Title: Strongly condemning ongoing violence and human rights abuses stemming from Cameroon's Anglophone crisis.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution strongly condemns the government of Cameroon's abuses in the country's Anglophone regions, including the use of violence and violations of press freedoms. It urges the government to initiate dialogues with separatist groups and civil society, follow through on initiatives developed to address various grievances, and comply with international human rights standards. The resolution also urges separatist groups to immediately stop committing human rights abuses and end their incitement of violence and hate speech.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 895 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 895

 Strongly condemning ongoing violence and human rights abuses stemming 
                   from Cameroon's Anglophone crisis.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 1, 2022

Ms. Bass submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Strongly condemning ongoing violence and human rights abuses stemming 
                   from Cameroon's Anglophone crisis.

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, since 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 have 
        been reportedly--

    (1) burning, damaging, looting, and destroying school buildings;

    (2) killing, beating, abducting, threatening, and terrorizing students 
and educational professionals with violence if they did not comply with a 
boycott;

    (3) harassing and intimidating families into keeping their children out 
of school; and

    (4) kidnapping for ransom children and teachers who defied the boycott 
in various schools, such as Kumbo (Bui division), Fundong (Boyo division) 
and Limbe (Fako division);

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 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 of Cameroon 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 of Cameroon has charged journalists, social activists, 
        and members of political opposition parties with terrorism-related 
        crimes and prosecuted them in military tribunals;
Whereas the indiscriminate nature of violent clashes between Cameroonian 
        security forces and separatist groups often results in the death of 
        innocent bystanders, including American missionary Charles Wesco, who 
        was killed in October 2018 by crossfire in the Northwestern city of 
        Bamenda;
Whereas the Government of Cameroon arrested over 500 members and supporters of 
        the opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) following peaceful 
        protests in September 2020, and allegedly subjected many detainees to 
        harsh and inhumane detention conditions, including isolated 
        imprisonment, denial of access to lawyers, and physical abuse;
Whereas over 100 of those arrested in late 2020 remain in detention, including 
        47 sentenced to prison in December 2021;
Whereas the Government of Cameroon continued to place bans on MRC'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 High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that as of 
        December 2021, more than 575,500 people were internally displaced in 
        areas affected by the Anglophone conflict, and there were an additional 
        383,500 returnees to the Northwest and Southwest regions;
Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports 
        that roughly 72,000 Cameroonian refugees have registered in Nigeria;
Whereas, on July 23, 2019, the House of Representatives unanimously passed House 
        Resolution 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;
Whereas, effective January 1, 2020, the Trump Administration terminated 
        Cameroon's eligibility for African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) 
        benefits, citing deep concerns over ``persistent gross violations of 
        human rights being committed by the Cameroonian government against its 
        own citizens'';
Whereas, on June 7, 2021, the United States responded to continued conflict in 
        Cameroon by imposing visa restrictions on individuals undermining the 
        peaceful resolution of the ongoing crisis;
Whereas a prominent Cameroonian lawyer and opposition member of the senate, 
        Henry Kemende was shot dead by suspected separatist fighters in the city 
        of Bamenda on January 11, 2022; and
Whereas multiple brutal massacres have taken place and allegations of rape and 
        gross violations of internationally recognized human rights continue, 
        and as of December 2021, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 
        4,000 lives have been lost during the crisis since late 2016: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) continues to strongly condemn 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) reaffirms that the United States has held and 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) reiterates its call to all parties, including political 
        opposition groups, to immediately exercise restraint and to 
        ensure that protests remain peaceful;
            (4) continues to urge 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 regions to address grievances and seek 
                nonviolent solutions to resolve conflict and 
                constitutional 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 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 and ensure that 
                any future detainees are treated with due process, in 
                accordance 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 future 
                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 and medical 
                resources; and
                    (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;
            (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, and to 
                hold those responsible for such actions accountable;
                    (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
                    (E) immediately release all civilians illegally 
                detained or kidnapped in the Anglophone Northwest and 
                Southwest regions; and
            (6) urges the Secretary of State to hold individuals 
        accountable for gross violations of internationally recognized 
        human rights and for perpetuating the conflict in the Northwest 
        and Southwest regions of Cameroon.
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