Court orders release of SCNC detainees

The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, ACHPR, has ordered the Government of the Republic of Cameroon to release and pay compensation to all the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC activists jailed by the Military Tribunal in 1997.

The order is contained in a ruling on the Commission, popularly known as the African Court, delivered in Banjul, The Gambia, recently. The ruling, a copy of which The Post procured, also calls on the Cameroon Government to stop the trial of civilians at Military Tribunals. It equally calls for the trial and sanctioning of all the officials involved in the torture of Anglophone activists in Cameroon.

Human Rights Lawyer and Varsity Don, Ernest Duga Titanji, filed the case before the Commission on behalf of the detainees in May 2004. For 10 years, the man of law remained resilient in his pursuit for justice for the Anglophone activists.

After examining the facts of the case, the Commission found the Government of Cameroon guilty of violating Article 7 (1) (c) of the African Charter. It holds the Biya Government for flagrantly violating the provisions of Articles 5, 7 (1) (a) and 7 (1) (d) of the African Charter.

It was on the basis of these violations that the court ordered the Yaounde Government to liberate, with immediate effect, all the SCNC activists still languishing in detention.

The African Court equally urged the State of Cameroon to pay compensation to all the victims, taking into consideration the torture, humiliation and the time they suffered in detention.

The Court recommended the Yaounde Government to take all measures to punish all officials that have been perpetrating the torture and inhuman treatment of the victims.

The ACHPR also called on the Government of the Republic of Cameroon to ensure within the ranks of its competent institutions, particularly institutions charged with the execution of the law and detention centres, a proper understanding and strict application of pertinent international law and national legislation on torture, inhuman, degrading and cruel treatment of detainees.

The Court also recommended that the Government of Cameroon should urgently put its legislation on the organisation of the judiciary in conformity with the African Charter and its international obligations in matters of human rights by giving the courts the full and exclusive competence in common law jurisdiction for the trial of civilians.

The Government of the Republic of Cameroon is also requested to inform the Court in writing within 180 days after receiving notification of the decision on the quantum of measures undertaken to effectively implement the ACHPR ruling.

The ruling was adopted during the 15th extra-ordinary session of the ACHPR that held in Banjul, The Gambia recently.

The report is endorsed by the Chairperson of the ACHPR, Hon. Commissioner Sylvie Kayitesi Zainabo and its Secretary, Dr. Mary Maboreke.

It would be recalled that the Anglophone activists were accused of what the Yaounde Government termed terrorist attacks in the then Northwest Province in 1997.

They were arrested and jailed in Yaounde. Many of them have died in the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in Yaounde, namely; Patrich Yimbu, Grace Yaya, Philip Tete, Simon Ngek, among others.

It is believed that had one of them, Ebenezar Akwanga, not escaped and now in the US, he might have also died.

However, the African Court expects the compensation to those who died to be paid by the Government of Cameroon to their families.