Amnesty criticises trial of alleged secessionists

The trial before a military court in Cameroon of around 65 people, more than half of whom were convicted on Wednesday, was fundamentally flawed, Amnesty International said in a statement. “The military tribunal which convicted these prisoners was neither independent nor impartial,” Amnesty said on Thursday. “The trial was also flawed from the outset since many of the defendants were tortured during interrogation and some died as a result.” Those convicted are from Cameroon’s English-speaking minority. They were charged with various offences, including murder, illegal possession of firearms, arson and robbery, in connection with armed attacks in North-West Province in March 1997 during which 10 people, three of them gendarmes, were killed. The authorities blamed the attacks on the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) - which supports independence for Cameroon’s two English-speaking provinces, North-West and South-West - and the affiliated Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL). Amnesty said the convicted persons “should be allowed a retrial before a civilian court and in accordance with international standards of fair trial”. Most of the defendants were held for more than two years before being brought before the military tribunal in Yaoundi to be charged on 14 April 1999. The trial began on 25 May. Three of the convicted persons received life sentences, six were sentenced to 20 years in prison and 27 were given prison terms ranging from one to 15 years, according to news reports. About 30 were acquitted.