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Dozens of people were still being detained in Cameroon's Northwest Province on Friday, days after being arrested for participating in a demonstration, Jean-Gabriel Makong of the Cameroon Human Rights League (Ligue Camerounaise des droits de la personne) told IRIN on Friday.
The detainees had protested on 1 October - the 40th anniversary of the unification of Cameroon - against the perceived marginalisation of the country's English-speaking minority. They are being held in the towns of Kumbo and Bamenda in Northwest Province. Makong said that they had not yet been charged.
The detainees include Martin Luma, a vice-president of the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC), Makong said. The SCNC wants independence for Cameroon's two English-speaking provinces, the Northwest and Southwest, because it says Anglophones have been marginalised.
Three people were killed and six others severely injured during Monday's demonstration, which had been organised by the SCNC. About 100 others were arrested. Some have been released, including the editor of 'La Nouvelle Expression' newspaper, Jean-Marc Soboth, arrested for writing an article announcing the deployment of security forces against the demonstrators. Authorities wanted him to divulge his source.
Amnesty International on Thursday urged the Cameroonian authorities to respect the right of association and expression, and not to use lethal force against peaceful demonstrators. Such force, it said, should only be used in case of "imminent danger of life". Communication Minister Jacques Fame Ndongo said the security forces acted in self-defence after demonstrators attacked them, but SCNC officials denied this.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
