UN calls for the respect of
international law in Cameroon
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| Cameroon civilians fleeing from villages in the north West |
The UN Secretary General and the High Commissioner for Human
Rights add their voices to the international community in decrying the latest
killing of civilians, including children, in Cameroon.
By Joachim Teigen
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio
Guterres, released his statement on 17 February, saying that he is “deeply
concerned over reports about the killing of civilians, including children, in
an attack on the village of Ngarbuh”.
A day later, the spokesperson of the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights equally decried the killings as “a shocking episode” in what
is an “ongoing crisis that has afflicted the country’s North-West and
South-West regions for the past three years”.
23 killed, 15 of them children
The “ongoing crisis” referred to is the clashes between
security and defence forces and armed separatist groups in these two regions,
clashes which have displaced hundreds of thousands of people over the last
years.
The UN reported witness accounts saying that 40 armed men
opened fire on people and burnt down houses in the village of Ngarbuh on 14
February. Some of the men involved in the killings were members of the security
and defence forces. According to Cameroonian authorities, the defence forces
and gendarmes responded to fire from inside the village.
UN sources on the ground reported that 23 people were
killed, 15 of whom were children and two of whom were pregnant women.
“Respect international human rights law”
The UN Secretary General offered his “deepest condolences”
to the families of the victims, and called upon the Government of Cameroon to
investigate the attacks and to “make sure those responsible are held
accountable”.
After the Cameroon Government announced that they would open
an investigation, the Office of the High Commissioner urged the authorities the
ensure that it be “independent, impartial and thorough”.
Both the Secretary General and the Human Rights Office
called on all armed actors in the conflict to refrain from attacking civilians
and to respect international human rights law.
“We urge the Government of Cameroon to take concrete steps”
the Human Rights Office said and reiterated their “readiness to help the
Government to protect the human rights of people all across Cameroon”.
Pleas of the international community
The UN statements are just the latest of many appeals from
the international community, many of them from ecclesiastical communities
around the world.
Earlier this week, Catholic Bishops from around the world
signed a letter to the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, asking him to begin
peace negotiations with the separatist movement.
The World Council of Churches also condemned the attacks,
and encouraged all its member churches to keep those affected in their prayers.
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