UPDATE — Nov. 7, 2018: The student captives have been released after being held hostage for about two days. More than 70 students were dropped off at the campus of their Presbyterian Secondary School in Nkwen, from where they had been abducted two nights prior. Despite the posting of a video in which a group called the Amba Boys claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, the circumstances surrounding the mass abduction remain unclear. Several Anglophone separatist groups have denounced the hostage-taking, claiming that the entire situation was staged by President Biya’s security forces as a means of vilifying the secessionists, who have been trying for years to establish their own nation of Ambazonia.
Nov. 6, 2018 — Armed separatists kidnapped 79 students and their principal from a Presbyterian boarding school in Cameroon’s restive Northwest region on Nov. 4. A video, purportedly of the kidnapped children, has been released on social media by men who call themselves the Amba Boys, no doubt referring to the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, which armed secessionists are trying to establish in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest Anglophone regions.
In the video, the kidnappers force several of the young male students to give their names and the names of their parents. The children say they were kidnapped late Sunday by the Amba Boys, and that they don’t know where they are being held. The men who identify themselves as the kidnappers say they will only release the children when they achieve what they want — namely, the closure of all schools in the Anglophone region, which force minority English-speaking citizens to learn the majority’s French curriculum. The Cameroon school system suppresses the English-speaking system which the Anglophone regions inherited from the British. “We shall only release you after the struggle. You will be going to school now here,” say the men in the video.
The Anglophone / Francophone crisis has intensified dramatically over the past year. Just last week separatist militants attacked workers on a state-run rubber plantation in the Southwest, chopping off their fingers because the men had defied an order to stay away from the farms. Today’s development demonstrates once again how civilians — particularly children — are used as pawns and suffer disproportionately in conflicts worldwide.
Cameroon is engulfed in several armed conflicts, placing it in the worst security situation it has faced since 1992. In the far north, Boko Haram continues to attack, having already caused the displacement of 240,000 in the past five years. This year alone, 212 security incidents have been reported. In the east, armed groups from the Central African Republic (CAR) are likewise wreaking havoc and displacement. And, most urgently, in the Anglophone northwest and southwest regions, a growing insurgency is yielding nearly daily fighting.
Like many conflicts in modern Africa, The Francophone /Anglophone divide has its roots in colonialism. It hearkens to the end of World War I, when the League of Nations divided the former German colony between the allied French and British victors. Secessionist militia launched an insurrection last year against the predominantly Francophone central government after authorities violently cracked down on peaceful protests against the perceived marginalization of Cameroon’s English speakers, who make up 20% of the population.
The mass protests, led by Anglophone lawyers and teachers, were rooted in the government’s alleged failure to give enough credence to the English legal and educational systems in the Anglophone regions. The government was accused of hiring teachers and lawyers trained in the French tradition to work in key teaching and judicial posts in the Anglophone territories, effectively barring English from being used in schools and courtrooms, and squeezing out Anglophone representation in Cameroonian society. The Anglophones dubbed this “an occupation.” In short, a long history of political and economic disenfranchisement, when coupled with the government’s violent crackdown on peaceful protests, led to the creation of a series of secessionist militia that have resorted to increasingly desperate and dangerous measures to obtain independence as the state of Ambazonia.
Since January, more than 400 civilians have reportedly been killed, and over 246,000 people have been displaced within the Southwest region alone. Gun battles between armed separatists and the security forces were reported throughout the Anglophone region on election day. Renewed fighting killed at least 10 people on October 24, in the deadliest clash since President Biya was declared the victor just two days prior.
On October 22, the Constitutional Council declared Paul Biya to have won a seventh term as President of Cameroon. He reportedly won 71.3% of the vote, but with his full control of the state machinery and electoral apparatus, the actual vote tallies are hard to ascertain. What is clear is that voter turnout was only about 5% in Cameroon’s Anglophone provinces, where security forces and armed separatists skirmished in many towns, and there is deep distrust in the state.
The security situation within Cameroon is exceedingly tense. Many Cameroonians accept that Biya in all likelihood won, but they remain angry over the inflated election results and the fact that he essentially controlled the whole process, including by appointing all eleven members of the Constitutional Council. Since the election, the government has banned several opposition and civil society press conferences and marches, reinforced its troop deployments to deter and disrupt protests, restricted access to Facebook, and arrested several people planning demonstrations. In the aftermath of the presidential election, civilians in Cameroon are facing an increased risk of mass atrocity crimes perpetrated by state security forces and armed separatist groups alike.
The post-election period provides a critical opening for President Biya’s government to take expedient action to halt extrajudicial killings and kidnappings and to broker an end to the Anglophone conflict. Biya must address the Anglophone areas’ deep-seated distrust in the central government, their history of discrimination and second-class citizenship, as well as their anger at the fact that the vote proceeded at all, given the profound insecurity in those areas.
While the government has principally relied on a military campaign to crush the rebels, the separatists have been calling for internationally mediated negotiations on neutral ground. Cameroon’s partners, including the US, and the African Union should push for this non-violent approach. However, the immediate release of all kidnapped individuals must be a precondition for separatist participation in the talks.
The Anglophone conflict is on track to morph into a full-blown civil war, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the already embattled civilian population. Cameroon’s allies, including the U.S. and France — which have all recognized the election results — must now put pressure on the Biya government to work towards a sustainable solution to the Anglophone conflict.
Cameroon and the US are partners in coordinating efforts against Boko Haram–the terrorist group mercilessly attacking the Lake Chad Basin, including northeastern Cameroon–as well as other global terrorist groups. The U.S. has been involved in training and equipping Cameroonian security forces to strengthen regional capacity to combat terrorism. Cameroon is also vital to France’s deep interest in the West African region. Given the interconnectivity of this particular part of Africa, via the Lake Chad Basin, the Anglophone crisis could further destabilize this war-beleaguered region by snowballing into neighboring countries. Pointedly, other Francophone countries will be watching intently, noting France’s hands off approach to mass atrocities brewing in its own former colony. The world cannot stand idly by while another crisis devolves into unchecked brutality, taking hundreds of thousands of civilian lives. Apologizing after-the-fact is inexcusable.
To be fair, the U.S. has shown some initiative on the Anglophone conflict. Back in June of this year, the House Subcommittee on Africa held a hearing on the human rights abuses and targeted killings shaping the conflict. In response to the hearing, Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) concluded, “[W]e can see that a failure to solve the Anglophone crisis is not purely a domestic affair, but a regional one which implicates U.S. security interests.”
Also in June, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved legislation that would compel the executive branch to inform Congress of the status of Cameroon’s investigations into abuses by its security forces, and consult with Congress prior to allocating aid funds for the country. Nothing else was done until October of this year, when Senators Coons, Carper, Booker, and Durbin issued a statement condemning the gross human rights abuses perpetrated by the Cameroonian state security apparatus in the Anglophone regions. Jewish World Watch (JWW) applauds these senators for restarting the conversation on Cameroon, but as this week’s mass kidnapping demonstrates, the time has come to take action on those words.
The most promising U.S. effort on the subject of Cameroon has been taken by Rep. Karen Bass, a longtime JWW partner. On October 2, 2018, Rep. Bass introduced H. Res. 1111, “Calling on the Government of Cameroon, armed separatist groups, and all citizens to respect human rights and adopt nonviolent approaches to conflict resolution.” This is precisely what JWW is advocating for: a nonviolent solution.
The Anglophone general conference is scheduled to take place on November 21-22. The U.S. must persuade Biya’s government to allow the conference to proceed as planned. This will provide a good opportunity for the government to signal its willingness to deescalate and engage, as a prelude to more formal talks involving international actors like the US, France, and African Union.
If Biya refuses to comply and allows for this crisis to spiral even further out of control, the U.S. and France should step up and use their close relationships with Cameroon to leverage a nonviolent solution. Both countries provide Cameroon with training, military assistance, and aid–all crucial and powerful bargaining chips. It’s with the U.S.’s best interest to stop the conflict before it spills over into neighboring countries and causes greater instability in a region already plagued by armed insurgents and terrorist group Boko Haram. Cameroon is also set to host the African Nation’s Cup next year. Withdrawing the privilege of hosting this popular sporting event if Biya does not offer a clear timeline for peaceably solving the Anglophone crisis may jolt Biya into action. And, of course, there’s always sanctions….
Please urge your Representatives to support Rep. Bass’s Resolution, which has already garnered 22 cosponsors in 1 month. Also, reach out to your Senators to voice your concern about the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon and encourage them to champion companion legislation in the Senate.