page_title: July 2019 Cameroon prison riots
section_title: Kondengui
hierarchical_section_title: July 2019 Cameroon prison riots / Riots / Kondengui
caption_attribution_description: English: Police forces are deployed at the Kondengui Central Prison in Yaounde, Cameroon, July 23, 2019.
context_page_description: The Kondengui and Buea prison riots occurred on July 22 and 24, 2019, respectively. While the first riot started off as a protest against poor prison conditions and unjust detainment, the second riot was carried out in support of the former. Both riots were violently quelled by security forces, and hundreds of prisoners were transported to undisclosed locations. The fate of these prisoners and rumors of casualties during the crushing of the riots had political implications in the ongoing Anglophone Crisis, and brought international attention to the prison conditions. Following the riots, many suspected participants were subjected to torture, and were brought to court and sentenced without their lawyers present.
context_section_description: On July 22, Ambazonian detainees at Kondengui Central Prison staged a protest against the prison conditions and the war in the Anglophone regions. The protest soon escalated into a riot, with over 600 Ambazonian and Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) inmates taking over the prison yard, forcing the guards to pull out. The rioters also made a failed attempt to breach the special quarters.
  The riot was live-streamed on Facebook by several inmates. In some videos, separatist inmates could be heard singing the Ambazonian national anthem. In one video, a political prisoner from the CRM stated that "We no longer want to eat maize porridge".
  After several hours, security forces moved in to regain control of the prison yard. Shots were fired during the quelling of the riot, and some buildings were set on fire. Several prisoners were injured, and Cameroon's main opposition party claimed that four inmates had died. More than 100 inmates were moved to undisclosed locations for detention.
caption: Prisoners being transferred out of Kondengui Central Prison to undisclosed locations on July 23.
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