[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 130 (Wednesday, July 31, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5243-S5244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                CAMEROON

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I wish to discuss the grave 
situation in Cameroon, specifically the targeted attacks against the 
English-speaking minority community there, the ongoing conflict between 
armed separatist groups and Cameroonian security forces, and the 
country's many political prisoners. In response to the escalation of 
conflict in Cameroon's northwest and southwest regions, yesterday, 
Senator Young and I introduced a resolution calling on the Government 
of Cameroon and armed separatist groups to respect the human rights of 
all Cameroonian citizens, to end all violence, and to pursue an 
inclusive dialogue to resolve the conflict.
  Since the outbreak of violence in 2016, Cameroon's security forces 
have been credibly accused of grave human rights abuses, from 
suppressing the basic freedoms of expression and assembly, and 
arbitrarily detaining those who challenge the President's authority, to 
torture and extrajudicial killings. The victims of these abuses include 
Anglophone activists, some of whom were forcibly returned to Cameroon 
after fleeing to Nigeria. Since 2016, entire villages have been burned 
down, displacing hundreds of thousands of Cameroonians from their 
communities.
  Where did this all begin? The current conflict can be traced back to 
Cameroon's colonial history, as a country formed through merging pieces 
of a former French colony with parts of a former British colony. The 
Francophone majority has held much of the land since 1961, when 
Cameroon gained its independence. All the while, the Anglophone 
minority held on to its language and distinct judicial and educational 
systems as it continued to be governed largely by French speakers.
  About 3 years ago, this all began to shift. The Francophone 
government began implementing the French language and imposing its own 
laws, judges, and teachers in Anglophone communities, and protestors 
rose up in response. Anglophone Cameroonians rightly saw this as an 
unjust imposition on their autonomy, as a tyranny of the majority 
seeking to do away with their language and identity. The fact that 
Anglophone Cameroonians are vastly underrepresented in the central 
government only exacerbates their grievances in this matter. In 
response to citizens' voicing their discontent, the government cracked 
down, arresting hundreds of people--including peaceful activists who 
were given terrorism charges--and deploying the military to Anglophone 
areas.
  Over the past 3 years, violence has claimed 2,000 lives in the 
Anglophone region. Human Rights Watch has documented extensive burning 
of villages by members of the security forces in the last 2 years in 
both the northwest and southwest regions, as well as rampant killings 
of civilians and sexual violence. According to a July 22 Human Rights 
Watch report, Cameroonian security forces have killed at least four 
civilians and raped one woman since mid June alone during their 
security operations in the northwest region. Shockingly, those killed 
included an elderly man with a physical disability and a young man with 
a mental disability.
  We cannot turn a blind eye to the circumstances there. My home State 
of Maryland is home to a large, active population of Cameroonian 
diasporans. Marylander Sylvie Bello and members of her advocacy 
organization, the Cameroon American Council, have been a leading 
diaspora voice calling for the United States to encourage the 
Cameroonian Government and armed militias to stop the violence. Many in 
the diaspora community across the United States are working with civil 
society organizations in Cameroon to address the needs of internally 
displaced persons, IDPs, in the northwest and southwest regions of the 
country and refugees on the Nigerian side of the border.
  This important community has made something very clear to me and my 
team, and I would like to take this opportunity to remind my colleagues 
in the U.S. Congress of it. The conflict in Cameroon greatly impacts 
Americans here in the United States, whether it be Americans with loved 
ones affected by the conflict, those who have traveled here to escape 
the conflict, or simply those of us who understand that being silent on 
issues of human rights is analogous to being complicit to their

[[Page S5244]]

occurrence. I encourage the Government of Cameroon to engage with 
diaspora organizations, along with a broad spectrum of Cameroonian 
civil society leader, in meaningful and constructive dialogue to 
resolve the conflict.
  Moving forward, as we look for ways to address the situation in 
Cameroon, we must look to longtime President Paul Biya and his ongoing 
attacks on the legitimacy of Cameroon's democracy. President Biya rose 
to office in 1982 after serving as Prime Minister. In 2008, 
Presidential term limits were removed from Cameroon's Constitution. 
Protests ensued, but when the public wished to voice their disapproval 
of this decision, security forces violently repressed their actions.
  In October 2018, Biya claimed a seventh Presidential victory in an 
election that many considered to be neither free nor fair. There were 
numerous credible reports of fraud, voter intimidation, violence, and 
low voter turnout in the Anglophone regions. The opposition party who 
reportedly came in second place, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, 
claims that it had the support of the people. In January of this year, 
protests and demonstrations against the October elections were 
summarily suppressed by the Biya regime. Over 200 people were arrested, 
including opposition leader Maurice Kamto and his close supporters.
  The United Nations Secretary General, Amnesty International, and the 
International Law Commission have called for Mr. Kamto's release, and 
just last month, thousands of Cameroonians demonstrated in Yaounde with 
the same demand. Biya's government forces responded as they usually do, 
by arresting 73 of the demonstrators.
  Even members of the President's own inner circle are not immune to 
his thuggery. In 2012, Mr. Marafa Hamidou Yaya, the former Secretary 
General of the Presidency, was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in 
prison for complicity in an embezzlement scheme that many suspect 
befell him not because of any actual involvement in embezzlement, but 
as a way to prevent him from ever challenging Biya for the Presidency. 
His arrest and imprisonment make clear that Biya will target anyone who 
threatens grip on power.
  President Biya has the broad authority to appoint and dismiss the 
Prime Minister, Cabinet members, judges, generals, and governors. The 
executive and judicial branches are clearly a product of the 
President's preference, rather than a reflection of the will of the 
people. Although several press outlets exist and multiple political 
parties compete in elections, freedom of expression is greatly 
constrained. Journalists have been jailed, and Reporters Without 
Borders has described the circumstances for Cameroonian media as a 
``climate of fear.''
  In addition to these democratic concerns, Cameroon currently faces 
three major humanitarian challenges, which are exasperated by President 
Biya's unchecked authority. About 275,000 refugees from the Central 
African Republic reside in the eastern part of Cameroon. In the north, 
Boko Haram threatens the communities near the Nigerian border. And in 
the west, where most of Cameroon's Anglophone minority resides, a 
conflict among government security forces and those seeking 
independence from the rest of the country continues to escalate.
  If that wasn't enough, reports indicate that U.S. military assistance 
to Cameroon is being used to arm the same forces accused of committing 
atrocities against English-speaking Cameroonians. For this reason, 
Senator Durbin and I filed an amendment to the National Defense 
Authorization Act that would freeze security assistance to Cameroon, 
except for those funds that go towards combatting Boko Haram, until the 
U.S. Departments of Defense and State can certify that Cameroon's 
military and security forces have demonstrated progress in abiding by 
international human rights standards, particularly in regards to their 
actions in the Anglophone region.
  Although Cameroon is an important partner in U.S. counterterrorism 
efforts in the region, we cannot turn a blind eye to the extreme 
violence the government and its security forces have inflicted on 
innocent civilians. Human Rights Watch has documented extensive burning 
of villages by members of the security forces in the last 2 years in 
both the northwest and southwest regions, as well as rampant killings 
of civilians and sexual violence.
  This February, the U.S. withheld millions of dollars in security 
assistance from Cameroon, on the condition that Biya and his forces 
work to improve the humanitarian situation there. No county should be 
able to receive U.S. military assistance while continuing to violently 
repress the rights of its own population.
  America's strength is in our values. We must call out instances of 
human rights violations wherever they happen in the world. As a 
Congress, we have a special responsibility to use our voices when it is 
another government who is the perpetrator of these human rights abuses. 
This is the case for the situation in Cameroon. The violence must end. 
Innocent Cameroonians are caught in the crossfires of this political 
battle.
  Communities have become too dangerous to live in. Hundreds of 
thousands of Cameroonians have been forced to flee their homes to 
escape the violence inflicted upon them. In November 2018, the United 
Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that 
at least 437,000 people were internally displaced in Cameroon from 
areas affected by this Anglophone conflict.
  There are also thousands of refugees who have left Cameroon 
completely. As of late November 2018, the Office of the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees reported that it had registered more 
than 32,000 Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria who came from the affected 
Anglophone regions. The persecuted Cameroonians seeking refuge in 
Nigeria include dozens of Anglophone activists, but in January 2018, 47 
of those activists were forcibly returned to Cameroonian authorities. 
Many of those returned had reportedly submitted asylum claims in 
Nigeria, so it is especially troubling that they were made to return to 
the country from which they fled. Ten of the 47 activists who were 
forcibly returned from Nigeria now face charges before a military court 
that would be punishable by the death penalty. The other 37 reportedly 
remain in detention without charge.
  Even non-Cameroonians have found themselves in the midst of this 
turmoil. On October 30, 2018, U.S. missionary Charles Wesco was killed 
near the town of Bamenda, Cameroon.
  We must act in the face of these gross violations of human rights. We 
must encourage all actors in the Cameroonian conflict to prioritize 
respect for human life over the desire for political gain. This must be 
done by first agreeing to an immediate ceasefire and allowing 
humanitarian assistance to reach those in need. The Cameroonian 
Government and Armed Forces must exercise restraint in their actions 
and ensure that protests remain peaceful.
  Leaders on both sides must be willing to engage in constructive 
dialogue with civil society members to achieve to a political solution, 
one that is based upon respect for fundamental human rights and 
freedoms. Failure to do so will only prolong the conflict and lead to 
an increase in violence and mass displacement of the Anglophone 
minority.
  In closing, I would like to again thank Maryland's vibrant 
Cameroonian diaspora for their continued engagement with myself and my 
office, and encourage my Senate colleagues to support my and Senator 
Young's resolution which addresses many of these issues. Congress has a 
responsibility to continue to shine a spotlight on ongoing human rights 
abuses and the duty to advocate for upholding the rights of all 
citizens in Cameroon, regardless of their religious and political 
beliefs or the regions in which they reside.

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