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from 05 may 2002 blue vol II, #32 |
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in Tambach Dietharz Forest Refugee Camp by Joseph Ebone Eno-Tambe
Since then I have been living in isolated refugee camps in Thüringen that have failed to offer me accessibility to the continuation of my political affairs. Yet, I have been doing all in my capacity to offer the least I can. Having gone through the major refugee transit camp in Jena and coupled with my present day forest camp, Tambach Dietharz, I have been coping in dealing with the numerous difficulties involved in the reduction of refugees to a worthless animalistic state.
As an optimist I share the view that such isolated refugee camps could be transformed in to detention centers for refugees awaiting deportation, largely because of the inhuman conditions inherent in them. Pre-defined strategies to confiscate the freedom of refugees have already reaped the fruits. This includes the freedom of movement, the freedom of expression and even the freedom of positive thinking. Once these three factors are accomplished, the refugee becomes worthless and that makes him ripe for deportation. That is the more reason I have been part of all the campaigns seeking to improve this "down to earth" living conditions in refugee camps. Without the inspirational force acquired through the VOICE Africa Forum, not even this least could have come to light.
On the contrary, it is good news (for the oppressors) and sad news (for the oppressed) to learn that I will soon be deported from Germany to Cameroon in spite of the dangers that await me should I return to the land I fled for well-known political reasons.
My deportation case is seeming very urgent and serious as I am presently in possession of the so-called "Duldung" (tolerance). This has constantly increased my fears that I might be dragged at any time from my isolated forest camp in to one of the deportation prisons around the metropolis.
While the authorities maintain that I must be deported, legal measures are being taken in my consideration. I seize this opportunity to call on organizations, anti racist groups, human rights groups and individuals of goodwill who can do anything in their capacity to stop my deportation to come to my assistance. If solidarity campaigns under humanitarian terms could be the right weapon to use, then I think this will serve as a prelude to putting an end to all arbitrary detentions and subsequent deportation of refugees.
Send appeals to:
FOLLOWING the position of Anglophone Cameroonians by subsequent regimes in Cameroon, many heads have sought answers to bring an end to this canker worm that has eaten deep into the fabrics of a society ruled by Corruption, Marginalization, Let's name them. Freeing themselves from French and English rule in 1960 and 1961 respectively, both Cameroons adopted a two-state federal system of government while Former President Ahidjo later imposed a secretly drawn constitution instituting a unitary state called "The United Republic Of Cameroon".
Trouble continued when Amadou Ahidjo controversially handed over power to Paul Biya in 1982. The latter, without consulting Anglophones renamed the country "La Republique Du Cameroun", thereby violating the principles of federalism that governed the two Cameroons. Thence, the grievances of Southern Cameroonians became many and varied. Ranging from complaints against violation of unification agreements through the annexation of their territory to Marginalization and total neglect of Southern Cameroonians, mineral resources are exploited from the region without development projects carried out there. According them little or no access to the socio-economic and political vantages of the country, the Southern Cameroonians have felt cheated, usurped and treated as third class citizens. Many have been considered as enemies within.
Rejecting a first alternative and not succeeding with the second meant that a third had to be found. As a prelude, the fight for self determination had to forcefully begin in 1993 when a movement called the Cameroon Anglophone Movement (CAM) put together elites of the Southern Cameroons to discuss and decide their deserved future. It intensified in April 1993 when more than 5.000 delegates convened in the South West Provincial capital of Buea and called the group an All Anglophone Conference (AAC). In spite of military presence to disrupt its holding, a second convention in May 1994 held in Bamenda in the North West Province saw the birth of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC). With an absolute call for separation and independence, the organization has brought a lot of pressure to bear on the government of La Republique who has been handling the matter in a very ruthless and repressive manner. The Yaounde regime has even gone the extra mile to accusing and persecuting organizations and individuals in areas beyond their jurisdiction of influence. Armed attacks in 1997 were attributed to the SCNC and its affiliated Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL) in which ten people including three gendarmes died in cold blood. Many others were arrested and have been facing charges for treason.
It should be noted however that the struggle for the liberation of the Southern Cameroons course has not been limited within the confines of the two English-speaking provinces of the country. It has gone further to involve French Cameroonians as well whom in recent years have also felt the negative impact on the socio-economic and political scene of a country ruled by one man; Paul Biya. This class of people who think not even a political party can change the trend of events in the country have also been ardent contributors to liberate the Southern Cameroons. Through the rallies and demonstrations organized by the SCNC, French speaking Cameroonians have seen the urgent need for the restoration of a rich Southern Cameroons Anglophone culture and integrity. There is no doubt that such a situation has led to several arrests of these citizens by the forces of law and order right within their own francophone stronghold once they are found affiliated to this Southern Cameroons liberation pivot - the SCNC. In doing this, Southern Cameroonians born and bred in La Republique find themselves in a dilemma as a result of the assimilating cultures of the latter having to cope with the demands of the struggle.
On December 30, 1999, the SCNC led by Justice Chief Ebong Frederick Alobwede forced a reporter on duty to proclaim the restoration of the sovereignty of Southern Cameroons, when they stormed and took control of the South West provincial Radio in Buea. Armed but hurting no one, the security police on guard was quickly disarmed. A para-military intervention was mobilized as soon as the news circulated. Filled with mixed feelings for independence sake and their allegiance to La Republique, some reports claimed that such a military action only gained a few culprits around the scene of action. The entire region of the south west province then came to be under siege until the key players- Justice Ebong and a host of followers met their own Waterloo on January 8 and 9 following planned demonstrations in the Southern Cameroons cities of Buea and Limbe to celebrate the start of a new era. After a fourteen month prison service, Justice Ebong and some top aides of the SCNC were unconditionally released.
To commemorate the Southern Cameroons independence day, members and sympathizers of the SCNC using the flag of Cameroon from the first years of independence with two stars symbolizing federalism and a bilingual republic staged a March in the town of Kumbo-North West Province on October 1, 2001. Although it was a peaceful demonstration as usual, police and gendarmes used firearms to disperse more than 500 demonstrators. With three activists reported dead during the violent military intervention, more than a hundred others were arrested and have since remained in detention without any charges heard. Some prominent activists arrested included Chief Ayamba, Nfor Ngala, James Sabum, Martin Luma and Frida Litongo.
This was clear evidence to publicize the violation of the constitutional rights of a people who are only fit for the gallows and dungeons around the country. Many activists have been licking their wounds in prison cells under deteriorating inhuman conditions. As a rule, prison conditions throughout Cameroon are extremely brutal and fall short of international standards for humane treatment of prisoners. Such conditions have been attributed either to a deliberate action or the result of a serious negligence on the part of the government. With overcrowding, inadequate sanitary and medical facilities, prisoners are prone to acute skin and air-borne diseases. Some have consequently suffered from mental retardation. The food provided is usually not enough with many of the prisoners suffering from starvation.
More pitiable and absolutely unconstitutional is the fact that most political prisoners have little or no access to their families and friends. While some have ended up in suicide as a solution to escape the torture, the government has merely given an account of those it released. Yet, the reverse is true for those it has used for ransom in the name of armed robbers to satisfy its tyranny. The government has been caught wanting between such a group and those who walked their way out or might have escaped from prison through whatever means. Many a times families have been making communiqués in the course of searching for their relatives who left home and have since then never returned. The situation assumes a far reaching perspective when we know that even the police is not able to deliver an account of the whereabouts of those caught in their dragnets. So where are they?
In an Amnesty International release, this body urged the authorities of La Republique to ensure humane treatment for detained persons, abolish torture and improve prison conditions of the prisoners, seeing to it that they are promptly charged and brought to justice or release whosoever could not be linked with criminal offences. But the Yaounde government has continually raped Article 5 of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights: "No one shall subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment". Hundreds of people who took part in different political demonstrations since the multi-party years are still languishing in different prisons under awful conditions. They are gradually being executed by the new Operation Command in the guise of criminal offences. The government of La Republique is merely killing the spirit of the struggle through cold blood executions of the agents of freedom, the agents of good conscience, the agents of independence for the common will.
Evidently, everyone believes that despite the present state of affairs, the SCNC will never stop propagating increased autonomy for Cameroon's English-speaking minority and subsequent independence for Southern Cameroons. In the course of this move, most of its activists, sympathizers as well have been jailed by the Yaounde regime. Many have lost their lives and many more still missing in action on the journey to Diaspora for their lives sake. Under these circumstances therefore, whether the struggle to reassert the Southern Cameroon's cause will become successful is a million-dollar question. Reviving the sovereignty of the Southern Cameroons without the participation of this useful youth majority is a great cause for concern. Most of them have met rough death arising from torture in prisons.
Time for reckoning. After severe torture, Konseh Emmanuel died when a stick was forced in to his urinary tract. While he lay unconscious for very long hours, Ngum Mathias died on the floor of his cell Joseph Ndifor was shot and left to die on his way to exile to Nigeria. After internal bleeding and vomiting blood for two weeks, Ngwa Richard and Ngwa Julius died in their cells. Having received excessive knife cut torture, Samuel Tita gave up his ghost. Fai Lawrence died several months later in Kondengui central prison as a result of incessant torture. Before they died, Mathias Guei, Daniel Tita, Patrick Yimbu and Titiahonjo Matthew were victims of the same horror applications. For Independence's sake, adieu!!!
After much international and internal pressure, some of the detainees were arraigned before a military tribunal some two years ago. During the first hearing in the presence of the British High Commissioner, the German Ambassador, Amnesty International and others, the charge of attempted secession was dropped and merely criminal charges levied against the detainees. The trial of English speaking detainees ran in French and a mixture of Pidgin English and French. This military Kangaroo court handed down the following sentences:
Even under these awful torture conditions, those still surviving have not given up their contributions towards achieving the much desired representation for Southern Cameroons. But due to either torture, starvation or the deliberate denial of appropriate medical assistance, most of the detainees are handicapped in various ways.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) reports, a good number of women and girls have been fleeing this region to avoid female genital mutilation which in recent years has been regaining its grounds. With no laws specifically prohibiting this act, the government has not done anything in its capacity to teach or inform the society of the repercussions of female genital mutilation. Most of these feminine runaways have been found wondering here and there in the search for a safe haven. Couldn't their contributions in the combined efforts towards restoring the status of the Southern Cameroons play a vital role as well?
While the enemy stays alive and reap the fruits of their labor, should Southern Cameroonians resign themselves to their fate until they all perish or leave their land to become the productive waste land? However, should they dream to see the dream come true, a spirit of personal commitment as a general first step must be largely considered. Groups and social organizations- the United Nations Organization (UNO), Human Rights Defense Groups, Amnesty International- must implement further measures to protect these minds that meet with repression in the course of establishing the right to their being. By co-operating with the mass media, they should be able to prove to the government of La Republique that Southern Cameroons is capable of achieving its goals no matter how long president Biya and his followers play with time.
SOURCE & INFO: The_VOICE_Jena@gmx.de
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Arriving in Germany after a complicated escape route, I once again came at logger heads with the German authorities (as a result of sheer ignorance) who brandished me "illegal". But is there really anyone illegal? With almost two months spent in a German prison, my release paved the path for the demand of a political asylum, which of course was my motive.
VICTIMS: THE CAMEROONIAN BACKGROUND
Ironically, one of the things most striking in relation to the Southern Cameroons problem is the lukewarm attitude of the Press, the government of La Republique and the SCNC scribes per the common man who at the forefront has incessantly chanted the song for freedom. When ever he chants, the government is provokes and always uses its military machinery to destabilize him. The common Southern Cameroonian, just like the big wigs becomes a victim of arrest, prison and torture. But unlike him, the leaders on every round-up have always been personified or identified as their names make global headlines. It could be a great relief for the families of arrested persons if the Press and both authorities reach an understanding to always make known such prisoners rather than coining them "hundred of others". One begins to wonder whether the international communities ever took time to ponder over this. The common Southern Cameroonian, considered the real warrior in the liberation process has not been given a due representation. After all, when two elephants fight, is it not the grass that suffers?