By Neville Mesumbe
The Italian Federation for Human Rights, FIDU, has asked the United Nations, UN, to impose travel restrictions on some Cameroonian Government officials.
Even though the Federation did not mention the names of the Cameroonian top officials, which should be banned from travelling out of the country, human rights advocates are unanimous that the ban would be a first step towards resolving the Anglophone Crisis.
The release signed by FIDU’s President , Prof. Antonio Stango, President of African Forum for Restorative Justice, Sergio D’Elia and Secretary-General of Hands Off Cain (International League of Parliamentarians and Citizens for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide, Prof. DJ Omale, equally condemned the October 24 killing of school children in Kumba.
According to them, the Kumba massacre is not the first and will not be the last if the intentional community continues to give a blind eye to the crisis.
“It is certain that with the ruthlessness of the Cameroon Government, the resolve of Southern Cameroons self-determination forces and the nonchalant behaviour of the international community, the war will continue, and more massacres and atrocities will take place”
To avoid future a massacre, the Federation says all acts should be in favour of peace. “If we really don’t want this to happen again, we should consistently act to favour a peaceful solution. The Cameroon Government has the primary responsibility to end this war it. The so called separatists would have no one to fight if Cameroon calls a ceasefire and accepts negotiations as the separatists have done,” FIDU says.
According to the signatories, bringing the two sides to the negotiating table is necessary, but till now the efforts have all failed because Cameroon was and is still unwilling to commit to any genuine, internationally mediated dialogue.
“We are suggesting that the international community should use any possible leverage to intervene in this conflict. The lives of people, including children, in the English-speaking part of Cameroon matter. Children have not been protected and have missed out of school for four years.”
To the Federation, Cameroon, which is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, has violated all Commonwealth principles and disrespected Commonwealth of Nations values. The people of Southern Cameroons should be given a platform by the African Union, the European Union, and the United Nations to put forth their claims.
The Federation suggested seven key points for an urgent commitment by the international community: An investigation on all the atrocities that have taken place in Southern Cameroons since 2016 should be carried out by independent observers, which should include the African Bar Association and the African Forum for Restorative Justice, Cameroon should immediately call a ceasefire and an end to the war, Economic, financial and other sanctions should be placed on Cameroon to force it to accept peaceful negotiations. Travel restrictions should be imposed on certain Cameroonian state officials among others.
