The Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma
Bakary has described the report by Amnesty
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| Minister Tchiroma |
International as an outrageous accusatory
report. Minister Tchiroma made the declaration in a preliminary statement
during a press conference on July 21, 2017 on Amnesty International’s 2017
report entitled “ Cameroon’s secret torture chambers: human rights violations
and war crimes in the fight against Boko Haram.”
Here below is the Preliminary statement
“Distinguished
Journalists,
The Amnesty International non-governmental
organization published, twenty-four hours ago, on July 20, 2017, an outrageously
accusatory report on the respect for human rights in the fight that our country
is leading against the Boko Haram terrorist organisation.
The said report, as you are also aware,
follows a similar one that was published in July 2016.
In its 2017 issue, Amnesty International
chose to cross the whistle-blowing threshold and get into the category of
accusation and legal and even judicial characterization of what it believes to
have found in the struggle of our Defense and Security Forces against the Boko Haram
obscurantist criminals.
For those who could still doubt it, the focus
on Cameroon and its Defence and Security Forces, the accumulation of false and
gross findings by Amnesty International prove that we are faced with a real
destabilization campaign whose objectives have at least the merit of being
clear. Amnesty International’, an organisation which is now playing the role of
an organization for the defence of terrorist interests, is no more no less,
aiming:
– To weaken the morale and effectiveness of Cameroonian
Defense and Security Forces
– To annihilate on the operational level, the
offensive initiatives which are causing the greatest harm to the aggressors;
– To tarnish the image of the Defence and
Security Forces in the eyes of the international partners, and to dissociate
them from the global response called for by the Head of State,
Commander-in-chief of the Army, and in which Cameroon is a key link at regional
level, and most especially at sub-regional level.
As a matter of fact, under the caption, and I
quote: “Cameroon’s secret torture chambers: human rights violations and war
crimes in the fight against Boko Haram”, end of quote, Amnesty International
terms as executioner a legitimate and sovereign State, a regular and patriotic
army against an organization yet criminal and fearing neither God nor man,
whose sole aim is to occupy and take away a part of our territory to establish
its caliphate. This organization driven by such an abject aspiration, seems to
be perceived by Amnesty International, contrary to all expectations, as pious
and angelic.
The action of our Defence and Security Forces
is thus qualified as, and I quote, “widespread practice of torture committed by
the security forces against ordinary Cameroonians, who are often arrested without
any evidence and forced to endure unimaginable pain”, end of quote.
They go on saying, and I quote again, that «
These horrific violations amount to war crimes. The overwhelming majority of
victims were tortured in two unofficial detention sites; the headquarters of
the Rapid Intervention Batallion (BIR) in Salak, near the northern city of
Maroua, and a facility in the capital, Yaoundé run by the General Directorate
of External Research (DGRE), Cameroon’s intelligence services, situated close
to the country’s parliament”, end of quote.
Amnesty International, in keeping with its
logic of protecting terrorist interests, begins to chastise in order to
discourage such move, the cooperation of armies from friendly countries.
The US and French military are thus
pinpointed and merely treated as accomplices of war crimes that the Army and
the Cameroonian intelligence services would be, according to Amnesty
International, perpetrating against innocent victims linked to Boko Haram.
From this standpoint, it should be noted that
Amnesty International attaches its accusations to atrocities allegedly
perpetrated by the Cameroonian Defence and Security Forces against ordinary
citizens, based on fictitious or instrumentalized witness accounts, while
trying to substantiate the allegations with inconsistent evidence that do not
stand up to reality.
Let me give you a few examples:
-Who, if not an ill-intentioned person, can
truly believe that a country that subjects Boko Haram bloodthirsty criminals,
even when arrested with weapons in their hands, would be reduced to
perpetrating atrocities against its own population? If our Army carried out
extra-judiciary killings as Amnesty International claims, would there be more
than a thousand Boko Haram prisoners in our prisons treated humanely, as is the
case today, in spite of the unspeakable atrocities committed by Boko Haram
especially against the civilian populations.
Any fighter of this terrorist organization
arrested on the national territory is subjected to an investigation and a
judgment in the competent courts according to the rules of the law. Significant
financial resources are being made available for their care, as well as for the
development and rehabilitation of their places of detention.
-In its demonization move, Amnesty
International is targeting the BIR, an elite unit of our Army, in an attempt to
demolish the concrete base of our Defense and Security Forces. But Amnesty
International may be unaware that BIR, in so far as it is an elite unit, is
above all, a component of our Army and that it is the Head of State, in his
capacity as Commander-in-chief of the Army that is vested with the exclusive
power of distributing the roles of the various components on the battle
grounds.
Amnesty International is questioning the fact
that the government decided at some point to relocate schools, which would have
been later transformed into detention and torture centres. But what is it all
about? To refresh Amnesty International’s memory, schools are among the
preferred targets of Boko Haram’s obscurantist propaganda and one of the main
consequences of the war was the closure of schools with the risk of successive
blank years during the three years of war. Courageously, the State of Cameroon
initially relocated schools thanks to the solidarity of the populations who
welcomed the pupils at the most critical moment of the war.
As the situation was getting more and more
stable, schools gradually reopened with the imperative duty for the Defense and
Security Forces to ensure the protection of students. If this presence is
assimilated to a breach of international commitments, the choice is soon made
for Cameroon. This example, among many others, demonstrates Amnesty
International’s apparent bad faith and its methods of making up and manipulating
the truth.
Let me make it clear to Amnesty International, and also to any other
interlocutor within the national and international community, that in this
fight, no atrocity is being tolerated from our Defence and Security Forces in
the various actions carried out in operations. The principle is to strictly
comply with international humanitarian and human rights law, on which our Army
and Security Forces have received rigorous training, leaving no room for
stubbornness. To this end, a training centre has been set up in Mindif in the
Far North Region, where the humanitarian law modules are being taught. The Head
of State, Commander-in Chief-of the Armed Forces, has on each occasion in his
public addresses, commended the army for their sense of discipline,
professionalism and respect of ethical values.
Nevertheless, whenever any misconduct is
noticed, it is punished with objectivity and leaving no room for any
complacency once it is proven. Respect for human rights and the principles set
out by various international organizations on this matter, are among the
unavoidable constraints of the legitimate actions carried out by Cameroon
against terrorism. It is in this perspective that the authorities in high
command spare no effort to heavily punish any proven behavioral differences,
going to the extent of dismissing soldiers convicted of committing abuses on
civilians. Whatever the case, they can be isolated cases of abuse, but whenever
exposed, their authors are punished adequately without any complacency. Meanwhile,
a detachment is affected to each troop at the battle front. This detachment
made up of judicial police officers is looking for offenses, collecting
evidence and refer the defaulters before the competent military courts. Beyond
the purely disciplinary field, the perpetrators of eventual abuses are placed
at the disposal of the courts under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The perfect compliance of our country with
such principles has been formally acknowledged by the UN Human Rights Council
during its April 1, 2015 Session in Geneva.
As a matter of fact, during this meeting, the
UN Human Rights Council reaffirmed the appreciation of the United Nations
system to Cameroon for the actions carried out by our country in this regard.
Calling for greater international solidarity,
the Human Rights Council warmly congratulated Cameroon for the efforts
undertaken, alongside all other countries affected by the atrocities of Boko
Haram for a final eradication of this scourge.
The Government seizes this opportunity to
hail the synergies of action between Cameroon and the international community
in this fight that the country is leading alongside other front-line States,
whether within the framework of the Multinational Joint Task Force or Bilateral
cooperation with neighboring armies and especially the Nigerian Army.
The Government is grateful to all the friendly countries that have come to
support the people of Cameroon in their fight against the terrorist peril.
All in all, the Cameroonian Defense and Security Forces are leading a
legitimate, clean and regular war against a horde of terrorists whose only
ideology is that of crime. To do this, the Cameroonian Defense and Security
Forces rely on the populations that provide them with reliable information. The
quality of the Army-Nation relations is excellent, the image of the army is
improved by the civilian and military actions carried out in favor of these
populations, who are devoted to a model of “soldier of peace”.
This perception is visible whenever the Defense Forces crisscross villages in
the zones of ??action where it receives encouragement from many at each of its
passages. Press trips with credible international journalists who have free
access to the populations can describe the state of relations between the army
and the people. Moreover, the concept of Defense in Cameroon is grounded on the
notion of popular Defense whose permanent element is the granitic tie between
the Army and the Nation.
In any case, Amnesty International’s view of
Cameroon’s military action against Boko Haram cannot, without running the risk
of discrediting itself, be diametrically opposed to the reports of other
credible international organizations, such as that of the United Nations
Commission for Refugees. It is, therefore, asking questions about these
allegations, which are in dissonance with a country that is hosting hundreds of
thousands of refugees feeling at home in Cameroon to the point of no longer
wanting to return home.
What is more striking in Amnesty
International’s continuing hostility to Cameroon and particularly in the
struggle of our nation against the terrorist enemy is the complete ignorance of
the heavy toll that our country is paying as a result of the imposed
aggression, under the banner of the obscurantism and barbarism of others.
All this seem not to have been enough to
arouse the empathy of Amnesty International that, on the contrary, persistently
attacked Cameroonian Defence and Security Forces.
Perharps, Amnesty International would have
preferred Cameroon not to react to such aggression and ignore the horrors
suffered by our people and our Army. Then, we would have surely been hailed by
this organization, yet mandated to defend human rights.
If we go by Amnesty International’s logic,
the only crime committed by the Cameroonian Government would have been to
defend its terrirorial integrity and protect the persons and goods within its
boundaries.
Unfortunately for Amnesty International,
neither the Cameroonian people nor the international community would advance their
cause.
In fact, what Amnesty International and her
partners should know is that they have outpassed an unacceptable line in their
attack against Cameroon as they have blatantly uncovered the location of
Cameroon’s strategic infrastructures, thereby pinpointing these infrastructures
as a key target for Boko Haram and the Islamic State to which the terrorist
group is associated. Disclosing such sensitive information, more importantly in
a country at war, cannot be tolerated. These are unacceptable breaches against
our national security for which Amnesty International would be held
accountable. Relevant services are currently reviewing the report of Amnesty
International and all the legal implications will be sorted out. Henceforth,
this organisation must be regarded as hostile to our Army and our Fatherland.
On his part, the President of the Republic,
His Excellency Paul BIYA, Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, has
committed our nation into a multidimensional counter attack, in a bid to appropriately
respond to the aggression faced by Cameroon.
The international community joined Cameroon
in this fight through diverse interventions of either military, logistic, or
strategic nature.
To date, and even though Boko Haram has
retained some capacity to cause harm, it has now been pushed to its limits and
is certainly living the last days of its morbid existence.
Apparently, this outcome is not what Amnesty
International would have desired. This therefore leads us to question her
actual motives and hidden agenda.
We also believe that in the community of
nations, Cameroon cannot expect to have only friends and that some of her
rivals might be wishing to see the country in trouble. Growing impatient to see
this ill-fated purpose come true, maybe they would see in terrorism a
convenient way to achieve their goal.
Above all, the Cameroonian Government
reaffirms its utmost support to our Defence and Security Forces whose courage
helped us preserve to the ultimate sacrifice, the country’s territorial
integrity.
The Government especially commends the active
solidarity of the Cameroonian people and her widespread mobilization in favour
of our Defence and Security Forces and the people in the Far-North Region, who
are victims of Boko Haram’s crimes.
Cameroon is and will remain united behind its
leader, the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul BIYA, Head of State
and Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
The attachment of the people of Cameroon to
the values of peace, national unity and solidarity will ever remain unshakeable
notwithstanding the high maneuvers of mermaids of destabilization and
demobilization.
The people of Cameroon will more than ever,
continue to move forward with dignity and determination on the path set forth
by the Head of State towards achieving its emergence.
Thank you for your kind attention.”
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
