# Human rights in Cameroon

Human rights in Cameroon are addressed in the constitution. However, the 2009 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State noted concerns in regard to election irregularities, security forces torture and arbitrary arrests.

## Issues

A 2002 report by the UK charity Freedom from Torture said that "The prevalence of torture in Cameroon was such as to warrant a country visit from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture in 1999. He described the use of torture in Cameroon as 'widespread and systematic.'"
In its 2012 Annual Review, Freedom from Torture stated that they had received 33 referrals for torture survivors from Cameroon for clinical treatment or other services.
Amnesty International reported concerns about violence by security forces. In 2009, around 100 civilians were killed during demonstrations.
In April 2010, Germain Cyrille Ngota Ngota, the editor of the Cameroun Express, died in custody at Kondengui Central Prison. He had been jailed pending trial in February 2010 along with the editors of two other newspapers, for the alleged "joint forgery" of the signature of a presidential official. One of the editors said that the document in question had merely been attached to an interview request, whilst the journalist who had originated the document was on the run. "The Federation of African Journalists after visiting the country described Cameroon in May 2010 as 'one of the worst jailers of journalists in Africa'."
As of 2020, Cameroon "currently prosecutes consensual same sex conduct more aggressively than almost any country in the world".
On 27 June 2022, the Human Rights Watch reported that the armed separatist fighters killed and injured people, raped a girl, and committed other grave human rights abuses across Cameroon’s Anglophone regions. The separatists also burned schools, attacked universities, and kidnapped up to 82 people, with no apparent fear of being held to account by either their own leaders or Cameroonian law enforcement.
In March 2024, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced “intense repression” by the Cameroonian government against the opposition, after the government of Paul Biya declared the grouping of its main parties in two platforms “illegal”.

## Historical situation

The following table gives Cameroon's ratings since 1972 in the Freedom in the World reports, published annually by Freedom House. A score of 1 is "most free" and 7 is "least free".
Historical ratings :
| Year | Political Rights | Civil Liberties | Status | President |
| 1972 | 6 | 4 | Partly Free | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
| 1973 | 6 | 4 | Partly Free | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
| 1974 | 6 | 4 | Partly Free | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
| 1975 | 6 | 4 | Partly Free | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
| 1976 | 7 | 5 | Not Free | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
| 1977 | 6 | 5 | Not Free | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
| 1978 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
| 1979 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
| 1980 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
| 1981 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
| 1982 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
| 1983 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1984 | 6 | 7 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1985 | 6 | 7 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1986 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1987 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1988 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1989 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1990 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1991 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1992 | 6 | 5 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1993 | 6 | 5 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1994 | 6 | 5 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1995 | 7 | 5 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1996 | 7 | 5 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1997 | 7 | 5 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1998 | 7 | 5 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 1999 | 7 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2000 | 7 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2001 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2002 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2003 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2004 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2005 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2006 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2007 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2008 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2009 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2010 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2011 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2012 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2013 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |
| 2014 | 6 | 6 | Not Free | Paul Biya |

## International treaties

Cameroon's stances on international human rights treaties are as follows:
International treaties :
| Treaty | Organization | Introduced | Signed | Ratified |
| Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide | United Nations | 1948 | - | - |
| International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination | United Nations | 1966 | - | 1971 |
| International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights | United Nations | 1966 | - | 1984 |
| International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights | United Nations | 1966 | - | 1984 |
| First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights | United Nations | 1966 | - | 1984 |
| Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity | United Nations | 1968 | - | 1972 |
| International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid | United Nations | 1973 | - | 1976 |
| Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women | United Nations | 1979 | 1983 | 1994 |
| Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment | United Nations | 1984 | - | 1986 |
| Convention on the Rights of the Child | United Nations | 1989 | 1990 | 1993 |
| Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty | United Nations | 1989 | - | - |
| International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families | United Nations | 1990 | 2009 | - |
| Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women | United Nations | 1999 | - | 2005 |
| Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict | United Nations | 2000 | 2001 | - |
| Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography | United Nations | 2000 | 2001 | - |
| Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities | United Nations | 2006 | 2008 | - |
| Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities | United Nations | 2006 | 2008 | - |
| International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance | United Nations | 2006 | 2007 | - |
| Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights | United Nations | 2008 | - | - |
| Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure | United Nations | 2011 | - | - |