UNITED NATIONS GATE, November 20 -- After Paul Biya who has ruled Cameroon for 36 years lied that Transparency International was observing his re-coronation, and burned village after village in the Anglophone regions while hiring lobbyists to seek and get support from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, on October 22 he claimed to win over 71% of the vote and even that 16% of those eligible voted in the Anglophone North-West and South-West regions. None of this is credible.
Nor, in context, is Guterres' UN system's belated expressions of concern after he sold out for more than a year. On November 20 in Geneva Ravina Shamdasani a spokesperson for Michelle Bachelet the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights picked by Guterres, who has yet to criticize, chide or even cajole Guterres in any way even has he has sold out Cameroon and also had roughed up and banned for 139+ days the Press which asked and asks him why said this
Full Text: "We are deeply concerned about the worsening violence in the Southwest and Northwest regions of Cameroon, as we continue to receive reports of abductions and killings by armed groups, as well as extrajudicial killings by State armed forces. We urge all sides to refrain from acts of violence that have, for more than a year now, left the population in these regions living in fear, unable to access their basic human rights.
In addition to the high-profile abduction and subsequent release of 78 students and three staff at a Presbyterian secondary school in Bamenda, in the Northwest earlier this month, we regularly receive reports of abductions, reportedly carried out by armed secessionist groups. Just over the past two weeks, we have received reports of the abduction of eight students and one school official in Kumba, in the Southwest, and of at least 13 nuns near the locality of Bamessing – Ndop in the Northwest. They were all subsequently released, after some parents paid ransoms and the Catholic Diocese of Kumba intervened.
We have also received reports of armed secessionist groups attacking schools and destroying school buildings, which, coupled with the worrying abductions, has resulted in many children being unable to access their right to education since the violence broke out in October last year. There are also reports of the abduction and killing of police officers and administrative authorities.
Also in recent months, Cameroonian armed forces have allegedly carried out a number of extrajudicial executions in the Northwest and Southwest regions. On 20 October, in the village of Rom, in the Northwest town of Nwa, security forces reportedly killed four villagers during a confrontation with armed secessionist groups, while on 24 September, two men suspected of being secessionist fighters were reportedly killed on the spot. There have been numerous such reports in the preceding months.
What began as protests in October 2016 in the Northwest and Southwest regions against structural discrimination escalated into violence in 2017, and the situation has worsened considerably since then. The violence has led to massive internal displacement – at least 436,000 people are believed to be internally displaced, while more than 30,000 have fled to Nigeria since September last year.
We strongly condemn the human rights violations and abuses that have plagued the people in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon. We call on armed secessionists groups to refrain from the use of violence. We urge the Government to respect and protect the rights of all, to address the long-standing grievances of the communities in these regions, including through dialogue, to promptly investigate all cases of violations reportedly involving its security and defence forces, and to hold perpetrators responsible.
We also reiterate our readiness to work with the Government of Cameroon, including through an assessment mission to the Northwest and Southwest regions of the, which we have requested. This will enable us to be able to look into the human rights situation first-hand and engage with the Government accordingly on ways to address it." We'll have more on this - and on Bachelet's troubling failure to even respond on Guterres' censorship. On November 19, former UN official Helen Clark did: answering Inner City Press' question across First Avenue from the UN, she pointedly called out "the exclusion of journalists across the road." Vine; longer version here. Apparently one has to be a former UN official to say the obviouson this: that Guterres' no due process censorship is spiteful, wrong, and bad for the UN. Bachelet has yet to do anything or even answer her mail.
Guterres' UN refused through two spokesmen to respond to or even acknowledge Inner City Press' formal written question about Biya's jailing of journalist Mimi Mefo.However, even banned from "his" UN for quoting Guterres' own staff on WHY he sold out - for favors in the UN Budget Committee -- we continue to transmit the UN's statements of concern, here from UNHCR whose staffer Nadine Njoya called for "harsher repression" of Anglophones by Paul Biya and whose Deputy Volker Turk refused to answer on that, and appeared not to know there ARE any refugees from Cameroon in Nigeria: "The number of Cameroonian refugees fleeing violence and seeking refuge in Nigeria crossed the 30,000 mark this week. Refugees fleeing the South-West and North-West Regions of Cameroon have been arriving since September 2017. Almost 600 arrived in refugee settlements in the last two weeks.
Four out of every five of those registered so far are women and children, driven out after last year’s protests turned violent. They are being sheltered in Nigeria’s states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Benue and Taraba, most of them being hosted within local communities.
Most of the latest arrivals come from the Akwaya and Eyumojock sub-divisions in Cameroon. People are telling us they were ordered to leave their houses due to increasing violence in their home areas.
As official border entry points remain closed, UNHCR and its partners are present at the border areas inside Nigeria, around the most used informal access points, to assess the situation and the needs of new arrivals.
UNHCR is facilitating the voluntary relocation of refugees from the border points to the settlements of Adagom (Cross River) and Anyake (Benue), which provide better security and shelter as well as access to essential services such as food, health or education.
We are working with the Nigerian Government, through its National Commission for Refugees (NCFRMI), and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
This crisis erupted last year after protests turned violent, amid calls for secession. So far this year, some 400 civilians have been killed in escalating attacks between separatist groups and government forces, according to rights groups.
Currently, more than 9,000 Cameroonian refugees have been moved to new settlements, where they receive food as well as essential items such as mattresses, mosquito nets, stoves and cooking utensils, as well as equipment to build shelters. With bricks, timber, nails or corrugated iron sheets, they can start to rebuild a place to call home.
These settlements allow better access to critical assistance. Our partners on the ground distribute dignity kits for women and girls. These kits include, among other items, buckets, soap and towels.
In some instances, cash assistance is provided to enable refugees in the settlements to buy food directly from the markets in host communities, as those settlements are meant to facilitate the integration of those forced to flee and those welcoming them.
Despite all our efforts and those of our partners, the needs of the refugees are far from being met.
Another 21,000 refugees are currently living with host communities, in over 50 localities spread across an area of some 116,000 square kilometres.
The rainy season and harsh road conditions to remote areas makes the assistance to the refugees outside of the newly-developed settlement very difficult, with acute needs for food, shelter, water and sanitation.
Education is also one of such essential needs, with 48 per cent of the registered refugees being of school age yet out of school, for more than two years for many of them.
Inside Cameroon, access to areas affected in North West and South West is very limited. Humanitarian agencies are discussing with the government the need for improved access to the displaced population. It is estimated that some 436,000 people may be internally displaced. Together with OCHA, which coordinates the UN response in the country, we have started deploying personnel in Buea to help meet the needs of the displaced people." Some of this is dubious - Deputy Turk of UNHCR, when Inner City Press asked, did not even seem to know there ARE Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria, see below. Similarly the stories told to date about the 90 students now released do not add up. The government railed about 79 released, at a video of 11 student circulated. The parents were not allowed into the school, nor told which of their children were kidnapped and which not. Now 90 have been released, with the quiet announcement that 11 had been kidnappe earlier, on October 31. So they were the ones in the video, not the 79? The media which have not covered, or mis-covered, Biya's abuses will move on, like the UN, declaring this a victory. We'll have more on this. On November 4 Biya's forces arrested more people for protesting the fraudulent results, in Bafoussamin the West region of Cameroon denouncing what they call an “electoral hold up” by Biya. This follows arrests in Douala and Yaounde, on all of which Antonio "Traveling Man" Guterres has been characteristically silent. Nor have Guterres' spokesmen being answering Inner City Press' questions on Cameroon including this on November 6: "November 6-1: On Cameroon, first please immediately now five days after ASG Ursula Mueller's Nov 1 presentation (at the Norway Mission) about Cameroon provide a copy or summary of her remarks. Second, what is the SG's knowledge of, comment and action on, the reporting kidnapping of students in Anglophone Cameroon, with the kidnappers caught saying 'tu perds ton temps'?"
In addition to the high-profile abduction and subsequent release of 78 students and three staff at a Presbyterian secondary school in Bamenda, in the Northwest earlier this month, we regularly receive reports of abductions, reportedly carried out by armed secessionist groups. Just over the past two weeks, we have received reports of the abduction of eight students and one school official in Kumba, in the Southwest, and of at least 13 nuns near the locality of Bamessing – Ndop in the Northwest. They were all subsequently released, after some parents paid ransoms and the Catholic Diocese of Kumba intervened.
We have also received reports of armed secessionist groups attacking schools and destroying school buildings, which, coupled with the worrying abductions, has resulted in many children being unable to access their right to education since the violence broke out in October last year. There are also reports of the abduction and killing of police officers and administrative authorities.
Also in recent months, Cameroonian armed forces have allegedly carried out a number of extrajudicial executions in the Northwest and Southwest regions. On 20 October, in the village of Rom, in the Northwest town of Nwa, security forces reportedly killed four villagers during a confrontation with armed secessionist groups, while on 24 September, two men suspected of being secessionist fighters were reportedly killed on the spot. There have been numerous such reports in the preceding months.
What began as protests in October 2016 in the Northwest and Southwest regions against structural discrimination escalated into violence in 2017, and the situation has worsened considerably since then. The violence has led to massive internal displacement – at least 436,000 people are believed to be internally displaced, while more than 30,000 have fled to Nigeria since September last year.
We strongly condemn the human rights violations and abuses that have plagued the people in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon. We call on armed secessionists groups to refrain from the use of violence. We urge the Government to respect and protect the rights of all, to address the long-standing grievances of the communities in these regions, including through dialogue, to promptly investigate all cases of violations reportedly involving its security and defence forces, and to hold perpetrators responsible.
We also reiterate our readiness to work with the Government of Cameroon, including through an assessment mission to the Northwest and Southwest regions of the, which we have requested. This will enable us to be able to look into the human rights situation first-hand and engage with the Government accordingly on ways to address it." We'll have more on this - and on Bachelet's troubling failure to even respond on Guterres' censorship. On November 19, former UN official Helen Clark did: answering Inner City Press' question across First Avenue from the UN, she pointedly called out "the exclusion of journalists across the road." Vine; longer version here. Apparently one has to be a former UN official to say the obviouson this: that Guterres' no due process censorship is spiteful, wrong, and bad for the UN. Bachelet has yet to do anything or even answer her mail.
Guterres' UN refused through two spokesmen to respond to or even acknowledge Inner City Press' formal written question about Biya's jailing of journalist Mimi Mefo.However, even banned from "his" UN for quoting Guterres' own staff on WHY he sold out - for favors in the UN Budget Committee -- we continue to transmit the UN's statements of concern, here from UNHCR whose staffer Nadine Njoya called for "harsher repression" of Anglophones by Paul Biya and whose Deputy Volker Turk refused to answer on that, and appeared not to know there ARE any refugees from Cameroon in Nigeria: "The number of Cameroonian refugees fleeing violence and seeking refuge in Nigeria crossed the 30,000 mark this week. Refugees fleeing the South-West and North-West Regions of Cameroon have been arriving since September 2017. Almost 600 arrived in refugee settlements in the last two weeks.
Four out of every five of those registered so far are women and children, driven out after last year’s protests turned violent. They are being sheltered in Nigeria’s states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Benue and Taraba, most of them being hosted within local communities.
Most of the latest arrivals come from the Akwaya and Eyumojock sub-divisions in Cameroon. People are telling us they were ordered to leave their houses due to increasing violence in their home areas.
As official border entry points remain closed, UNHCR and its partners are present at the border areas inside Nigeria, around the most used informal access points, to assess the situation and the needs of new arrivals.
UNHCR is facilitating the voluntary relocation of refugees from the border points to the settlements of Adagom (Cross River) and Anyake (Benue), which provide better security and shelter as well as access to essential services such as food, health or education.
We are working with the Nigerian Government, through its National Commission for Refugees (NCFRMI), and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
This crisis erupted last year after protests turned violent, amid calls for secession. So far this year, some 400 civilians have been killed in escalating attacks between separatist groups and government forces, according to rights groups.
Currently, more than 9,000 Cameroonian refugees have been moved to new settlements, where they receive food as well as essential items such as mattresses, mosquito nets, stoves and cooking utensils, as well as equipment to build shelters. With bricks, timber, nails or corrugated iron sheets, they can start to rebuild a place to call home.
These settlements allow better access to critical assistance. Our partners on the ground distribute dignity kits for women and girls. These kits include, among other items, buckets, soap and towels.
In some instances, cash assistance is provided to enable refugees in the settlements to buy food directly from the markets in host communities, as those settlements are meant to facilitate the integration of those forced to flee and those welcoming them.
Despite all our efforts and those of our partners, the needs of the refugees are far from being met.
Another 21,000 refugees are currently living with host communities, in over 50 localities spread across an area of some 116,000 square kilometres.
The rainy season and harsh road conditions to remote areas makes the assistance to the refugees outside of the newly-developed settlement very difficult, with acute needs for food, shelter, water and sanitation.
Education is also one of such essential needs, with 48 per cent of the registered refugees being of school age yet out of school, for more than two years for many of them.
Inside Cameroon, access to areas affected in North West and South West is very limited. Humanitarian agencies are discussing with the government the need for improved access to the displaced population. It is estimated that some 436,000 people may be internally displaced. Together with OCHA, which coordinates the UN response in the country, we have started deploying personnel in Buea to help meet the needs of the displaced people." Some of this is dubious - Deputy Turk of UNHCR, when Inner City Press asked, did not even seem to know there ARE Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria, see below. Similarly the stories told to date about the 90 students now released do not add up. The government railed about 79 released, at a video of 11 student circulated. The parents were not allowed into the school, nor told which of their children were kidnapped and which not. Now 90 have been released, with the quiet announcement that 11 had been kidnappe earlier, on October 31. So they were the ones in the video, not the 79? The media which have not covered, or mis-covered, Biya's abuses will move on, like the UN, declaring this a victory. We'll have more on this. On November 4 Biya's forces arrested more people for protesting the fraudulent results, in Bafoussamin the West region of Cameroon denouncing what they call an “electoral hold up” by Biya. This follows arrests in Douala and Yaounde, on all of which Antonio "Traveling Man" Guterres has been characteristically silent. Nor have Guterres' spokesmen being answering Inner City Press' questions on Cameroon including this on November 6: "November 6-1: On Cameroon, first please immediately now five days after ASG Ursula Mueller's Nov 1 presentation (at the Norway Mission) about Cameroon provide a copy or summary of her remarks. Second, what is the SG's knowledge of, comment and action on, the reporting kidnapping of students in Anglophone Cameroon, with the kidnappers caught saying 'tu perds ton temps'?"
Dujarric's Deputy emailed banned Inner City Press: "Regarding your first question, we have just issued the following statement:
The Secretary-General condemns the reported kidnapping on 5 November of students and staff from a secondary school in Bamenda, North-West region of Cameroon. He calls for their immediate release and return to their homes and families. There can be no justification for these crimes against civilians, particularly minors.
The Secretary-General reiterates the need for a peaceful solution to the crisis in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon through an inclusive dialogue process. The United Nations stands ready to assist in this regard.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General
New York, 6 November 2018" So what about that French? No answer. Now the issue will be pushed behind, with the release of 90 and not the state 79 students. Nor did the UN inform Inner City Press, despite its questions, that Guterres' Ursula Mueller, who previously visited Cameroon without going to the Anglophone areas (Inner City Press asked her why, before being roughed up andbanned), had given a November 1 briefing a Norway's mission to the UN on 50th Street, leaked invitation here. We will ask the UN about this, even amid Guterres' ongoing censorship of Press. Should we expect a UN statement on students kisnapped or taken hostage? Who would draft it? Watch this site. On November 2 Inner City Press asked the deputy of the UN refugee agency UNHCR Volker Turk about the refoulement of AyukTabe and 46 others from Nigeria, the Cameroonian refugees and the UNHCR staffer who previously called online for harsher repression by Biya. Video here. Troublingly, Volker first responded about only the Far North of Cameroon, then implied that displaced Anglophones all remain inside Cameroon and not in deplorable conditions across the border in Nigeria, from which some were illegally returned. He did not answer the question about UNHCR's own staffer, whom will therefore name: Nadine Njoya. How is this acceptable? The UN of Antonio Guterres remains silent, including the the face of multiple questions from the Press (which Guterres has banned) as journalists and peaceful protesters, bystanders and perceived opponents are arrested. On the morning of October 29 Inner City Press in writing asked Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, "October 29-3: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action on the government's arrests of peaceful protesters in Douala, Yaounde and elsewhere over the weekend?" Now on October 30, no answer at all, while Dujarric is tweeting his photos from a ferry to the Upper East Side and blockingthe Press. On November 2 when, after questioning UNHCR's Turk Inner City Press asked Dujarric if Guterres has congratulated Biya, Dujarric said "I don't know" and biked away. Video here, looped 6-second Vine here. Guterres has gone for four days on the UN's and public's dime to his real home in Lisbon, for a speech with little to do with the UN and a dubious award. We'll have more on this. Among the journalists outrageously locked up by Biya: ElvisMcCarthy, Thomas Awah Junior, Tsi Conrad andMancho Bibixy; quickly added to by the detentions of Michel Biem Tong and Mathias Mouenda Ngamo. Then again, Guterres and Dujarric (and others) worked to have Inner City Press which asks them about Cameroon and corruption roughed up, twice, and now banned from the UN for 118 days from noon briefing in which, for days, no one let it ask anything about anything in Africa, much less Cameroon. The UN of Guterres and Dujarric is corrupt. We'll have more on this - and this: here are just some of Inner City Press questions to Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, which USG Alison Smale promised UNSR David A. Kaye would be answered - but not a single one has: "October 22-1: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action on... the surrounding of Kah Walla's house by police, the slowing / shut off of Facebook and WhatsApp, etc? What is his comment on Obiang of Equatorial Guinea having congratulated Biya on re-election 2 days before the results?
October 23-1: On Cameroon, does the SG agree that there were “irregularities in the re-election” of Paul Biya? Again, what is his comment on the government's false claim that Transparency International observed the election? Does he think the reported turn-out and results in the Anglophone regions are credible? Where IS Francois Fall? When is the last time he was in Cameroon?
October 24-1: On Cameroon, beyond the unanswered questions below, what is the SG's comment and action on the arrest of journalist Michele Biem Tong? In terms of corruption and the credibility of the Oct 7 election, what is the SG's comment and action on “Cameroon’s government has issued a public tender for the construction of a new residence for the president of the Constitutional Council, the same legal body that just two days ago announced the re-election of long-time President Paul Biya”?
No answers, just a reiterate that Guterres has put Inner City Press on a permanently banned list that the UN will not disclose, under Global Censor Alison Smale. We'll have more on this.
The Secretary-General condemns the reported kidnapping on 5 November of students and staff from a secondary school in Bamenda, North-West region of Cameroon. He calls for their immediate release and return to their homes and families. There can be no justification for these crimes against civilians, particularly minors.
The Secretary-General reiterates the need for a peaceful solution to the crisis in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon through an inclusive dialogue process. The United Nations stands ready to assist in this regard.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General
New York, 6 November 2018" So what about that French? No answer. Now the issue will be pushed behind, with the release of 90 and not the state 79 students. Nor did the UN inform Inner City Press, despite its questions, that Guterres' Ursula Mueller, who previously visited Cameroon without going to the Anglophone areas (Inner City Press asked her why, before being roughed up andbanned), had given a November 1 briefing a Norway's mission to the UN on 50th Street, leaked invitation here. We will ask the UN about this, even amid Guterres' ongoing censorship of Press. Should we expect a UN statement on students kisnapped or taken hostage? Who would draft it? Watch this site. On November 2 Inner City Press asked the deputy of the UN refugee agency UNHCR Volker Turk about the refoulement of AyukTabe and 46 others from Nigeria, the Cameroonian refugees and the UNHCR staffer who previously called online for harsher repression by Biya. Video here. Troublingly, Volker first responded about only the Far North of Cameroon, then implied that displaced Anglophones all remain inside Cameroon and not in deplorable conditions across the border in Nigeria, from which some were illegally returned. He did not answer the question about UNHCR's own staffer, whom will therefore name: Nadine Njoya. How is this acceptable? The UN of Antonio Guterres remains silent, including the the face of multiple questions from the Press (which Guterres has banned) as journalists and peaceful protesters, bystanders and perceived opponents are arrested. On the morning of October 29 Inner City Press in writing asked Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, "October 29-3: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action on the government's arrests of peaceful protesters in Douala, Yaounde and elsewhere over the weekend?" Now on October 30, no answer at all, while Dujarric is tweeting his photos from a ferry to the Upper East Side and blockingthe Press. On November 2 when, after questioning UNHCR's Turk Inner City Press asked Dujarric if Guterres has congratulated Biya, Dujarric said "I don't know" and biked away. Video here, looped 6-second Vine here. Guterres has gone for four days on the UN's and public's dime to his real home in Lisbon, for a speech with little to do with the UN and a dubious award. We'll have more on this. Among the journalists outrageously locked up by Biya: ElvisMcCarthy, Thomas Awah Junior, Tsi Conrad andMancho Bibixy; quickly added to by the detentions of Michel Biem Tong and Mathias Mouenda Ngamo. Then again, Guterres and Dujarric (and others) worked to have Inner City Press which asks them about Cameroon and corruption roughed up, twice, and now banned from the UN for 118 days from noon briefing in which, for days, no one let it ask anything about anything in Africa, much less Cameroon. The UN of Guterres and Dujarric is corrupt. We'll have more on this - and this: here are just some of Inner City Press questions to Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, which USG Alison Smale promised UNSR David A. Kaye would be answered - but not a single one has: "October 22-1: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action on... the surrounding of Kah Walla's house by police, the slowing / shut off of Facebook and WhatsApp, etc? What is his comment on Obiang of Equatorial Guinea having congratulated Biya on re-election 2 days before the results?
October 23-1: On Cameroon, does the SG agree that there were “irregularities in the re-election” of Paul Biya? Again, what is his comment on the government's false claim that Transparency International observed the election? Does he think the reported turn-out and results in the Anglophone regions are credible? Where IS Francois Fall? When is the last time he was in Cameroon?
October 24-1: On Cameroon, beyond the unanswered questions below, what is the SG's comment and action on the arrest of journalist Michele Biem Tong? In terms of corruption and the credibility of the Oct 7 election, what is the SG's comment and action on “Cameroon’s government has issued a public tender for the construction of a new residence for the president of the Constitutional Council, the same legal body that just two days ago announced the re-election of long-time President Paul Biya”?
No answers, just a reiterate that Guterres has put Inner City Press on a permanently banned list that the UN will not disclose, under Global Censor Alison Smale. We'll have more on this.
Major countries' business with Biya continues, not only from Biya's long time supporter France but also the UK's New Age natural gas deal of which Minister Liam Fox bragged. UK Minister for Africa Harriett Baldwin was asked about her congratulations to Biya and doubled down, calling it a "new" government. After 36 years, what's new about it? Now another journalist has been arrested, according to multiple credible souces: Mathias Mouene Ngamo. And from the UN, where banned Inner City Press asks SG Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, no answer, despite the promises of USG Alison Smale. This while Inner City Press appeal of the FCO's withholding of Cameroon information remains pending with the Information Commissioner's Office and another request, on collusion in censorship, pends.
