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The Cameroonian authorities should promptly and independently investigate the beatings and mistreatment of 59 opposition supporters – including six women – during interrogations before the State Defense Ministry. (SED), said today Amnesty International.
Before releasing them, the security forces beat them with sticks and forced them to take humiliating positions. Amnesty International also calls for the immediate release of their leader, Maurice Kamto, and more than 100 other supporters arbitrarily arrested six months after the day for their peaceful participation in demonstrations.
"Like many other unofficial detention centers in Cameroon, the SED has a reputation for torturing detainees. These repressive and brutal tactics aimed at silencing dissent must stop, "said Marie-Evelyne Petrus Barry, director of Amnesty International, West and Central Africa.
"The judicial authorities must investigate the allegations that these 59 opposition members have been subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment and take concrete steps to bring the perpetrators to justice."
The 59 members of the opposition were arrested on June 1 during a peaceful demonstration planned in the capital Yaounde. They were taken to the SED for questioning and tortured and arbitrarily detained by the security forces, who also warned them against taking part in another demonstration a week later.
Amnesty International has interviewed several released opposition members who have been victims of torture or other forms of ill-treatment. They detailed techniques including beatings and difficult physical exercises, especially against women.
A woman released on June 3 told the organization:
"When we arrived, the gendarmes asked us to do physical exercises, knees and hips bent, arms spread to maintain balance …. They went over and kicked my head and bad … Then they ordered us to roll on the ground while still beating their shoes … we went up and down the stairs in position duck. I was then asked to do push-ups with the men until I could not continue. So, I was still beaten with a belt.
Another former detainee described the beating with wooden sticks, cables and batons:
"… We were taken to the SED where gendarmes were waiting for us. Each of them was armed with a wooden stick, a cable and a baton with which we were beaten to the ears and to our body. They then forced us to walk like a duck in the mud. 53 men and six women were together, some were crying, traumatized and shocked. After our release, I spent more than a week in the hospital, suffering from broken bones, bruises and trauma. "
While some of his supporters have been released, Maurice Kamto, arrested on January 28, 2019, is still behind bars six months later.
A decision of a military court dated July 11, 2019 indicated that she was competent to try them and upheld the accusations of rebellion, hostility against the motherland, incitement to Insurrection, offense against the President of the Republic and destruction of buildings and public property against Maurice Kamto and 107 other people. The same decision dropped all charges against 61 other supporters and ordered their release. Under international law, military courts should not have jurisdiction over civilians.
In January, nearly 300 MRC supporters were arbitrarily arrested with Kamto. Mbad arrests were also held on 1 and 8 June. In Douala, where more than 200 protesters have been arbitrarily arrested, 30 of them are currently in administrative detention and waiting to appear in an ordinary court.
"By confirming that these members of the opposition must be tried by a military court, the Cameroonian authorities do not respect international law. Kamto and his supporters risk an unfair trial and the extremely troubling possibility of facing the death penalty, "said Marie-Evelyne Petrus Barry.
"Maurice Kamto and all his supporters should never have been arrested. The authorities should immediately release them and abandon all charges against them. "
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