Far North population blasts Amnesty’s report

Obviously, its not only the Government that sees the latest report from Amnesty International concerning the fight against Boko Haram as partial. The NGO published in mid-July 2016 a report in which it denounces serious violations of human rights in the war that is forced to deliver the Cameroonian army against the terrorist group in the Far North.

Amnesty regrets torture, executions or of botched trials of those suspected of belonging to Boko Haram. The army is the main target of such accusations.

The findings of the report also cause reactions of indignation towards the populations affected by the daily attacks of the sect. In its edition on newsstands of July 18, 2016, L’Oeil du Sahel mentioned a few. These reactions, without doubt well selected, are unanimous in condemning the report of the NGO.

For Mey Ali, president of OS-Civil Droits de l’Homme, an organization based in Kousseri in the Logone and Chari division, Amnesty ‘is a serious organization which has its working methodology, which is in its role and which greatly advance the cause of human rights. But today, when I talk to people, what I see in them is misunderstanding.

They point the finger at us, we, human rights activists, as supporters of terrorists who seek to discourage the forces of defense and security in the war they are waging against terrorists. They say if the military give up, I hope you will at least have the decency to come and protect us, “he says.

Mahamat, a resident of the Ndjiabouniba neighborhood in Fotokol adds: “I lost many of my family on February 4, 2015, during the attack that killed 143 people here in Fotokol. I am now a useless man, irresponsible father since I could not protect my people from these terrorists. But if my other children you see there are still alive, it’s thanks to the army. We have experienced here too, three suicide attacks. Many were foiled.

And I can reassure you that this it is the arrest and exploitation of the followers of the sect that allowed security forces to gather information and get a step ahead of the terrorists. It is difficult to fight against terrorism with conventional means, and that is why we must acknowledge the work of these people. ”

At Mora, the president of the city’s vigilante committees is said also to be outraged by criticism on the Cameroonian army. “You know, when I hear criticism about the work of the army, I feel like crying. I know those who say do not have a clue on the terrorists of Boko Haram. They do not know what they are capable of. Not even a little.

Someone who takes a pregnant woman, rapes her, before shooting her or even killing without remorse, that means to him human right? In their eyes, a fly is more valuable than a human. Tell me about the right of flies and I will be careful, but if it is the rights of these barbarians, let me continue my way.

We even say that the army is exaggerating, trying too hard to treat these terrorists as normal people. It nourishes, it heals, the army even goes beyond the bounds of goodness, ” says Mohamed Ahmed.

The people of Maroua who have already suffered two terrorist attacks also reacted to the Amnesty. If the Director of the École Normale Supérieure in Maroua recognizes that the NGO’s role is to alert for the respect of human rights, Pr Saïbou Issa argues, however, that “the Defense and Security Forces, as keys actors must be supported unequivocally to stay focused. “