The Cameroonian security forces don't take into account how many lives they sacrifice when it comes to eradicating the Islamist group, Boko Haram.
Amnesty International revealed in its new report that the military offensive against Boko Haram has resulted in widespread human rights violations against civilians in the Far North region of the country.
During search-and-cordon operations, security forces often arrest people on the basis of very little information or assumptions and sometimes they detain whole groups. In February 2015 for example, in Kossa, 32 men were arrested based on accusations that the village was providing food to Boko Haram. Most were later released, but one man died in custody.
After being arrested, people are far too often held incommunicado at illegal detention sites in military bases, before being transferred to the official prisons. And, as Amnesty International learnt, in secret detention, torture is not a rare method to encourage people to confess.
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Find Amnesty International's Press Release here.
Amnesty International revealed in its new report that the military offensive against Boko Haram has resulted in widespread human rights violations against civilians in the Far North region of the country.
During search-and-cordon operations, security forces often arrest people on the basis of very little information or assumptions and sometimes they detain whole groups. In February 2015 for example, in Kossa, 32 men were arrested based on accusations that the village was providing food to Boko Haram. Most were later released, but one man died in custody.
After being arrested, people are far too often held incommunicado at illegal detention sites in military bases, before being transferred to the official prisons. And, as Amnesty International learnt, in secret detention, torture is not a rare method to encourage people to confess.
An old man detained at a military base at Salak village told Amnesty International how they were interrogated by military officials:
“We were all interrogated in the same room, one by one, by a man dressed with [..] uniform. Two other men in plain clothes carried out the beatings and other torture. That day, two prisoners were beaten up so badly that they died in front of us. The men in plain clothes kicked them and slapped them violently, and hit them with wooden sticks.”
Detainees suspected of supporting Boko Haram are usually tried before military courts, where convictions are based very limited evidence, including the testimonies of anonymous informants who cannot be cross-checked, and often amount to the death penalty.
In a trial that Amnesty International observed, four women were convicted and sentenced to death solely on the basis of a statement made by a member of a local vigilante committee after they returned from Nigeria where they were working as domestic servants. They could only meet their lawyer during a short break in the court proceeding.
Amnesty International documented that more than 1,000 people accused of supporting Boko Haram are being held in desperately overcrowded prisons, suffering from malnutrition and disease and in horrible sanitary conditions. In Maroua prison, for example, that was built for 350 people and is currently hosting 1500, between six to eight people die each month.
So, how should then Cameroon fight Boko Haram in Amnesty International's view? By ensuring that mass and arbitrary arrests don't take place, bringing suspects directly to official detention sites, stopping torture, ensuring detainees’ access to families and lawyers, establishing a central register of detainees, improving prison conditions, reforming the anti-terrorism law and investigating all allegations of human rights violations.---
Find Amnesty International's Press Release here.