Amnesty calls on state to shed light on disappearances

Amnesty International said on Friday that it had called on Cameroon's government to "throw more light" on the disappearance of nine youths in Douala.

The adolescents were arrested on 23 February as suspects in the theft of a neighbour's cooking gas bottle and taken to a detention facility of the Commandement operationnel, an elite security corps created last year to combat armed robbery in Douala and Yaounde. They were last seen there by relatives on 26 and 27 February. Since then, there has been no information on their whereabouts, Amnesty said.

There have been several reports by local NGOs that the Commandement operationnel has carried out large-scale extrajudicial executions while fighting street crime in Douala, Amnesty said.