Title: A resolution calling on the Government of Cameroon, armed separatist groups, and all citizens to respect human rights and adopt nonviolent approaches to conflict resolution.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Urges all parties to the conflict in Cameroon to agree to an immediate ceasefire, allow for unfettered humanitarian assistance, and engage in an inclusive dialogue with civil society to achieve a political solution to the conflict. Also strongly condemns abuses committed by both the government and opposition groups.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 733 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 733

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 19, 2018

  Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Young, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Coons, Mr. 
    Markey, Mr. Booker, and Ms. Klobuchar) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               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 the Government of Cameroon has repeatedly restricted freedoms of 
        expression nationwide by shutting down the internet, harassing and 
        detaining journalists, refusing licenses to independent media, and 
        intensifying political attacks against the independent press;
Whereas, following Cameroon's October 7, 2018, elections, the African Union 
        Election Observation Mission stated that ``the current framework needs 
        to be strengthened in order to safeguard the democratic principles of 
        separation of powers, fairness, and independence and impartiality,'' 
        which the Department of State echoed, emphasizing the need to ``respect 
        the rule of law, resolve peacefully any disputes through established 
        legal channels, and avoid hate speech''.
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 journalists and lawyers;
Whereas, in January 2017, the Government of Cameroon ordered the suspension of 
        Internet services in the Northwest and Southwest 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 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 at least 20 people dying and 
        leaving over 100 injured;
Whereas, in 2017, armed separatist groups 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 groups killing traditional 
        leaders and targeting civilians who are perceived to be supporting or 
        working with the Government of Cameroon, and reports indicate that armed 
        militants have killed 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 of Cameroon security forces against 
        Cameroonians living in the Anglophone regions, including the burning of 
        villages, the use of live ammunition against protestors, arbitrary 
        arrest and detention, torture, and sexual abuse;
Whereas the Department of State has expressed serious concern over the 
        Government of Cameroon's use of force to restrict free expression, and 
        the use of violence against individuals protesting the Government's 
        policies in the Anglophone regions;
Whereas both the Government of Cameroon security forces and armed groups have 
        been documented targeting and brutally killing civilians in the 
        Anglophone regions, including women and children;
Whereas United States citizen Charles Wesco was senselessly killed near the town 
        of Bamenda, Cameroon, on October 30, 2018, after being caught in what 
        the Department of State has characterized as ``cross fire'';
Whereas the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
        stated in November 2018 that at least 437,000 people were internally 
        displaced in areas affected by the Anglophone conflict;
Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported 
        that it had registered more than 29,000 Cameroonian refugees from the 
        Anglophone regions in Nigeria as of late October 2018;
Whereas 47 Anglophone activists were forcibly returned from Nigerian custody to 
        Cameroonian authorities, despite many having reportedly submitted asylum 
        claims in Nigeria; and
Whereas 10 of the 47 individuals forcibly returned from Nigeria now face charges 
        punishable by the death penalty, while the other 37 reportedly remain in 
        detention without charge: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) urges all parties to the conflict in Cameroon, 
        including political opposition groups, to-
                    (A) agree to an immediate ceasefire;
                    (B) allow for unfettered humanitarian assistance;
                    (C) exercise restraint and ensure that protests 
                remain peaceful; and
                    (D) engage in inclusive dialogue with civil society 
                to get to a political solution that respects the rights 
                and freedoms of the people of Cameroon;
            (2) strongly condemns the abuses committed by the 
        Government of Cameroon, security forces, and armed separatist 
        groups in the Anglophone regions, including extrajudicial 
        killings and detentions, the use of force against nonviolent 
        civilians and protestors, and violations of the freedoms of 
        press, expression, and assembly;
            (3) affirms that the United States Government 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;
            (4) urges the Government of Cameroon to--
                    (A) initiate a credible, inclusive, good, and full 
                faith effort to work with religious and community 
                leaders in the Anglophone region to engage in 
                meaningful dialogue and address grievances and seek 
                nonviolent solutions to resolve the conflict, including 
                possibly involving an independent mediator in such 
                negotiations;
                    (B) respect the fundamental rights of all 
                Cameroonian citizens, including political activists and 
                journalists;
                    (C) 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;
                    (D) 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;
                    (E) to promote the rule of law through more 
                transparent accountability mechanisms;
                    (F) promptly charge or release all those detained 
                in the context of the Anglophone crisis, including all 
                Anglophone activists arrested in Nigeria, and ensure 
                that any future detainees are treated with due process, 
                in accordance with Cameroon's penal code and 
                international human rights norms;
                    (G) 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;
                    (H) 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; and
                    (I) work with United States law enforcement to 
                thoroughly investigate and prosecute Charles Wesco's 
                murder; and
            (5) urges the separatist groups in Anglophone areas to--
                    (A) engage with government officials 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, torture, 
                kidnapping, and extortion;
                    (C) end the school boycott and immediately cease 
                attacks on schools, teachers, and education officials, 
                and allow for the safe return of all students to class; 
                and
                    (D) immediately release all civilians illegally 
                detained or kidnapped.
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