports of bodies dumped far from the site of the
killings to make identification difficult.''
This, in turn, is fueling resentment and separatist violence.
This resolution reiterates the U.S. position that all parties must
immediately cease fighting and come to the negotiating table without
preconditions. The Swiss-led mediation process is a hopeful step in
that direction, which deserves support.
I would also note the critical role that has been played by the
Catholic church, in particular Cardinal Tumi, in trying to reach common
ground, and the need to support such efforts.
Hopefully, by weighing in, Congress can help promote the cause of
peace and justice in the Republic of Cameroon.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers, and I yield myself
the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank Ms. Bass and Mr. Smith for their
hard work. Again, as I mentioned before, Mr. Smith is always working
very, very hard to be on the side of justice.
For too long, the people in Cameroon's anglophone region have been
marginalized by the Cameroonian Government, and since 2017, conflict
between the government and separatists have brought chaos and fear to
those living in the region.
This resolution supports a negotiated settlement to the conflict that
respects the basic human rights of its citizens, so Cameroon can become
a country that is more peaceful and stable.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to join me in supporting this
bipartisan piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 358.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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