IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1111 

Calling on the Government of Cameroon, armed separatist groups, and all 

citizens to respect human rights and adopt nonviolent approaches to 

conflict resolution. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 2, 2018 

Ms. BASS (for herself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. RUSH, Mr. KIND, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. MOORE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. FUDGE, 

Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, and Mr. GARRETT) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the Government of Cameroon, armed separatist 

groups, and all citizens to respect human rights and 

adopt nonviolent approaches to conflict resolution. 

Whereas Anglophone Cameroonians have long felt 

marginalized by official actions and policies of the Government of Cameroon; 

Whereas beginning in late 2016, protests organized by lawyers, teachers, and students were violently repressed by 

the Government of Cameroon, leading to numerous 

deaths and imprisonments, including of journalists, lawyers, and an Anglophone judge on the country’s Supreme 

Court; 


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•HRES 1111 IH 

Whereas, in January 2017, the Government ordered the suspension of internet services in the northwest and southwest Anglophone regions of Cameroon, the suspension 

lasting for 93 days and having a major, debilitating effect 

on the economy, educational institutions, freedom of expression, and social communication of the region’s 5 million residents; 

Whereas the conflict escalated in late September and early 

October 2017, when Cameroonian security forces brutally 

cracked down on unarmed civilians peacefully demonstrating, resulting in dozens of deaths and leaving over 

100 injured; 

Whereas, in 2017, armed separatists launched a campaign to 

pressure school officials in the Anglophone region to go 

on strike as part of a boycott against the Government of 

Cameroon, and began burning school buildings and 

threatening education officials with violence if they did 

not comply with a boycott of schools in the Anglophone 

regions; 

Whereas human rights monitors have documented armed separatists killing tribal chiefs and targeting civilians who 

are perceived to be supporting or working with the Government of Cameroon, and reports indicate that armed 

separatists have killed over 80 Cameroonian security 

force personnel; 

Whereas numerous credible reports from human rights monitors, including the United Nations High Commissioner 

for Human Rights, have documented the excessive use of 

force by government security forces against 

Cameroonians living in the Anglophone regions, including 

the burning of villages, the use of live ammunition 


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•HRES 1111 IH 

against protestors, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, and sexual abuse; 

Whereas the United States Department of State has expressed serious concern over the Government’s use of 

force to restrict free expression, and the use of violence 

against individuals protesting the Government’s discriminatory policies in the country’s Anglophone regions; 

Whereas both the Government of Cameroon security forces 

and armed separatists have been documented targeting 

and brutally killing civilians, including women and children; 

Whereas the Government of Cameroon has repeatedly restricted freedoms of expression by shutting down the 

internet, harassing and detaining journalists, refusing licenses to independent media, and intensifying political 

attacks against the independent press; 

Whereas the United Nations Office for the Coordination of 

Humanitarian Affairs said that since December 2017, 

the violence has resulted in the internal displacement of 

over 500,000 people across Cameroon; 

Whereas the office of the United Nations High Commissioner 

for Refugees reports that more than 20,000 Cameroonian 

refugees have registered in Nigeria; 

Whereas emergency officials in Nigeria have reported that 

the number of refugees having fled from Cameroon since 

October 2017 exceeds 40,000; 

Whereas some of those who have fled to Nigeria have been 

deported to Cameroon, where they are at risk of unfair 

trial and torture; and 

Whereas the United States Department of State has expressly called on the Government of Cameroon to respect 


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the rights, including the right to due process, of 47 

Cameroonians forcibly returned from Nigerian custody to 

Cameroonian authorities, many of whom had reportedly 

submitted asylum claims in Nigeria: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) strongly condemns the abuses committed by 

3 the Government of Cameroon, security forces, and 

4 armed separatist groups, including extrajudicial 

5 killings and detentions, the use of force against non6 violent civilians and protestors, and violations of the 

7 freedoms of press, expression, and assembly; 

8 (2) affirms that the United States continues to 

9 hold the Government of Cameroon responsible for 

10 upholding the rights of all citizens, regardless of po11 litical views or beliefs or the regions in which they 

12 reside; 

13 (3) urges all parties, including political opposi14 tion groups, to exercise restraint and to ensure that 

15 protests remain peaceful; 

16 (4) urges the Government of Cameroon to— 

17 (A) initiate a credible, good, and full faith 

18 effort to work with religious and community 

19 leaders in the Anglophone region to address 

20 grievances and seek nonviolent solutions to reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Oct 02, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1111.IH HR1111

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•HRES 1111 IH 

1 solve conflict, including possibly involving an 

2 independent mediator in such negotiations; 

3 (B) respect the fundamental rights of all 

4 Cameroonian citizens, including political activ5 ists and journalists; 

6 (C) ensure that any security operations are 

7 conducted in accordance with international 

8 human rights standards, including efforts to en9 sure security forces only use force under appro10 priate circumstances; 

11 (D) investigate all allegations of human 

12 rights violations committed in the Anglophone 

13 regions and take the necessary measures to pre14 vent arbitrary detention, torture, enforced dis15 appearances, deaths in custody, and inhumane 

16 prison conditions; 

17 (E) promptly charge or release all those 

18 detained in the context of the Anglophone cri19 sis, including the 47 Anglophone activists ar20 rested in Nigeria, and ensure that any future 

21 detainees are treated with due process, in line 

22 with Cameroon’s penal code; 

23 (F) ensure that detainees are treated fairly 

24 and humanely, with proper judicial proceedings, 

25 including a registry of those detained by the 


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1 Cameroonian security forces, and with full ac2 cess to legal resources; and 

3 (G) release human rights defenders, civil 

4 society activists, political prisoners, journalists, 

5 trade unionists, teachers, and any other citizens 

6 who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained 

7 without trial or charge; and 

8 (5) urges the separatist groups to— 

9 (A) engage with regional and government 

10 officials to peacefully express grievances and 

11 credibly engage in nonviolent efforts to resolve 

12 the conflict; 

13 (B) immediately stop committing human 

14 rights abuses, including killings of civilians, tor15 ture, kidnapping, and extortion; 

16 (C) end the school boycott and immediately 

17 cease attacks on schools, teachers, and edu18 cation officials, and allow for the safe return of 

19 all students to class; and 

20 (D) immediately release all civilians ille21 gally detained or kidnapped. 

Æ 


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