Arrested SCNC Activists Should be Released Immediately
CCDHR is concerned about the situation of Fidelis Chinkwo, Assistant National Organizing Secretary of the SCNC, Ms. Priscilla Khan, receptionist of the SCNC office, Emmanuel Emi, and Elvis Bandzeka arrested and detained at the gendarmerie legion station in Up-Station Bamenda, North West Province of the Republic of Cameroon. These individuals are being held against their will for political reasons.

The arrest of these individuals is part of a broader intimidation and repression campaign by the Cameroon authorities against officials and sympathizers of the SCNC in view of the October 1, Southern Cameroons independence anniversary celebration. The SCNC is a pressure movement fighting against the marginalization of the Anglophones in Cameroon with the goal of achieving self-determination and independence for the former Southern Cameroons. CCDHR is calling on the immediate and unconditional release of these individuals being detained for political purposes only.

Colonized by the Germans in 1884/85, the territorial entity today known as the Republic of Cameroon was divided into East Cameroon (French Cameroon) and West Cameroon (British Cameroon) following the defeat of the Germans in Cameroon by Britain and France in World War One. For administrative convenience, British Cameroon was further subdivided into two parts (British Northern Cameroons and British Southern Cameroons). In a United Nations sponsored plebiscite on February 11, 1961, British Northern Cameroons voted to gain independence by joining Nigeria, while British Southern Cameroons voted to gain independence by joining the Republic of Cameroon (French Cameroon). On October 1, 1961, British Southern Cameroons effectively gained its independence by joining East Cameroon in what became known as The Federal Republic of Cameroon.

The SCNC argues that Cameroonians of the former British Southern Cameroons can no longer understand their status within the context of things: because by various processes of intrigue and spite, the Federal Republic of Cameroon was reduced to the United Republic of Cameroon, which today has re-assumed the original status of La République du Cameroun or The Republic of Cameroon - the name French Cameroon adopted at independence on January 1, 1960.

CCDHR support peaceful coexistence and a spirit of brotherhood in Cameroon. For purposes of nation building, consolidating national unity and solidarity, the Cameroon Government must give ample recognition to the Anglophone problem, which is real. It should enter into dialogue with Southern Cameroons activists and other Anglophone elites in an effort to find a lasting solution to the Southern Cameroons problem. Threats, intimidations, and arrests should not be used as an alternative to a concerted effort to finding a real solution arrived at through dialogue and negotiation. The issues here involve the right to expression, the right to form and maintain independent opinion, and the right to political participation. The arrest of SCNC officials clearly violate the above rights guaranteed under the constitution and other duly ratified conventions and they should be released without delay.

While CCDHR recognizes the position of SCNC activists and the need to respect their right to freedoms of speech, opinion, and political participation, CCDHR encourages the exercise of these rights within a peaceful context. CCDHR accordingly denounces any use of, or threat of use of means other than peaceful to attain the goals of the SCNC. The broader picture here revolves around the concepts of human rights, democracy, the rule of law, good governance, human dignity, freedom of security and liberty, the right to self-determination, and social justice. CCDHR believes that these rights can be realized and encourages their attainment within the framework of an indivisible, but “Just” Cameroon. The Government should therefore create the atmosphere of dialogue needed to move this process forward.