Trial of accused secessionists adjourned

The trial in Yaounde of English-speaking Cameroonians suspected of taking part in a secessionist rebellion has been adjourned to 28 September, media sources told IRIN on Monday. The sources - who for reasons of personal security requested anonymity - said most of the 57 accused have denied the charges against them, which include arson, illegal possession of arms, and murder. AFP reported that 18 of them denied taking part in armed attacks in 27 and 28 March 1997 in North-West Province, in the English speaking part of the country. Amnesty International said 10 people, including three gendarmes, were killed in the attacks. The defendants are being tried by a military tribunal. However, their lawyer, Joseph Mbanda, said the cases were outside that tribunal's jurisdiction because his clients are accused of political offences. "It's a kangaroo court," he said. Media sources said the accused were members of the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) which wants an end to what they consider the marginalisation of English-speaking Cameroonians by their French-speaking compatriots. "Most Anglophones identity with this body," one media source told IRIN, but another described the SCNC as a "marginal secessionist movement" even among English-speaking Cameroonians. A source told IRIN that radical elements within the group wanted outright independence from largely French-speaking Cameroon. However, others wanted to revert to a federal republican constitution, as existed in 1961. British and French Cameroons were UN trust territory administered by Britain and France. In 1961, the northern part of British Cameroons opted to be incorporated into Nigeria while the southern zone decided to form a federal state with French Cameroons. However, Cameroon became a unitary state in 1972 and, since then, some Anglophones have complained of marginalisation. Originally, a source told IRIN, 87 people were charged and 11 have died during two and a half years of imprisonment. "Several escaped, especially those who accepted having taken part in arson," the source said. These figures could not immediately be confirmed but Amnesty International said at least nine had died in detention either rom torture or lack of medical care.