Amnesty International takes on Cameroon

A year after their disappearance in the localities of Magdeme and Doublé in the Far North, Amnesty International seeks to understand what actually happened to the 131 Boko Haram suspects who had been arrested after a Boko Haram attack that had caused around 400 dead in the Far North.

"131 people are missing after their arrest in Cameroon. 25 people died while in custody at the headquarters of the gendarmerie in Maroua in Cameroon. It all happened a year ago at Magdeme and Doublé after an attack of Boko Haram that left 400 dead," said West and Central Africa Director at Amnesty International, Alioune Tine on Sunday.

Before the statement of December 27, Amnesty International said in its September report that Cameroonian forces responded to the attack by "destroying homes, killing civilians and arresting more than 1000 suspects, some of whom were older than five. Serious events, including the death of 25 people in custody, have given rise to a serious investigation."

The spokesman for the government of Cameroon, the Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakari, had acknowledged the accusations that the organization had made against the Cameroonian army and declared in March that "military justice is hearing the case. It continues its investigation and will decide on the fate of those responsible."

Amnesty International who accused both the Islamists sect, Boko Haram and Cameroonian army of serious abuses in the Far North, wants human rights to be respected in any case.

For Ong, "the best way to win the peace in the long term," would be to "fight the jihadist armed groups but respecting Cameroon's international obligations on human rights."