IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 358 

Calling on the Government of Cameroon and armed groups to respect the 

human rights of all Cameroonian citizens, to end all violence, and to 

pursue a broad-based dialogue without preconditions to resolve the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2019 

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

Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. MEADOWS, Ms. OMAR, and Mr. WRIGHT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the Government of Cameroon and armed groups 

to respect the human rights of all Cameroonian citizens, 

to end all violence, and to pursue a broad-based dialogue 

without preconditions to resolve the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions. 

Whereas many Anglophone Cameroonians have long felt 

marginalized by official actions and policies of the Government of Cameroon, including the abolishment of a federal form of government, which was the constitutional 

basis under which English-speaking Southern Cameroons 

entered into the union, and replacing it with a unitary 

state dominated by the Francophone majority; 


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•HRES 358 IH 

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, 

teachers, lawyers, and an Anglophone judge on the country’s Supreme Court; 

Whereas the conflict escalated in late September and early 

October 2017, when Cameroonian security forces brutally 

cracked down on peaceful Anglophone civilian demonstrators, resulting in dozens of deaths and leaving over 100 

injured; 

Whereas, in 2017, separatists launched a campaign to pressure school officials in the Northwest and Southwest 

Anglophone regions to go on strike as part of a boycott 

against the Government of Cameroon, and reportedly 

began burning school buildings, threatening education officials with violence if they did not comply with a boycott, 

and kidnapping for ransom children and teachers who defied the boycott; 

Whereas numerous human rights monitors have documented 

armed separatists killing traditional leaders and targeting 

civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, who 

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

separatists have killed scores of security force personnel; 

Whereas the security forces of the Government of Cameroon 

have attacked medical facilities and health workers in the 

Northwest and Southwest regions; 

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

for Human Rights, have documented the excessive use of 


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•HRES 358 IH 

force by government security forces against Cameroonian 

civilians living in the Anglophone regions, including the 

burning of villages, the use of live ammunition against 

protestors, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, sexual 

abuse, and killing of civilians, including women, children, 

and the elderly; 

Whereas the Department of State has expressed serious concern over the manner in which the government has used 

force to unlawfully restrict the rights to free expression 

and peaceful protest that are protected under the 

Cameroonian Constitution and international law; 

Whereas the government has charged journalists, social activists, and members of political opposition parties with terrorism-related crimes and prosecuted them in military 

tribunals; 

Whereas the Government of Cameroon arrested opposition 

leader Maurice Kamto and roughly 150 members of the 

Cameroon Renaissance Movement party following peaceful protests on January 26, 2019, charging them with 

crimes that could result in the death penalty and handling their cases at the Military Tribunal even though 

they are civilians; 

Whereas the Government of Cameroon continued to place 

bans on Cameroon Renaissance Movement’s attempts to 

hold peaceful protests, and civil society reported that security forces interfered with MRC registration processes 

in Yaounde ́, Douala, and Bafoussam in February 2019; 

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

internet, harassing and detaining journalists, refusing liVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR358.IH HR358

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•HRES 358 IH 

censes to independent media, and intensifying political 

attacks against the independent press; 

Whereas the United Nations Office for the Coordination of 

Humanitarian Affairs stated in April 2019 that more 

than 530,000 people were internally displaced in areas 

affected by the Anglophone conflict; 

Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that more than 32,000 

Cameroonian refugees have registered in Nigeria; 

Whereas the Department of State has expressly called on the 

Government of Cameroon to respect the rights, including 

the right to due process, of 47 Cameroonians forcibly returned in January 2018 from Nigerian custody to 

Cameroonian authorities, many of whom had reportedly 

submitted asylum claims in Nigeria; and 

Whereas ten of the 47 Cameroonians forcibly returned from 

Nigeria now face charges before a military court punishable by the death penalty, while the other thirty-seven reportedly remain in detention without charge: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) strongly condemns the abuses committed in 

3 Cameroon’s Anglophone regions by the Government 

4 of Cameroon security forces and armed groups, in5 cluding extrajudicial killings and detentions, the use 

6 of force against nonviolent civilians and protestors, 

7 and violations of the freedoms of press, expression, 

8 and assembly; 


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1 (2) affirms that the United States continues to 

2 hold the Government of Cameroon responsible for 

3 upholding the rights of all citizens, regardless of po4 litical views or beliefs or the regions in which they 

5 reside, in accordance with Cameroon’s international 

6 obligations and Cameroon’s own Constitution; 

7 (3) urges all parties, including political opposi8 tion groups, to exercise restraint and to ensure that 

9 protests remain peaceful; 

10 (4) urges the Government of Cameroon to— 

11 (A) initiate broad-based dialogue without 

12 preconditions and make a credible, full faith ef13 fort to work with religious and community lead14 ers in the Anglophone region to address griev15 ances and seek nonviolent solutions to resolve 

16 conflict and constitutional reforms that would 

17 protect minority concerns, such as reconsti18 tuting a Federal system; 

19 (B) follow through on the initiatives devel20 oped to address grievances, including the Com21 mission of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism, 

22 the Ministry of Decentralization, and the Na23 tional Commission for Disarmament, Demobili24 zation, Reintegration, that currently offer no 


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1 visible evidence of having played a constructive 

2 role in resolving the crisis; 

3 (C) respect the fundamental rights of all 

4 Cameroonian citizens, including political activ5 ists and journalists; 

6 (D) ensure that any security operations 

7 are conducted in accordance with international 

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

11 (E) transparently investigate all allegations 

12 of human rights violations committed in the 

13 Anglophone regions and take the necessary 

14 measures to prevent arbitrary detention, tor15 ture, enforced disappearances, deaths in cus16 tody, and inhumane prison conditions; 

17 (F) promptly charge or release all those 

18 detained in the context of the Anglophone cri19 sis, including the Cameroonians forcibly re20 turned from Nigeria, and ensure that any fu21 ture detainees are treated with due process, in 

22 line with Cameroon’s penal code; 

23 (G) allow unfettered access to humani24 tarian and health care workers in accordance 


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1 with humanitarian principles of humanity, neu2 trality, impartiality, and independence; 

3 (H) release the leaders and members of the 

4 Cameroon Renaissance Movement party who 

5 were arrested following their peaceful protests, 

6 and ensure that this party, like others, can par7 ticipate unfettered in upcoming municipal, par8 liamentary, and regional elections; 

9 (I) release human rights defenders, civil 

10 society activists, political prisoners, journalists, 

11 trade unionists, teachers, and any other citizens 

12 who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained 

13 without trial or charge; 

14 (J) ensure that detainees are treated fairly 

15 and humanely, with proper judicial proceedings, 

16 including a registry of those detained by the 

17 Cameroonian security forces, and with full ac18 cess to legal resources; and 

19 (K) ensure that Cameroon’s antiterrorism 

20 legislation is used only to prosecute offenses 

21 that would be considered acts of terrorism 

22 under international legal standards, and cease 

23 to use this legislation to sanction activities that 

24 are protected by national and international 


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1 guarantees of freedom of expression, peaceful 

2 assembly, and association with others; and 

3 (5) urges the separatist groups to— 

4 (A) engage with Cameroonian government 

5 officials, as well as civil society and religious 

6 leaders, in a broad-based dialogue without pre7 conditions to peacefully express grievances and 

8 credibly engage in nonviolent efforts to resolve 

9 the conflict; 

10 (B) immediately stop committing human 

11 rights abuses, including killings of civilians, use 

12 of child soldiers, torture, kidnapping, and extor13 tion; 

14 (C) end the school boycott immediately and 

15 cease attacks on schools, teachers, and edu16 cation officials, and allow for the safe return of 

17 all students to class; 

18 (D) end incitement to violence and hate 

19 speech on the part of the diaspora; and 

20 (E) immediately release all civilians ille21 gally detained or kidnapped in the Anglophone 

22 Northwest and Southwest regions. 

Æ 


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