IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 503 

Condemning the actions taken by the Government of Cameroon against Henry 

Fossung and others, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 19, 2005 

Mr. MCCOTTER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on International Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the actions taken by the Government of Cameroon against Henry Fossung and others, and for other 

purposes. 

Whereas Henry Fossung is a highly regarded statesman and 

national chairman of the Southern Cameroons National 

Council, the motto of which is ‘‘The Force of Argument, 

Not the Argument of Force’’; 

Whereas Henry Fossung served as Cameroon’s ambassador 

to the Central Africa Republic, Chad Republic, Liberia, 

Guinea, and Sierra Leone; 

Whereas Ambassador Fossung is highly educated, with a 

masters degree in international law/relations from the 

American University in Washington, D.C. and degrees 

from Blackstone School of Law, Johns Hopkins University, and the Institute of Higher Overseas Studies, and 
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has lectured at Brown University, among other notable 

institutions; 

Whereas Ambassador Fossung has served on numerous international committees and conferences, including the 

United Nations Committee on Disarmament and Law of 

the Sea, has countless decorations and honors to his 

credit, and has authored several books and articles; 

Whereas on January 15, 2005, under the direction of the Divisional Officer for Buea and the Provincial Delegate for 

National Security, more than 200 members of the Government of the Republic of Cameroon’s militia and police 

surrounded, fired their weapons at, and invaded the residence of Ambassador Fossung and arrested Ambassador 

Fossung and his houseguests, including women who were 

cooking food at the time, a 2-year-old toddler, and elderly 

and disabled individuals; 

Whereas Ambassador Fossung and his guests were taken into 

custody and detained in a government facility for up to 

2 days; 

Whereas the Divisional Officer told Ambassador Fossung 

that he was arrested for hosting a gathering of more 

than 2 people without permission from the Government 

of the Republic of Cameroon; 

Whereas there was no warrant of criminal charges issued to 

Ambassador Fossung or the others arrested; 

Whereas 6 members of the militia knocked Ambassador 

Fossung to the ground, stripped him naked, and dragged 

and kicked him, causing severe injury, including a permanent injury to his left eye, a fractured ankle, and head 

and groin injuries; 
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Whereas several of the other detainees were also beaten or 

mistreated; 

Whereas Ambassador Fossung and his guests were held in 2 

small cells with over 50 other prisoners, with no drinking 

water and no toilet, and were denied medical treatment 

and food for up to 11⁄2 days; 

Whereas Ambassador Fossung’s residence was vandalized and 

looted by the militia and police and thousands of copies 

of books and other writings were seized and destroyed, 

while Ambassador Fossung and his family were held 

against their will; 

Whereas the militia and police confiscated money, jewelry, 

and ball-point pens belonging to the detainees, and extorted bribes from visitors attempting to bring food to 

the detainees; 

Whereas Ambassador Fossung’s dog also fell victim to the 

brutality of the militia and police; 

Whereas these actions of the Government of the Republic of 

Cameroon constitute gross and reprehensible violations of 

international law and basic human rights; 

Whereas the Government of the Republic of Cameroon continues to harass and intimidate Ambassador Fossung and 

members of the Southern Cameroons National Council 

and to purge the country of all political dissent; 

Whereas any citizen of the Republic of Cameroon who dares 

to speak critically of the reigning government lives in fear 

of persecution, torture, and assassination; and 

Whereas there are numerous documented accounts of citizens 

of the Republic of Cameroon being imprisoned, beaten, 

and murdered for political reasons: Now, therefore, be it 
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1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) strongly condemns the actions taken by the 

3 Government of the Republic of Cameroon against 

4 Ambassador Henry Fossung, his family, his house 

5 guests, and the members of the Southern Cameroons 

6 National Council; 

7 (2) affirms that the United States continues to 

8 hold the Government of the Republic of Cameroon 

9 responsible for upholding all the rights of its citizens 

10 and nationals, regardless of political views or beliefs; 

11 (3) urges the Government of the Republic of 

12 Cameroon to extend to all Cameroon’s citizens, in13 cluding political dissidents, Ambassador Fossung, 

14 and the Southern Cameroons National Council, the 

15 rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of 

16 Human Rights of the United Nations and other 

17 international covenants on human rights, including 

18 the freedoms of thought, conscience, and religion 

19 and equal protection of the law; 

20 (4) calls upon the President of the United 

21 States to continue to— 

22 (A) assert the concerns of the United 

23 States Government regarding violations by the 

24 Government of the Republic of Cameroon of the 

25 rights of Cameroon’s citizens, including Ambas-
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1 sador Fossung and members of the Southern 

2 Cameroons National Council; 

3 (B) emphasize that the United States re4 gards the human rights practices of the Govern5 ment of the Republic of Cameroon, including its 

6 treatment of political dissidents such as Ambas7 sador Fossung and innocent civilians, as having 

8 a negative impact on the relations between the 

9 United States and the Republic of Cameroon; 

10 (C) urge the Government of the Republic 

11 of Cameroon to emancipate members of the 

12 Southern Cameroons National Council by 

13 granting those rights guaranteed by the Uni14 versal Declaration of Human Rights of the 

15 United Nations and other international cov16 enants on human rights; 

17 (D) cooperate with international organiza18 tions, including the United Nations and its 

19 agencies, in efforts to protect the human rights 

20 of freedom of thought and speech of all citizens 

21 and nationals of Cameroon, through joint ap22 peals to the Government of the Republic of 

23 Cameroon; and 

24 (E) initiate an active and consistent dia25 logue with other governments that are influen-
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1 tial with the Government of the Republic of 

2 Cameroon in order to persuade that government 

3 to rectify its human rights practices. 

Æ