H. Res. 358 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

July 23, 2019. 

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; 

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 of-
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ficials 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 

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; 
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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 licenses 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 
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Whereas 10 of the 47 Cameroonians forcibly returned from 

Nigeria now face charges before a military court punishable by the death penalty, while the other 37 reportedly 

remain in detention without charge: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) strongly condemns the abuses committed in 

Cameroon’s Anglophone regions by the Government of 

Cameroon security forces and armed groups, including 

extrajudicial killings and detentions, the use of force 

against nonviolent civilians and protestors, and violations 

of the freedoms of press, expression, and assembly; 

(2) affirms that the United States continues to hold 

the Government of Cameroon responsible for upholding 

the rights of all citizens, regardless of political views or 

beliefs or the regions in which they reside, in accordance 

with Cameroon’s international obligations and Cameroon’s own Constitution; 

(3) urges all parties, including political opposition 

groups, to exercise restraint and to ensure that protests 

remain peaceful; 

(4) urges the Government of Cameroon to— 

(A) initiate broad-based dialogue without preconditions and make a credible, full faith effort to 

work with religious and community leaders in the 

Anglophone region to address grievances and seek 

nonviolent solutions to resolve conflict and constitu-
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tional reforms that would protect minority concerns, 

such as reconstituting a Federal system; 

(B) follow through on the initiatives developed 

to address grievances, including the Commission of 

Bilingualism and Multiculturalism, the Ministry of 

Decentralization, and the National Commission for 

Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration, that 

currently offer no visible evidence of having played 

a constructive role in resolving the crisis; 

(C) respect the fundamental rights of all 

Cameroonian citizens, including political activists 

and journalists; 

(D) ensure that any security operations are 

conducted in accordance with international human 

rights standards, including efforts to ensure security forces only use force under appropriate circumstances; 

(E) transparently investigate all allegations of 

human rights violations committed in the 

Anglophone regions and take the necessary measures to prevent arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, deaths in custody, and inhumane prison conditions; 

(F) promptly charge or release all those detained in the context of the Anglophone crisis, in-
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cluding the Cameroonians forcibly returned from 

Nigeria, and ensure that any future detainees are 

treated with due process, in line with Cameroon’s 

penal code; 

(G) allow unfettered access to humanitarian 

and health care workers in accordance with humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence; 

(H) release the leaders and members of the 

Cameroon Renaissance Movement party who were 

arrested following their peaceful protests, and ensure that this party, like others, can participate unfettered in upcoming municipal, parliamentary, and 

regional elections; 

(I) release human rights defenders, civil society 

activists, political prisoners, journalists, trade 

unionists, teachers, and any other citizens who have 

been arbitrarily arrested and detained without trial 

or charge; 

(J) ensure that detainees are treated fairly and 

humanely, with proper judicial proceedings, including a registry of those detained by the Cameroonian 

security forces, and with full access to legal resources; and 
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(K) ensure that Cameroon’s antiterrorism legislation is used only to prosecute offenses that 

would be considered acts of terrorism under international legal standards, and cease to use this legislation to sanction activities that are protected by 

national and international guarantees of freedom of 

expression, peaceful assembly, and association with 

others; and 

(5) urges the separatist groups to— 

(A) engage with Cameroonian government officials, as well as civil society and religious leaders, 

in a broad-based dialogue without preconditions to 

peacefully express grievances and credibly engage in 

nonviolent efforts to resolve the conflict; 

(B) immediately stop committing human rights 

abuses, including killings of civilians, use of child 

soldiers, torture, kidnapping, and extortion; 

(C) end the school boycott immediately and 

cease attacks on schools, teachers, and education officials, and allow for the safe return of all students 

to class; 

(D) end incitement to violence and hate speech 

on the part of the diaspora; and 
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(E) immediately release all civilians illegally 

detained or kidnapped in the Anglophone Northwest 

and Southwest regions. 

Attest: 

Clerk.