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mixtermoremusic · 3 years
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Tanzania: Burundi Refugees in Tanzania Living in Fear - UN Rights Experts
Tanzania: Burundi Refugees in Tanzania Living in Fear – UN Rights Experts
Repatriated Burundians from Tanzania in the transit center at Mabanda, Makamba province, Burundi The rights of refugees and asylum seekers who have fled Burundi for Tanzania must be respected, experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on Tuesday in an appeal to authorities in both countries. Burundi refugees have suffered violations such as arbitrary arrests and enforced…
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sierracortney011 · 2 years
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Six dead in stampede outside Cameroon’s Africa Cup of Nations game against Comoros | Football News
At least six people have died in a stampede outside the stadium hosting the Africa Cup of Nations game between Cameroon and Comoros, an official said on Monday.
Naseri Paul Biya, governor of the central region of Cameroon, said there could be more casualties.
The stampede happened as crowds struggled to get access to Olembe Stadium in the Cameroon capital of Yaounde to watch the host country play Comoros in a last 16 knockout game.
Officials at the nearby Messassi hospital said they had received at least 40 injured people from the stampede. Some of the injured are in desperate condition,” said Olinga Prudence, a nurse. We will have to evacuate them to a specialized hospital.
Officials said around 50,000 people had tried to attend the match. The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 but it was not meant to be more than 80 per cent full for the game due to restrictions on the size of the crowd because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Cameroon won the game 2-1 to reach the quarter-finals.
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The post Six dead in stampede outside Cameroon’s Africa Cup of Nations game against Comoros | Football News appeared first on First News Blog.
from First News Blog https://firstnewsclick.com/six-dead-in-stampede-outside-cameroons-africa-cup-of-nations-game-against-comoros-football-news/2613/ from First Coast News https://firstnewsclick.tumblr.com/post/674302009317392384
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xtruss · 4 years
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US Elections 2020
The age of the elderly candidate: how two septuagenarians (a person who is from 70 to 79 years old) came to be running for president
Biden and Trump have been eager to prove their virility, calling into question what effect old age has on the leader of the US
— The Guardian USA | David Smith in Washington | Thursday, 29 October 2020
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Donald Trump, 74, is fighting an lection against an even older Joe Biden, 78. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP
“I woke up and I felt good,” Donald Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Arizona, slamming the side of his lectern as he described hospitalisation with the coronavirus. “I said, ‘Get me out of here’. Boom! Superman!”
As the US president mimed Clark Kent ripping up open his shirt to reveal the Man of Steel’s “S” logo, the crowd chanted: “Superman! Superman! Superman!” The rally ended with loudspeakers booming Y.M.C.A by Village People: “Young man, there’s no need to feel down …”
Seventy-four years old and clinically obese, Trump appears eager to prove his virility. He is fighting an election against a man who is even older – Joe Biden turns 78 next month. If Biden wins, he will eclipse Trump’s own record as the oldest person to be sworn in as president.
The statistics are counterintuitive in a society that can often seem obsessed with youth. Voters’ thirst for change did not prevent this election being contested by two septuagenarian white men. But it has fuelled debate over whether the mental and physical toll of old age could impair the decision-making of the person with the nuclear codes.
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Former president Jimmy Carter, 96, is the longest-lived US president in history. Photograph: John Amis/AP
“I hope there’s an age limit,” Jimmy Carter, who at 96 is the longest-lived US president in history, told an audience in Atlanta last year. “If I were just 80 years old, if I was 15 years younger, I don’t believe I could undertake the duties I experienced when I was president. You have to be able to go from one subject to another and concentrate on each one adequately and then put them together in a comprehensive way.”
Carter was 56 when he was beaten by Ronald Reagan, who at 69 was then the oldest person elected to the presidency. Reagan endured a gentle decline over two terms and was sometimes mocked for memory lapses and self-contradictions. Five years after leaving office he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Ronald Reagan, at 69, was the oldest person elected to the presidency in 1980. Photograph: Chuck Robinson/AP
Aware of the concerns, Biden’s campaign released a medical report last December saying he is a “healthy, vigorous, 77-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency”. Trump, meanwhile, “remains healthy” according to the results of his latest physical exam, which the White House made public in June.
But the president has sought to weaponise the issue. As the election draws near and he barnstorms the country at campaign rallies, he is making baseless claims that “Sleepy Joe” is suffering cognitive decline, senility or even dementia. “He’s mentally gone,” Trump told Fox News. He also tweeted a meme that said “Biden for resident”, picturing the Democrat in a wheelchair seated among elderly people in a nursing home.
Biden responded in kind during an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes programme last Sunday. “Hey, the same guy who thought that the 911 attack was a 7-Eleven attack,” he said. “He’s talking about dementia? All I can say to the American people is watch me, is see what I’ve done, is see what I’m going to do. Look at me. Compare our physical and mental acuity. I’m happy to have that comparison.”
Critics have suggested that Trump’s crude tactics could be seen as insulting by elderly voters and backfire. They also point to examples when the president slurs or uses the wrong word, and an incident when he walked gingerly down a ramp after speaking to West Point military cadets.
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Donald Trump works in a conference room while receiving treatment for coronavirus. Photograph: Joyce N Boghosia/The White House/EPA
Trump’s age came under further scrutiny earlier this month when he was infected with the coronavirus, which severely affects the elderly. He made a speedy recovery but then said in a confusing video message: “We’re taking care of our seniors. You’re not vulnerable but they like to say you’re vulnerable. You’re the least vulnerable but for this one thing, you are vulnerable. So am I.”
It is Biden, however, who is more historically unusual. The last five Democratic presidents were John F Kennedy (aged 43 on taking office), Lyndon Johnson (55), Carter (52), Bill Clinton (46) and Barack Obama (47). For Republicans, Trump fits a more familiar pattern.
Wendy Schiller, a political science professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, said: “He was by no means the first ‘older’ nominee from the GOP [Grand Old Party]; Reagan was 69, John McCain was 71 and Mitt Romney was 65. The Democratic candidates have trended younger as far back as JFK in 1960, and they have only been successful at winning the presidency after 1964 with candidates under the age of 55.
“The party presidential nominating system tends to produce nominees who are older because of the type of electoral political experience typically required of successful nominees and the networking that is involved with state party activists over time to win state primaries.”
The nominees’ seniority in years raised the stakes in the recent vice-presidential debate between Mike Pence, 61, and Kamala Harris, who has since turned 56. Both candidates were asked whether they had discussed with their respective nominees the question of presidential incapacity; both avoided giving a direct answer.
Schiller added: “Americans are living longer than ever, and in better shape, so Joe Biden at 77 may very well be in better shape than Ronald Reagan was at 69. Donald Trump has proven to be a vigorous campaigner out on the road at the age of 74.
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Joe Biden bounds up the steps of a plane in Delaware. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“However, I do think that in Biden’s case, as it was with John McCain, the VP choice carries more weight than it would if he were younger because voters are taking into account the fact that the VP could step in to serve as president.”
Trump and Biden are old politicians in American terms but not in global terms. Winston Churchill was 76 when he was re-elected as British prime minister in 1951 and the Queen is the world’s oldest head of state at 94. She is followed by Raúl Castro of Cuba at 89, Colville Young of Belize at 87, the Cameroonian president, Paul Biya, at 87 and the Lebanese president, Michel Aoun, at 85, according to Wikipedia. US supreme court justices continue to sit on the highest court until death.
Drexel Heard, the youngest Black executive director of the Los Angeles county Democratic party, said: “Ruth Bader Ginsburg was 87 and I think that people still respected her legal mind and everything she stood for. She still had a few more years left on her and nobody questioned her fitness for the supreme court.”
Heard, 34, added: “I don’t think that age has been a big factor in this election but, in down-ballot races, we are seeing more and more younger candidates across the country run for office. That’s the silver lining to a lot of that question, which is, what happens next?
“Joe Biden has always said he’s essentially a transitional president and he knows what’s coming up next. That’s part of the reason why he chose Senator Harris as his running mate and certainly why he continues to endorse candidates up and down the ballot at a younger age.”
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Senator Bernie Sanders, 79, showed that age is no barrier to campaigning. Photograph: Nicole Hester/AP
During the past two Democratic primary cycles Senator Bernie Sanders, now 79, showed that age is no barrier to campaigning hard or exciting young voters. There are still questions over whether Biden can prove similarly inspiring but, among those in the demographic who do vote, there is little doubt he will crush Trump.
Coby Owens, 25, a civil rights activist from Biden’s home city of Wilmington, Delaware, said: “It was a difference between ideology when it came to the young people excited about Bernie and the young people who are excited about a Biden campaign. But I think, at the end of the day, you’re seeing all the youth-led organisations coming together and coalition-building for Biden.
“One of the things that we know is that, regardless of where he stands on a policy right now, we have a better chance of getting what we want and what we need for our future with a President Biden and Vice-President Harris rather than a President Trump and Vice-President Pence.”
A more surprising shift is taking place at the other end of the age spectrum. Republicans have led among the elderly by around 10 percentage points in the past four presidential elections. But Covid-19 has hit this group especially hard – about four in five of the Americans killed by the virus are above 65 – and appears to have dragged down Trump’s popularity.
The president trails among elderly voters by more than 20 points, according to recent CNN and Wall Street Journal/ NBC News polls. This swing could prove critical in states such as Arizona and Florida, which have a high number of retirees. Both campaigns are making huge investments in ads targeting older voters.
On a recent visit to The Villages retirement community in Florida, Trump claimed: “Biden’s plan would mean America’s seniors have no air conditioning during the summer, no heat during the winter and no electricity during peak hours. It’s true.” It is not true.
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expatimes · 4 years
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Meeting with HH the Amir was an honor
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 13 : His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received Tuesday at Bayan Palace, His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. His Highness the Amir also received President of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Idris Barzani who offered his condolences on the demise of the late Amir His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Barzani during the meeting also congratulated His Highness the Amir on assumption of office. His Highness also met with President of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mohammad Jassem Al-Sager and Chamber members.
HH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad receives Chairman of KCCI Al-Saqer and the members.
His Highness during the meeting affirmed the importance of the private sector’s role in strengthening the national economy and contributing to diversifying sources of income, and the importance of cooperation with the concerned agencies to achieve the desired development goals.
For his part, Chamber President Al-Sager said, on behalf of Chamber members, it was their honor to be meeting with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, congratulating him on office. He said his rule was a continuation of His Highness late Amir march in serving Kuwait and its people.
The Chamber also congratulated naming His Highness Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as his Crown Prince, and praising the smooth government transition, Al-Sager added.
Al-Sager in his speech assured to His Highness the Chamber professional and technical record, and commitment to objectivity and the public interest and its role in supporting the government. Furthermore, His Highness the Amir also received Chairman of Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) Hilal Al-Sayer and Secretary General of KRCS Maha Al-Barjas, as they viewed the association’s latest projects and achievements.
Sectors His Highness the Amir praised KRCS role in facing the repercussions of COVID-19 in cooperation with various sectors of the country, wishing them continued success.
The meetings were also attended by Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, chief of the Amiri Diwan Sheikh Mubarak Faisal Al-Sabah, Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, Amiri Diwan Undersecretary and Director of His Highness the Amir’s Office Ahmad Al-Fahad and head of Amiri Protocols Sheikh Khaled Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah.
Meanwhile, His Highness the Amir received a condolences letter on Tuesday from Queen Margrethe II of Denmark over the passing of His Highness the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The Queen extended her heartfelt commiserations to His Highness the Amir and the Kuwaiti people, recalling the late Amir’s efforts to boost global peace and security.
In response, His Highness the Amir sent a message highlighting his gratitude and appreciation for the warm sentiments. Also, His Highness the Amir received a condolences letter on Tuesday from President of the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel over the passing of His Highness the late Amir.
Support The presidents extended their heartfelt commiserations to His Highness the Amir and the Kuwaiti people, praising the late Amir’s tireless efforts to enhance dialogue for the settlement of disputes and his support of humanitarianism.
In response, His Highness the Amir sent a message highlighting his gratitude and appreciation for the warm sentiments. His Highness the Amir also received a condolence letter on Tuesday from Cameroon’s President Paul Biya over the passing of His Highness the late Amir.
The president extended his heartfelt commiserations to His Highness the Amir and the Kuwaiti people, recalling the late Amir’s service to his nation and his efforts to boost cooperation amongst Arab states. In response, His Highness the Amir sent a message highlighting his gratitude and appreciation for the warm sentiments.
In the meantime, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf received a condolences letter on Tuesday from Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou over the passing of His Highness the late Amir.
The president extended his heartfelt commiserations to His Highness the Amir and the Kuwaiti people, praising the late Amir’s contributions to boost security and stability in the Middle East. In response, His Highness the Amir sent a message highlighting his gratitude and appreciation for the warm sentiments. (KUNA)
The post Meeting with HH the Amir was an honor appeared first on ARAB TIMES - KUWAIT NEWS.
#kuwait Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=11857&feed_id=9821
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bigbirdgladiator · 4 years
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Yaoundé (AFP) - Cameroon's 87-year-old President Paul Biya has made a televised address to his people ending more than two months of silence as the central African nation dealt with a burgeoning coronavirus crisis. Biya's long silence was for supporters a sign of gravitas but for critics one of failure. "Like most countries in the world Cameroon is suffering from COVID-19," Biya said Tuesday night on state channel CRTV.
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Yaoundé (AFP) - Cameroon's 87-year-old President Paul Biya has made a televised address to his people ending more than two months of silence as the central African nation dealt with a burgeoning coronavirus crisis. Biya's long silence was for supporters a sign of gravitas but for critics one of failure. "Like most countries in the world Cameroon is suffering from COVID-19," Biya said Tuesday night on state channel CRTV.
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hkformalengwriting · 4 years
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Cameroon: Cameroon Releases Prisoners, Excluding Anglophones, to Limit COVID-19 Spread
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J [RFI] Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has made one of his first public appearances since Covid-19 struck the country, announcing the release of some prisoners in order to prevent the spread of the virus in overcrowded jails. The decree does not include Anglophones detained as part of the ongoing crisis in the North-West and South-West regions.
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innercitypress · 5 years
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On Cameroon Staged Q&A in UN of Guterres Who Bans Inner City Press Quest... On Cameroon Staged Q&A in UN of Guterres Who Bans Inner City Press Questions UNansweredBy Matthew Russell Lee, CJR PFT NY Post UNITED NATIONS GATE, November 15 --After Paul Biya who has ruled Cameroon for 36 years lied that Transparency International was observing his re-coronation, and burned village after village in the Anglophone regions while hiring lobbyists to seek and get support from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, on October 22 he claimed to win over 71% of the vote and even that 16% of those eligible voted in the Anglophone North-West and South-West regions. None of this is credible. Nor, in contexts, is Guterres' UN system's hand picked interlocutors and belated expressions of concern after he sold out for more than a yearand most recently has refused through two spokesmen to respond to or even acknowledge Inner City Press' formal written question about Biya's jailing of journalist Mimi Mefo.However, even banned from "his" UN for 128 days and counting for quoting Guterres' own staff on WHY he sold out - for favors in the UN Budget Committee -- we continue to transmit the bogus answers Guterres spokesmen hand out in person, on November 14 to a long time correspondent who previously cackled that "the Anglophones have been doing some shooting." Video of that here.November 14 video here, and here the UN's answer which Guterres' spokesmen didn't even send to Inner City Press despite its many written questions which Guterres' USG Alison Smale promised UNSR David Kaye would be answered, but aren't being: "Yes, Evelyn? UN Correspondents Association seat:  Thank you, Steph.  Oh, Steph.  Sorry.  You aren’t Steph. Deputy Spokesman:  Tomorrow it will be Steph [Dujarric]. Question:  You are Farhan.  Do you have an update on Cameroon?  The Government says 30… they killed 30 in a two-day… of Anglophones in a two-day battle.  Also, mayors in Anglophone regions have been targeted, and maybe a few hundred have been dead since this conflict began. Deputy Spokesman:  Yes.  We've been concerned about the latest reports of violence in Cameroon.  The continuing concerns that we have been saying about the situation in… particularly in the Anglophone part of Cameroon continue, and we would need to get further information on exactly what is happening.  But, of course, as you know, we have asked in the past and continue to ask for restraint on the part of the security forces there. Question:  Is anybody on the scene from the UN? Deputy Spokesman:  As you know, our envoy, François Louncény Fall, has been dealing with this primarily.  But, yes, throughout, the various arms of the UN system, including our human rights bodies, are also watching the situation." Yeah - just watching, as civilians are killed.  The UN's statements of concern, here from UNHCR whose staffer Nadine Njoya called for "harsher repression" of Anglophones by Paul Biya and whose Deputy Volker Turk refused to answer on that, and appeared not to know there ARE any refugees from Cameroon in Nigeria: "The number of Cameroonian refugees fleeing violence and seeking refuge in Nigeria crossed the 30,000 mark this week. Refugees fleeing the South-West and North-West Regions of Cameroon have been arriving since September 2017. Almost 600 arrived in refugee settlements in the last two weeks. Four out of every five of those registered so far are women and children, driven out after last year’s protests turned violent. They are being sheltered in Nigeria’s states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Benue and Taraba, most of them being hosted within local communities. Most of the latest arrivals come from the Akwaya and Eyumojock sub-divisions in Cameroon. People are telling us they were ordered to leave their houses due to increasing violence in their home areas. As official border entry points remain closed, UNHCR and its partners are present at the border areas inside Nigeria, around the most used informal access points, to assess the situation and the needs of new arrivals. UNHCR is facilitating the voluntary relocation of refugees from the border points to the settlements of Adagom (Cross River) and Anyake (Benue), which provide better security and shelter as well as access to essential services such as food, health or education. We are working with the Nigerian Government, through its National Commission for Refugees (NCFRMI), and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). This crisis erupted last year after protests turned violent, amid calls for secession. So far this year, some 400 civilians have been killed in escalating attacks between separatist groups and government forces, according to rights groups. Currently, more than 9,000 Cameroonian refugees have been moved to new settlements, where they receive food as well as essential items such as mattresses, mosquito nets, stoves and cooking utensils, as well as equipment to build shelters. With bricks, timber, nails or corrugated iron sheets, they can start to rebuild a place to call home. These settlements allow better access to critical assistance. Our partners on the ground distribute dignity kits for women and girls. These kits include, among other items, buckets, soap and towels. In some instances, cash assistance is provided to enable refugees in the settlements to buy food directly from the markets in host communities, as those settlements are meant to facilitate the integration of those forced to flee and those welcoming them. Despite all our efforts and those of our partners, the needs of the refugees are far from being met. Another 21,000 refugees are currently living with host communities, in over 50 localities spread across an area of some 116,000 square kilometres. The rainy season and harsh road conditions to remote areas makes the assistance to the refugees outside of the newly-developed settlement very difficult, with acute needs for food, shelter, water and sanitation. Education is also one of such essential needs, with 48 per cent of the registered refugees being of school age yet out of school, for more than two years for many of them. Inside Cameroon, access to areas affected in North West and South West is very limited. Humanitarian agencies are discussing with the government the need for improved access to the displaced population. It is estimated that some 436,000 people may be internally displaced. Together with OCHA, which coordinates the UN response in the country, we have started deploying personnel in Buea to help meet the needs of the displaced people." Some of this is dubious - Deputy Turk of UNHCR, when Inner City Press asked, did not even seem to know there ARE Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria, see below. Similarly the stories told to date about the 90 students now released do not add up. The government railed about 79 released, at a video of 11 student circulated. The parents were not allowed into the school, nor told which of their children were kidnapped and which not. Now 90 have been released, with the quiet announcement that 11 had been kidnappeearlier, on October 31. So they were the ones in the video, not the 79? The media which have not covered, or mis-covered, Biya's abuses will move on, like the UN, declaring this a victory. We'll have more on this. On November 4 Biya's forces arrested more people for protesting the fraudulent results, in Bafoussam in the West region of Cameroon denouncing what they call an “electoral hold up” by Biya. This follows arrests in Douala and Yaounde, on all of which Antonio "Traveling Man" Guterres has been characteristically silent. Nor have Guterres' spokesmen being answering Inner City Press' questions on Cameroon including this on November 6: "November 6-1: On Cameroon, first please immediately now five days after ASG Ursula Mueller's Nov 1 presentation (at the Norway Mission) about Cameroon provide a copy or summary of her remarks. Second, what is the SG's knowledge of, comment and action on, the reporting kidnapping of students in Anglophone Cameroon, with the kidnappers caught saying 'tu perds ton temps'?" Dujarric's Deputy emailed banned Inner City Press: "Regarding your first question, we have just issued the following statement: The Secretary-General condemns the reported kidnapping on 5 November of students and staff from a secondary school in Bamenda, North-West region of Cameroon. He calls for their immediate release and return to their homes and families. There can be no justification for these crimes against civilians, particularly minors. The Secretary-General reiterates the need for a peaceful solution to the crisis in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon through an inclusive dialogue process. The United Nations stands ready to assist in this regard. Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General New York, 6 November 2018"  So what about that French? No answer. Now the issue will be pushed behind, with the release of 90 and not the state 79 students. Nor did the UN informInner City Press, despite its questions, that Guterres' Ursula Mueller, who previously visited Cameroon without going to the Anglophone areas (Inner City Press asked her why, before being roughed up and banned), had given a November 1 briefing a Norway's mission to the UN on 50th Street, leaked invitation here. We will ask the UN about this, even amid Guterres' ongoing censorship of Press. Should we expect a UN statement on students kisnapped or taken hostage? Who would draft it? Watch this site. On November 2 Inner City Press asked the deputy of the UN refugee agency UNHCR Volker Turk about the refoulement of AyukTabe and 46 others from Nigeria, the Cameroonian refugees and the UNHCR staffer who previously called online for harsher repression by Biya. Video here.Troublingly, Volker first responded about only the Far North of Cameroon, then implied that displaced Anglophones all remain inside Cameroon and not in deplorable conditions across the border in Nigeria, from which some were illegally returned. He did not answer the question about UNHCR's own staffer, whom will therefore name: Nadine Njoya. How is this acceptable? The UN of Antonio Guterres remains silent, including the the face of multiple questions from the Press (which Guterres has banned) as journalists and peaceful protesters, bystanders and perceived opponents are arrested. On the morning ofOctober 29 Inner City Press in writing asked Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, "October 29-3: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action on the government's arrests of peaceful protesters in Douala, Yaounde and elsewhere over the weekend?" Now on October 30, no answer at all, while Dujarric is tweeting his photos from a ferry to the Upper East Side and blocking the Press. On November 2 when, after questioning UNHCR's Turk Inner City Press asked Dujarric if Guterres has congratulated Biya, Dujarric said "I don't know" and biked away. Video here, looped 6-second Vine here. Guterres has gone for four days on the UN's and public's dime to his real home in Lisbon, for a speech with little to do with the UN and a dubious award. We'll have more on this. Among the journalists outrageously locked up by Biya: ElvisMcCarthy, Thomas Awah Junior, Tsi Conrad and Mancho Bibixy; quickly added to by the detentions of Michel Biem Tong and Mathias Mouenda Ngamo. Then again, Guterres and Dujarric (and others) worked to have Inner City Press which asks them about Cameroon and corruption roughed up, twice, and now banned from the UN for 118 days from noon briefing in which, for days, no one let it ask anything about anything in Africa, much less Cameroon. The UN of Guterres and Dujarric is corrupt. We'll have more on this - and this: here are just some of Inner City Press questions to Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, which USG Alison Smale promised UNSR David A. Kaye would be answered - but not a single one has: "October 22-1: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action on... the surrounding of Kah Walla's house by police, the slowing / shut off of Facebook and WhatsApp, etc? What is his comment on Obiang of Equatorial Guinea having congratulated Biya on re-election 2 days before the results? October 23-1: On Cameroon, does the SG agree that there were “irregularities in the re-election” of Paul Biya? Again, what is his comment on the government's false claim that Transparency International observed the election? Does he think the reported turn-out and results in the Anglophone regions are credible? Where IS Francois Fall? When is the last time he was in Cameroon? October 24-1:  On Cameroon, beyond the unanswered questions below, what is the SG's comment and action on the arrest of journalist Michele Biem Tong? In terms of corruption and the credibility of the Oct 7 election, what is the SG's comment and action on “Cameroon’s government has issued a public tender for the construction of a new residence for the president of the Constitutional Council, the same legal body that just two days ago announced the re-election of long-time President Paul Biya”?   No answers, just a reiterate that Guterres has put Inner City Press on a permanently banned list that the UN will not disclose, under Global Censor Alison Smale. We'll have more on this. Major countries' business with Biya continues, not only from Biya's long time supporter France but also the UK's New Age natural gas deal of which Minister Liam Fox bragged. UK Minister for Africa Harriett Baldwin was asked about her congratulations to Biya and doubled down, calling it a "new" government. After 36 years, what's new about it? Now another journalist has been arrested, according to multiple credible souces: Mathias Mouene Ngamo. And from the UN, where banned Inner City Press asks SG Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, no answer, despite the promises of USG Alison Smale. This while Inner City Press appeal of the FCO's withholding of Cameroon information remains pending with the Information Commissioner's Office and another request, on collusion in censorship, pends. At 11 am on October 22 Inner City Press asked the UN, in writing because banned by SG Antonio Guterres for 110 day and counting, "October 22-1: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action on the claim of Paul Biya to have won over 70% of the vote with an unobserved 16% turn out in the NW and SW regions, the surrounding of Kah Walla's house by police, the slowing / shut off of Facebook and WhatsApp, etc? What is his comment on Obiang of Equatorial Guinea having congratulated Biya on re-election 2 days before the results?"And nearly two hours later, this from Guterres' deputy spokesman: "Regarding question 22-1, we are saying the following: The Secretary-General takes note of today’s official announcement of final results by the Constitutional Council.  All electoral disputes should be handled through established legal channels. He also reiterates his encouragement to all stakeholders to prioritize dialogue as the surest path to social cohesion and national unity." Really. We'll have more on this. Now the US State Department has chimed in, at least noting - while still not providing FOIA documents - irregularities: "The United States congratulates the people of Cameroon for largely peaceful elections on October 7. We urge all parties – including the government – to respect the rule of law, resolve peacefully any disputes through established legal channels, and avoid hate speech. While we welcome the Cameroonian Election Commission’s demonstrable improvement over the 2011 elections, there were a number of irregularities prior to, during, and after the October 7 election. These irregularities may not have affected the outcome but created an impression that the election was not credible or genuinely free and fair. We commend the African Union Election Observation Mission for its preliminary statement, notably that “the current framework needs to be strengthened in order to safeguard the democratic principles of separation of powers, fairness, and independence and impartiality.” With the conclusion of the presidential election, the United States strongly encourages both sides involved in the conflict affecting the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon to focus on resolving differences through peaceful dialogue and to allow unhindered access to humanitarian aid workers." With Cameroon's 36-year ruler Paulimposed a curfew on the Anglophone regions a week before his planned re-election on October 7, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' genocide adviser Adama Dieng in an interview with BBCsaid "things seem to be under control." Here from 2:40, and see below. Now after a canned statement to all sides by Guterres, who has bannedInner City Press from any entry into his UN, on Guterres' banned list with "political activists," the charades of an election in which Biya's spokesman declared victory even before the polling. On October 21, opposition figure Kah Walla's house was surrounded by police, journalists detained - and from Guterres' UN, nothing. Walla said, "Update 18H44-Am still under house arrest totally illegal. Fifteen policemen outside say they don't know what time it ends. They 'got orders' to stay in front of my house all day & "Wait for orders" to leave. My poor country!"  Biya's fellow long time ruler Teodoro Obiang Nguema has already congratulated Biay for re-election, days before the results were to be announced on October 22: ""Sincere and effusive congratulations for your re-election... The people of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea and his Government join me in expressing to your Excellency our sincere and heartfelt congratulations on your re-election as President of the Republic of Cameroon in the past presidential election," Obiang's congratulations read. One imagine Antonio Guterres getting his congratulations ready, the subtext being thanks for help as chair of the UN Budget Committee, for covering of which Inner City Press ws roughed up on July 3 and banned for 108 days since. Opposition candidate Maurice Kamto argued that the poll should be canceled in seven out of 10 regions of the country, because his team observed "massive irregularities", "disregard of electoral laws", and in particular "insecurity and fraud in troubled Anglophone regions" during the vote."After examining the nine complaints of Maurice Kamto, the Council declares that the petition lacks evidence, is unfounded and therefore rejected," Clement Atangana, president of the Constitutional Council, said - Biya's man. Biya's forces have shut down a press conference by Maurice Kamto. And now it is concluded that Guterres' "colleagues" statement this week about hate speech in Cameroon was in fact again on behalf of 36 year rule Biya, and directed only at the opposition. From Yaounde: "Yesterday’s hearing was filled with Elecam and government’s reaction to post electoral complains from Maurice Kamto’s legal team. Taking the floor, Gregoire Owona, Cameroon’s Minister of Labor and Social Security, accused Maurice Kamto of being an ungrateful tribalist. Owona wondered why the CRM Presidential candidate brought up the issue of Bamileke and Beti to the court. To him, by using such examples, Maurice Kamto is trying to promote hate among peaceful Cameroonians." So those whose press conferences are shut down by Biya are then accused of hate speech by the UN of Guterres, who had Inner City Press roughed up and banned for 107 days and counting. We'll have more on this. In the first of two days of hearings on objections, Justice Clement Atangana, president of the Constitutional Council, pronouned that "Only the President of the Republic who appoints members of the Council has the jurisdiction to sack or question the neutrality of the Council members," Atangana said, "so the petition is inadmissible." So only incumbent candidate Biya controls this review.  The public be damnded: Rigobert Aminou Gabanmidanha, a voter,  demanded complete cancellation of the vote, citing "irregularities, disregard of electoral code and rigging" observed during the poll. Atangana said the Council rules only on petitions filed by candidates, political parties which took part in the election or any person serving as a representative of the administration for the election. "You were not a candidate. You were not a representative of the administration for the election. Therefore, you have no quality to petition the Council," Atangana said, dismissing the petition as "null and void". Reuters edited by Edward McAllister purported to cover the hearing without mentioning these outrageous rulings and reasoning. Call it a colonial cover up, like Guterres' UN.The final nail is expected to be declared by the Council by Oct. 22.Inner City Press sent questions to Guterres' spokesman day after day; on October 16 lead spokesman Stephane Dujarric at his "noon" briefing read out a statement and his deputy Farhan Haq e-mailed it to Inner City Press after 2 pm, here: "Our colleagues of the UN Country Team in Cameroon are expressing their concern about hate speech focused on ethnicity following the October 7th presidential polls The UN received reports of individuals from opposing communities threatening to attack members of other communities, their properties in Yaoundé, businesses in Douala and other parts of the country, while others have been inciting hatred and violence along ethnic lines, using derogatory language. The United Nations reiterates that all stakeholders must exercise restraint and ensure a peaceful process as Cameroonians await the final elections on October 22nd. The UN condemns all threats of violence or acts of intimidation and urges all actors to prevent risks to the electoral processes. The United Nations continues to follow the situation in Cameroon and expresses concern about increasing violence in the North-West and South-West regions." Compare to this, from Maurice Kamto: "information of the electoral results from the National Vote Counting Commission of the recent presidential election is currently circulating in the social media. According to this information, candidate Paul BIYA has won with an overwhelming victory. In reaction to this falsified victory, CRM and its coalition of political parties and other organisations built in support of the candidacy of Maurice KAMTO have categorically rejected these falsified results. These fake figures are originating from fabricated result shits of some fake observers who claimed to be of Transparency International, but were later on unmasked, as they were trying to convince the national and international public to accept. The coalition in this election continues to insist on the victory of Maurice KAMTO in relation to the original result shits of the polls at the end of the day of October 7, 2018. In addition, the coalition rejects all forms of violence the regime is struggling to attribute on the coalition. It wishes to inform the national and international public of the regime's acts in orchestrating provocation to trigger post-election violence and at the same time blaming it on the coalition. For example: 1) The questioning and hearing of some of our militants in various localities of the country by the security forces; 2) The intimidation of our militants and sympathizers by people who seem to belong to a militia in the neighbourhoods; 3) The incitement of ethnic hatred between communities by the use of tribalistic and ethnic slurs; 4) The spread of hate speech in the public and certain private media; 5) The arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr. Thierry OKALA EBODE, Deputy National Treasurer of the CRM, whose only fault is to have denounced a fraud that involved the usurpation of his identity by another voter; the latter haven been assisted by the president of the polling station is until now surprising protected; 6) The expulsion, manu militari, from polling stations of representatives of CRM in most of the three Northern regions - Adamaoua, North and Far North , as well as in the East and South Regions, and certain divisions in the Centre, West and South West Regions; 7) Permanent harassment of coalition members by the security forces. The coalition urges the people to remain vigilant and not to allow their victory to be stolen. The Coalition for the candidacy of Maurice KAMTO." On October 11 this US State Department statement, attributable to Spokesperson Heather Nauert: "The United States reiterates its neutrality with respect to Cameroonians’ right to choose their leader and calls for calm and the careful, non-partisan conclusion of the remaining phases of the vote tabulation process.  We appeal to all Cameroonians to exercise patience and avoid hate speech. We encourage Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) and the Constitutional Council to release results polling site by polling site to enhance transparency and citizens' confidence in the outcome.  Any disputes should be resolved peacefully and through established legal channels.  The United States remains a committed partner on electoral, political, economic, and human rights reforms in Cameroon." Biya has a new contract to lobby the US and "multilateral" organizations like the UN, where Guterres offered to help Biya's government and has banned Inner City Press from entering the UN in any capacity at all. Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric has not answered "October 9-1: On Cameroon, describe the UN's support to ELECAM and its communications, which have included the statement the voting went of “without a hitch” amid burning of homes by the government." More than a day later, no answer from Guterres' Spokesman Stephane Dujarric who on October 11 cut off a question as to why and on what basis Guterres banned Inner City Press from entering the UN in any capacity. Meanwhile he has not answered this: "October 11-1: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and actin on that at a hearing at the Yaounde Appeals Court today for the fifth time, Sissiku Ayuk Tabe and his fellow defendants -- refouled from Nigeria while the DSG was there -- were not present in court, despite a court order saying they should be there. “We have fears that if they cannot be brought even at the level of the court of appeal, then there is something wrong,” Mr Ndong said The next hearing comes up on 1 November and the lawyer said if the defendants are not physically present, then the government "should present certificates of life to show that they are alive”. Also, what is the SG's comment on Cameroon being set to be elected to the UN Human Rights Council tomorrow on a “clean” slate?" We'll have more on this. Now as Biya's state television has lied that Transparency International observed and approved the electoral process, the UN is silent and refuses to explain whether its support of ELECAM's communications included or encouraged this. Meanwhile, Biya's government has signed a new public relations and lobbying contract, with Glover Park Group for more than $600,000. The one-year contract went into effect Sept. 1. Either party upon receipt of 30 days' notice may terminate the contract. If the termination occurs before Feb. 28, Cameroon's embassy will pay the WPP Group unit all monthly fees and expenses through Feb. 28. The FARA filing says, "Registrant will provide government affairs and communications services and support to the Embassy of the Republic of Cameroon and related agencies with regard to its relations with the United States and relevant multilateral institutions" - more UN lobbying. On October 8, Inner City Press asked Guterres' spokesman in writing (since it remains banned from noon "press" briefing, 97 days and counting), "On the Cameroon election, given the low turn out and state violence in the Anglophone areas what is the SG's comment and action?" See below. From the UK's Minister Harriett Baldwin, this: "UK concerned by reports of violence & casualties on polling day in Anglophone regions of #Cameroon & by how difficult it was for citizens to vote there. UK calls on all parties to follow proper procedures for tallying results, exercise restraint & avoid pre-empting the outcome." Call them crocodile tears, as the UK never called a UN Security Council meeting on Biya's slaughter in the area, and its FCO has yet to provide documents in response to Inner City Press' Freedom of Information request about the UK Mission's role in British UN official Alison Smale's ghoulish no due process ban for life of Inner City Press from the UN. See bus stop studio interview of October 8, here. Inside the UN, from which Inner City Press was banned for the 97th day, tor the second time in a week, the retired - from UK Reuters - correspondent, good friend of Guterres' Global Censor Alison Smale, who famously said "the Anglophones have been doing some shooting" asked a softball question in response to which this was read out and then emailed to Inner City Press, which publishes it in full: "Regarding the Cameroon election, we are saying the following: The UN is not mandated to observe the ongoing electoral process. Therefore, the Organization is not in a position to assess the conduct of the election.The UN in Cameroon played a technical advisory role in the electoral process, supporting Cameroon’s electoral management body (ELECAM) in the areas of capacity building, strategic communication, civic and voter education.  The UN has advocated for and promoted the participation of women and youth, internally displaced persons and people with disabilities. It has worked with the National Communication Council (NCC), the media and political parties to prevent hate speech and promote the peaceful coverage of the election.We are concerned about reports of displacements, threats and violence that may have impacted participation in some parts of the North-West and South-West regions. We condemn all forms of incitement or acts of violence and intimidation by any group and reiterates the Secretary-General’s call for an inclusive dialogue process to address grievances and prevent the further escalation of violence. We also encourage the Government of Cameroon to grant unfettered access to human rights and humanitarian actors to all areas affected by violence." So the UN is supporting ELECAM in communcations such as this, from ELECAM's Essosse Erik, "With the exception of certain polling stations which functioned following a security plan in the Northwest and Southwest regions given the prevailing situation, voting operations as a whole were conducted hitch-free within the country and in the diaspoara. It was peaceful." Will Guterres echo this? Essosse Erik added, "Rendez-vous latest 22 October 2018 for the proclamation of the final result." For now the award for most colonial media coverage for now goes to Reuters, whose Edward McAllister blames the victims of Biya's crackdown for "draining the life" out of the areas Biya's army has burned. This is the same Reuters whose Stephen J. Adler was happy with Guterres banning Inner City Press from his "Press Freedom" event in the UN in late September, after his UN bureau chief  urged Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric to oust Inner City Press from the UN then got his leaked complaint removed from Google Search by (mis) using the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. McAllister, who as Reuters West and Central Africacorrespondent has fewer than 2000 Twitter followers despite being on the platform since 2012 bemoans as he features a photo of a beach the loss for international tourists of the fight back. Biya could not have taken a more blame the victim line, nor even Guterres' Global Communicator and Censor Alison Smale, whose propaganda "UN News Centre" has issued a story about Cameroon which emphasizes Boko Haram and not Biya's killings in the Anglophone zones. Her DPI's most recent or relevant Cameroon stories are about Bakassi - and all the way back to Kofi Annan - who as we've noted, never had roughed up much less banned for 95+ days the media criticized him. Guterres and Biya: birds of a feather. And Issa Chiroma Bakary and Smale... Meanwhile Biya's spokesman Issa Chiroma Bakary has been filmed saying that "President Biya has already won an overwhelming victory" -- before the October 7 voting has even began. Video from Garoua here. What will the distracted, many say bought off UN of Guterres say or do? Bakary's also ghoulish statement follows the one of October 4 from the Deputy Spokesman of Guterres (who remained silent for at least a year on the slaughter of Anglophones, and according to the government offered to help them not be criticized in "Anglo-Saxon" press, one of which he's banned) -- "Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the presidential election in Cameroon As Cameroon prepares for presidential elections on 7 October, the Secretary-General encourages all Cameroonians to exercise their democratic right and calls for a peaceful, credible and inclusive process. The Secretary-General calls on all stakeholders to exercise restraint before, during and after the election. He also urges all candidates to address any complaints related to the electoral process through established legal and constitutional channels. The Secretary-General condemns all threats of violence or acts of intimidation by any group and reiterates that all grievances should be addressed through an inclusive dialogue. The United Nations stands ready to provide support in this regard. Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, New York, 4 October 2018." We'll have more on this. How can the UN view Biya's repeatcandidates as under control when as reported "Candidates for the office of President of the Republic... have to show proof of having resided in Cameroon for an uninterrupted period of at least 12 (twelve) months." How many of these months was Biya in Geneva? Meanwhile he returned to give a gift to Japan's outgoing Ambassador to YaoundeKunio Okamura: "a special gift to the Japanese Diplomat – as a symbol of the hospitality of the Cameroonian people, and the win-win relationship existing between Yaounde and Tokyo. H.E. Kunio Okamura will be remembered for fast-tracking the road projects along the Yaounde-Brazzaville corridor and that linking Cameroon to Chad."On Guterres' Dieng, given that what control exists is the product of state violence by 36 year ruler Paul Biya, Inner City Press banned from the UN after asking Guterres about his silence immediately published a story with Guterres adviser Dieng's troubling "under control" quote. And now BBC has edited or disappeared Dieng's "under control" line out from his response in a longer piece for Africa Today. Audio answer here from Minute 7. Why is BBC burying its own news to make the UN of Guterres and Dieng look better? Perhaps relatedly, with Inner City Press' physical ouster from the UN and banning since having been covered by the UK Independent, Fox, the Columbia JounralismReview, then CNN and Politico, BuzzFeed then The Hill, and the New York Post (two-pager), among others, why has not a word about it been on BBC, which previously had Inner City Press on, for example here, as a guest? Too close to the UN? We've asked their correspondent on the sidewalk in front of the UN, to which we are for not confined to ask our questions. We'll have more on this. Dieng'sbelated and some say cynical call for an independent investigation of what he characterizes as "violence on both sides" with an emphasis on what he calls "separatists" is a continuation of a pro-Biya line adopted by Guterres since he took office, or since Cameroon took the chair of the UN Budget Committee. The BBC did not ask Dieng about this, nor about the UK's role including that of Ministers Harriett Baldwin and Alistair Burt and Minister Liam Fox bragged about UK-based New Age's natural gas contract with UK-based New Age. Guterres has had Inner City Press roughed up and banned from the UN as it asked him about this, including photo-journalism on him and Dieng, here, now prevented since 3 July 2018. Continuing its reporting from the sidewalk in front of the UN as it will until these policies and the ban are reversed, Inner City Press questioned Dieng who insisted that "separatists must not be encouraged." Video here. Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric on September 28 insisted the ban is not about Inner City Press' reporting or questions on Cameroon, Guterres' conflicts of interest and corruption, but "behavior" - while claiming to be answered Inner City Press' questions (largely false so far) and that the ban is not for life, while providing no road map to end it and resume UNcensored reporting. Video here. On October 1 in lieu of being able to attend the less than 20 minute noon briefing, Inner City Press asked: "October 1-1: On Cameroon, beyond the unanswered questions below, what is the SG's comment and action on the curfew imposed in Anglophone areas in the run-up to the October 7 elections? Again, what if any is the UN's role in those elections?" Later in the day this arrived from UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply and we publish it in full: "Your question on Cameroon: We remain concerned about the situation in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon and the impact that the violence is having on the civilian population. We urge all parties to fully respect international humanitarian and human rights law, guarantee the protection of civilians and facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access to the North-West and South-West regions. The United Nations remains available to work with the Cameroonian authorities in their efforts to find a peaceful resolution of the crisis." So no role in the elections? And what about the many other specific questions?  As the Cameroon government of 36 year President Paul Biya slaughters civilians in the Anglophone regions as well as in the North, it re-engaged Washington lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggsand Mercury Public Affairs, documents show. The UN belatedly acknowledged to Inner City Press, which UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had roughed up on July 3 right after it spoke to Cameroon's Ambassador Tommo Monthe and on August 17declared banned for life from entering the UN that Guterres met with a Cameroon delegation on July 11. And they discussed, disturbingly, strategies to reduce negative coverage of Biya's killings, see below. Guterres' team is now refusing to answer basic questions from Inner City Press, such as on September 27, a day on which the briefing Inner City Press was banned from put only one question to spokesman Stephane Dujarric, Inner City Press submitted more in writing including "September 27-1: On Cameroon, beyond the unanswered questions below, what is the SG's comment and action on the multiple reports of seven young men just assassinated by the government in Buea?" The question has not been answered, despite Dujarric receiving only one other questions. Inner City Press has also asked: "September 24-1: On Cameroon, many in the country are expressing concern and some asking Inner City Press about UN vehicles recently photographed arriving in the port of Doula. Please immediately state UN's knowledge and explanation of these vehicles. Also, including because Cameroon was not mentioned in SG's AU read-out, please inform Inner City Press if and when the situation in North-West or South-West Cameroon comes up in any of the SG's meeting this week." Two days later, no answer - Guterres' silence and censorship continues. The next day Inner City Press asked this, also UNanswered a day later: "September 25-1: On Cameroon, beyond the UNanswered questions below, please state the UN's role(s) in the October 7 elections, and the SG's comment and action on doubts about voting and counting in the North-West and South-West (Anglophone) regions." Instead Guterres is doubling down on censoring, rebuffing even one of his own Special Representatives who urged him to stop banning Inner City Press - instead, even from an UNGA event on slavery and banks to which Inner City Press' RSVP had been accepted by a Mission and UNU, Guterres banned Inner City Press and his Deputy Amina J. Mohammed, when her office was called and written to, did nothing. Now an event on "UN human rights" - an oxymoron - looms, with no response from elsewhere in Guterres' network of censorship. This is corruption. Now Biya's government is raising the specter of Anglophones, or as the UN of Guterres seems to say, secessionists, in the capital Yaounde. A crackdown is foretold in the neighborhoods of Obili, Biyem-Assi, Etoug-ebe. Photo here. And the UN says nothing, refusing to answer even the simplest of questions from Inner City Press which Guterres had roughed up and banned from the UN for 80 days now, on September 21 to be prevented from questioning Geoffrey Onyeama the foreign minister of Nigeria which engaged in the illegal refoulement Guterres supposedly cared about, for 47 including Ayuk Tabe. For now, here were Inner City Press' questions, and his answers, last UNGA High Level week before Guterres got even worse than he was then. On September 19 in a briefing Inner City Press was prohibited from attending, Guterres' special adviser on the prevention of genocide Adama Dieng said, as to Cameroon, that nothing must be done to encourage secession - a position that while Guterres' goes beyond what is supposed to be Dieng's focus, preventing the killing of people based on ethnicity or, here, language. As luck would have it, Inner City Press while conducting its daily sidewalk interviews at the UN Delegates' Entrance gate on September 20 asked Dieng why he'd done beyond his mandate. He said that he wants to visit the country.Video here. Then, still in the morning, Inner City Press asked Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who USG Alison Smale said would be answering writting questions, this: "September 20-3: On Cameroon, please confirm that the SG's adviser Dieng is seeking to visit the country and explain both how it is within his mandate to speak, as he did yesterday in the briefing like today's by the SG I am banned from, in opposition to any encouragement of secession and how the SG thinks this position is a legitimate one for the UN and separately how it could play a role if it has already said what the outcome should be." Six hours later, nothing at all. Guterres' UN is corrupt.  Now in North-West Region travel restrictions have been imposed - in fact, one can't leave without saying exactly where one is going. Photo here. It was impossible for Inner City Press to get any comment from the UN of Guterres, since he has banned Inner City Press from the building for 77 days now, and his spokesman Stephane Dujarric has not been answering any written questions, including about sexual abuse by a Cameroon Army "peacekeeper" in the Central African Republic, here.A campaign to gain the release of imprisoned and increasingly sick journalist Thomas Awah is being ignored by the authorities. In Ekonain South-West Region Cameroon's government has engaged in what's become their trademark abuse, the killing at point blank range of civilians, in this case Bezeng Jonas and his sons, one of whom was attending University of Buea. Where are the "positive steps" the UK Mission's Karen Pierce asserted this week to Inner City Press across the street from the UN, from which British USG Alison Smale hasbanned Inner City Press for 66 days with assists?  Things havereportedly reached the point that in Lebialem Division in the South West region officials have de facto separated the country by instituting an ‘Access Card’ from locals fleeing insecurity in the division. Oneneeds to pay FCFA 20, 000 for the 'Laissez passer' to cross over." After Guterres did nothing, in order to try to get Cameroon's support as chair of UN Budget Committee, and after again refusing Inner City Press' questions on August 31, video here, is now in China which is arming Biya. Now with Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric cutting off question and saying Guterres' ban of Inner City Press is "settled" and that it cannot enter to cover the General Assembly high level week where last year Guterres greeted Paul Biya, Guterres is headed to China September 1-4. And here's from China state media: "In March, Cameroonian President Paul Biya was the first African leader to visit China this year. It was the sixth trip to China by the president. Fruitful deals from FOCAC Beijing summit can significantly revamp the country's economy," Mpoche said. "That is why, I think the Belt and Road Initiative is laudable." According to the Cartel of Cameroon Entrepreneurs, known in its French acronym as GICAM, close to 100 Cameroonian businessmen will visit China on the sidelines of the Beijing summit, scheduled for early September. The businessmen traveling to China intend to seize the opportunity and sign deals with Chinese private companies to "boost our cooperation and create more jobs for the youths back home," said Magloire, the rapporteur at Cameroon's Ministry of Economy and Finance."  The article makes no mention of Southern Cameroons and Biya's killings - nor, apparently, will Guterres. We'll have more on this.Here are questions Guterres and his spokesman, contrary to the promise of evicter Alison Smale, has left UNanswered: "August 27-6: August 22-3: On Cameroon, your belated July 11 read out does not answer the questions Inner City Press has asked. Before asking more, there are now broken out by letter for ease of reference and for belated answer today, as well as this: was DSG Mohammed present at the July 11 meeting? And what is the SG's response to what was said about him in the demonstration by Anglophone Cameroonians in Washington yesterday? How does he respond to their charges of corruption? a) Cameroon has hired Mercury Public Affairs for $100,000 a month, even as the UN is paying money to the government. Is UN money being used for the mass killing cover up campaign? Are there any safeguards in place? b) please disclose any and all other meeings the SG has had this year arranged by paid lobbyists. [responded to Aug 22, but see (d) below: c) what is the SG's comment on the recent announcement of seven arrests for summary executions, and the newer video of Cameroon Army executions that has emerged? d) Specifically, how are these videos being incorporated into the supposed vetting of Cameroon's contributions to UN Peacekeeping missions? e) please provide a list and read-out of each of the Secretary General's meetings and communications with Cameroon Ambassador Tommo Monthe during Monthe's time as chair of the Fifth (Budget) Committee. [semi-answered Aug 22 f) In light of statements at the August 8 noon briefing please state whether envoy Fall even requested to meet with President Paul Biya or whether the UN believes that Biya is once again out of the country, in Geneva. Has the UN ever met with Biya in Geneva? ] g) I reiterate August 7-1 and 8-1 and 9-1, on this: was the SG or anyone else in the UN aware that this Biya delegation's lobbying trip was stage managed by the DC-based lobbying firm Patton Boggs? Why was this meeting not disclosed at the time? Why is there no photo, even just UN Photo, of it? Where did it take place? Who attended, on each side? h)Has the Secretariat communicated since with the Biya government? Has it ever communicated with the opposition?"  On August 26, in Nigeria those Anglophones displaced by Biya's killings, covered up and support by Antonio "Mr. Refugees" Guterres simply so he could try to get Cameroon Ambassador Tommo Monthe's support for his power grab reform proposals, are called "invaders." But still when they are interviewed some truth emerges: "one of the refugee, Polycarp Ande who fled from Furawa Sub-division into Fikyu village alleged that Cameroonian soldiers led the ethnic cleansing of their people. According to him, hunger, elusive health care, lack of shelter and idleness were major challenges, which he noted has in turn had ripple effect on their host community, who are predominantly low scale farmers. He explained that the villagers and churches has been feeding them, and expressed worry over their increasing numbers amidst meager resources. “Some of our brothers who went back to see how the situation was in our villages keep running back as the onslaught is still going on. ” As at last Saturday, over 15 of our people came into Kpambo-piri in Ussa and more people keep coming into Nigeria every week. “Our children are the most affected because they can’t go to school and we want the government of Nigeria and the world to come to our aid." Inner City Press is inquiring with legislators in the area and others - watch this site.  On August 22, in response to detailed questions about what Guterres knew - including about Cameroon which receivedthe public's funds through the UN paying Patton Boggs and now Mercury Public Affairs, see below - his spokesman Stephane Dujarricsent Inner City Press, whom he has played his role in banning for life, this which we publish in full: "On Cameroon: On new video released on alleged human rights abuses in Cameroon: We are aware of the new video released on social media concerning alleged human rights violations in the country and remain deeply concerned over the continued violence. We are encouraged that the Government has pledged to carry out a thorough investigation into these incidents and to publish the results. We continue to ask the Government to grant unimpeded access to the UN human rights bodies. We further reiterate the need to lift all restrictions on humanitarian access to the North-West and South-West regions. On SRSG Fall’s visit to Cameroon and upcoming elections: With regard to SRSG Fall’s recent visit to Yaoundé from 4 to 9 August, as mentioned earlier, he met with the Prime Minister, the Minister of External Relations, the Minister for Territorial Administration, the President of the National Commission for the Promotion of Multiculturalism and Bilingualism, and the Director-General of Cameroon’s electoral management body, ELECAM, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, among others. In his meetings with the authorities, he discussed the situation in the country in the lead-up to the 7 October presidential election, as well as humanitarian assistance to those in urgent need. Meanwhile, the UN continues capacity-building activities, as well as voter education targeting the media and civil society in close cooperation with ELECAM ahead of the elections, and will continue to closely monitor the situation." The UN's no due process "investigation" of Inner City Press with the outcome pre-determined puts the first response into context, as does the government memodescribing Guterres that the UN won't respond to. And UN "capacity building" for Biya's latest ghoulish "election"? We aim to have more on this. Watch this site.   Guterres' Global Communicator Alison Smale's August 17 letter banning Inner City Press, on which she took 45 days to try to phrase censorship in terms of "professionalism," states that Inner City Press' questioning broadcasts on Periscope, for then 45 days at the gate outside the UN, are derogatory and even somehow dangerous.Dangerous to the cover up of Biya's killings, perhaps, and those who play a role in it. Relatedly, Google's YouTube de-monetized Inner City Press' video of questioning Guterres' Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq about Cameroon's lobbying contracts, saying the video was not appropriate for all advertisers. While that YouTube phrasing, even if accurate, would not justify a ban on Inner City Press, it is significant that after Inner City Press submitted to YouTube an appeal -- something Guterres' Kafkaesque UN does not allow for journalists -- the demonetization has been reversed: "Hi Inner City Press, Great news! After manually reviewing your video, we’ve determined that it is suitable for all advertisers: "Cameroon Leak Showed UN Guterres Offered Biya Help In Combating Bad Press He Banned No Answers" Thanks, The YouTube team."  So the coverage that UK national Alison Smale unilaterally asserts is so derogatory and dangerous as to be part of her Orwellian justification of a lifetime ban of Inner City Press is found by a party not named, as Smale is, in the video to be "suitable for all adversers." You can see it here. -- it already has 2000 views, more that the entire audience of some of those "professional" correspondents to whom Guterres and Smale give UN offices and full access. Alison Smale, and Guterres, are censors pure and simple, particularly onGuterres' shameful role in Cameroon. In a single sentence, Guterres stayed quiet on and helped cover up Paul Biya's killings of Anglophones in Cameroon because Guterres wanted the bureaucratic support of Cameroon's Ambassador Tommo Monthe, the chair of the UN Budget Committee, for his proposal some of which didn't even get enacted. Shameful, as is the lifetime ban. We'llhave more, much more, on this.
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mimimefoinfos · 2 days
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Get the Most Recent Africa News Articles, Stories & Thoughts
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soccertipsblog · 5 years
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I Ran for President in Cameroon. Here is What I Learnt (by Akere T. Muna) Akere T. Muna APO Group – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
I Ran for President in Cameroon. Here is What I Learnt (by Akere T. Muna) Akere T. Muna APO Group – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
LONDON, United Kingdom, November 14, 2018/APO Group/ — By Akere T. Muna On 6 November, Paul Biya was inaugurated for the seventh time. The 85-year-old has already been in power for the last 36 years and will now serve another seven-year term. President Biya won disputed elections on 7 October amidst rising unrest in Cameroon. […]
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investmart007 · 6 years
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JOHANNESBURG | Video shows Cameroon's soldiers shooting cowering civilians
New Post has been published on https://is.gd/uFx6fQ
JOHANNESBURG | Video shows Cameroon's soldiers shooting cowering civilians
JOHANNESBURG — A “horrifying” video circulating on social media shows Cameroon’s security forces shooting at least a dozen unarmed civilians during a counterterror operation in the Far North region, Amnesty International said Friday.
It follows another video in July that the rights group said showed Cameroonian forces shooting two women with small children strapped to their backs as suspected Boko Haram extremists.
The growing concerns about alleged abuses by a U.S. security ally pose a challenge to 85-year-old President Paul Biya, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, who is running for another term in October after taking office in 1982.
Cameroon’s government could not immediately be reached for comment but it has denied such killings by security forces in the past as they combat Boko Haram, whose fighters have spilled over the border from Nigeria and carried out bombings and other attacks.
The government also has promised investigations and defended the professionalism of its troops.
Its diplomats have sought to dismiss the earlier video, with Cameroon’s ambassador to Canada this week telling reporters in Washington: “You know what Photoshop can do.”
The latest video shows soldiers firing automatic weapons at people lying down and cowering against a wall while buildings burn in the background in the village of Achigaya. One soldier approaches, looks over the bodies and fires again at close range. Then the soldiers walk away.
Amnesty International said its analysis shows the video was apparently made by soldiers and was likely recorded before May 2016. The rights group said its analysis of weapons, dialogue and uniforms determined that the shooters were Cameroonian forces.
“Speaking in French, the soldiers describe themselves as carrying out a ‘kamikaze’ operation,” the rights group said.
It said the video backed up its July 2016 report that documented the killings of more than 30 people, including several elderly people, in the same village after a military operation that tried to recover the bodies of soldiers killed in Boko Haram.
By Associated Press ___
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newssplashy · 6 years
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Cameroon has not had a new president since Michael Jackson released “Thriller” in 1982.
And then there is the matter of its leader.
Cameroon has not had a new president since Michael Jackson released “Thriller” in 1982.
Under the 36-year leadership of President Paul Biya, the nation has been accused of numerous human rights abuses, including killing unarmed protesters, torturing detainees, shutting off the internet and locking up journalists.
Last month, Washington’s ambassador, Peter Henry Barlerin, met with the 85-year-old president, who has taken initial steps to seek re-election in October. He told Biya that he “should be thinking about his legacy and how he wants to be remembered in the history books,” saying that George Washington and Nelson Mandela were excellent role models.
The remarks caused an uproar among officials in Cameroon and in the local media, which accused him of trying to influence a foreign election. The minister of foreign affairs summoned the ambassador for a scolding. Barlerin even received death threats.
The ambassador, a career diplomat, noted that his comments were made following a discussion with the president about the need to stop the violence in areas where the military is battling a bloody separatist uprising.
“We do not have a preferred outcome for the election,” Barlerin said in a recent interview, emphasizing that he has stressed that to government officials. “We want a strong and stable Cameroon.”
The matter seemed to quiet down, temporarily, until late last month when Barlerin's photo was plastered across the covers of at least three local newspapers, which accused him of paying nearly $5 million to opposition candidates in the presidential race.
The U.S. Embassy strongly disputed the claim, releasing a statement that described the story as “entirely false.”
Opposition members also denied the reports and speculated they had been planted by the president’s supporters, who know the population would be appalled at any foreign attempt to influence elections.
“All this agitation is simply that the officials are looking for the sympathy of the people,” said Hilaire Kamga, one of the candidates running against Biya.
The controversy stirred by the American ambassador is a sign of just how deeply entrenched Cameroon’s current government is. Critics say his loyalists operate with impunity, creating nothing more than a charade of a democracy.
Cameroon has been accused of abusing human rights as it fights the militant group Boko Haram and tries to stop a secession movement being fought by an estimated 1,000 armed rebels who want to create a new, English-speaking nation they call Ambazonia. That conflict, which some analysts fear could spiral into civil war, has claimed at least 425 lives, according to UNICEF, and is spilling into new territories.
Amnesty International said on Thursday it had gathered “credible evidence” that an assault depicted in a horrifying video, showing the shooting deaths of several women and infants by men in camouflaged uniforms, appears to have been carried out by Cameroonian soldiers battling Boko Haram in the country’s Far North. Cameroon’s military and government officials called it “fake news.”
The storm caused by Barlerin's remarks about Biya’s legacy is not the first time American diplomats have become entangled in election controversy on the continent.
In Kenya during the Obama era, Johnnie Carson, then the top American official for Africa, repeatedly warned during the 2013 presidential election that “choices have consequences.” His remarks were interpreted as taking sides against one of the candidates, Uhuru Kenyatta, who had been accused of crimes against humanity. Carson’s words seemed to backfire, energizing an electorate that voted Kenyatta into office.
Cameroon’s opposition is fractured, and, like in past elections, no candidate with a mass following has emerged. Analysts fear that many voters who most likely would cast a ballot for someone other than the incumbent probably will not be able to vote because of violence that will keep polls from opening.
Some Cameroonians are so fed up with the government they may withhold their vote in protest, said Hans De Marie Heungoup, a Central Africa senior analyst for the International Crisis Group. Some protests could turn violent, he said, and the military has a record of firing on unarmed protesters.
Past elections won by Biya have been called flawed and full of irregularities.
Even though victory for Biya seems likely if he formally joins the race, his supporters were still miffed at what they interpreted as an attempt at a foreign government to urge him to step down.
“The American ambassador is not an enemy of Cameroon,” said Saint-Eloi Bidoung, a first deputy mayor in Yaoundé, the capital, and a member of the governing party. “But he should know that the departure of President Biya from power depends solely on the will of Cameroonians, and not from a foreign power, even the United States of America.”
Emmanuel Simh, a founding member of the opposition Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon, called the ambassador’s remarks “normal diplomacy” and said they caused a stir only because Biya’s supporters are panicked about losing power.
For most of the past few months, Biya has been present in Cameroon, a notable fact for a president who spends considerable time in a hotel in Switzerland. An investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project found that Biya has spent a total of 4 1/2 years abroad on private trips. During 2006 and 2009 he spent a third of his time out of the country.
Biya was absent in 2016 when a train overloaded with passengers derailed, killing dozens. And last year when protests by separatists turned violent, the president was in Switzerland.
Critics call him the President of the Hotel Intercontinental, for his preferred accommodation in Geneva.
The Corruption Reporting Project estimated that Biya has spent $182 million of public money on his private travel. Nearly half of the nation’s population lives below the poverty line.
That Biya can spend so much time abroad with few implications at home demonstrates his grasp on power.
Government officials have benefited from Biya’s long tenure. Like many nations in the region, Cameroon is a place of haves and have-nots. Outside Yaoundé, golden painted homes sit atop lush hillsides while beaten-down shacks line the roads at the bottom.
“Ministers,” locals sigh and shrug when asked who lives on the hilltops.
Any plans for a post-Biya nation are murky. If he wins the presidency again, Biya would be in his 90s by the end of his seven-year term. If he were to die in office, the Senate president would take over until an election is held two months later. But analysts question whether Biya’s powerful loyalists would stand by idly.
“The institutions there are so weak,” De Marie Heungoup said.
Unlike other countries in the region that rely on oil revenues to finance most of their budgets, Cameroon has a more diverse economy that includes agriculture and manufacturing, which allowed it to weather a drop in oil prices better than neighboring Nigeria.
Cameroon is in the middle of an unstable region. Conflicts abound in nearby Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the region’s war with Boko Haram has spilled across borders. Cameroon has welcomed tens of thousands of refugees from those conflicts and has been a key partner with foreign militaries in fighting Boko Haram.
Barlerin said his office recently had emphasized, as a precaution, to the Cameroon government that the military equipment Americans have provided for the fight against Boko Haram must not be used to fight separatists.
“It’s a wonderful country and we’ve had a lot of good cooperation from the government,” Barlerin said. “I don’t want to see it go up in smoke.”
He added: “The only thing we want is for elections to be free, fair and credible and that the will of the Cameroonian people be heard.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Dionne Searcey and Francois Essomba © 2018 The New York Times
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dragnews · 6 years
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Dozens killed in Cameroon
YAOUNDE (Reuters) – More than two dozen people have been killed in one of Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, local sources said on Saturday, although the exact circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear.
The incident in the town of Menka in Cameroon’s Northwest Region is one of the deadliest since armed secessionists from the English-speaking minority launched an insurrection last year against the predominantly Francophone central government.
Agbor Balla Nkongho, a local human rights lawyer and activist, told Reuters that at least 34 bodies were found on Friday in Menka. He declined to say who had killed them.
Another local source who visited Menka on Saturday and asked not to be named said she saw a total of 29 bodies, including three outside a school, riddled with gunshot wounds. Some were women and others boys as young as 13, she said.
The bodies “are rotting already and reek,” she said.
Army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck said in a statement to local media that government troops surrounded a hotel in Menka on Friday morning after they were tipped off to the presence of separatist rebels.
A long firefight ensued and “several terrorists were neutralized”, Badjeck said, without providing further details.
A representative for the separatists did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Armed conflict erupted last year in Cameroon’s Anglophone Northwest and Southwest Regions after the government violently repressed peaceful protests begun in 2016 against perceived marginalization of English speakers.
Cameroon’s linguistic divide harks back to the end of World War One, when the League of Nations divided the former German colony of Kamerun between the allied French and British victors.
Dozens of people have been killed since late last year – including more than 20 soldiers and police ambushed by the separatists – and tens of thousands of refugees have fled to neighboring Nigeria.
The United States and rights groups have accused the Yaounde government of burning down villages and carrying out targeted killings in the Anglophone regions, charges the government has angrily denied.
The latest violence comes just months ahead of an election in which President Paul Biya, who has ruled the Central African oil producer for the last 35 years, is expected to stand for a fresh term.
Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Stephen Powell
The post Dozens killed in Cameroon appeared first on World The News.
from World The News https://ift.tt/2KT4fJF via Today News
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dani-qrt · 6 years
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Dozens killed in Cameroon
YAOUNDE (Reuters) – More than two dozen people have been killed in one of Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, local sources said on Saturday, although the exact circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear.
The incident in the town of Menka in Cameroon’s Northwest Region is one of the deadliest since armed secessionists from the English-speaking minority launched an insurrection last year against the predominantly Francophone central government.
Agbor Balla Nkongho, a local human rights lawyer and activist, told Reuters that at least 34 bodies were found on Friday in Menka. He declined to say who had killed them.
Another local source who visited Menka on Saturday and asked not to be named said she saw a total of 29 bodies, including three outside a school, riddled with gunshot wounds. Some were women and others boys as young as 13, she said.
The bodies “are rotting already and reek,” she said.
Army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck said in a statement to local media that government troops surrounded a hotel in Menka on Friday morning after they were tipped off to the presence of separatist rebels.
A long firefight ensued and “several terrorists were neutralized”, Badjeck said, without providing further details.
A representative for the separatists did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Armed conflict erupted last year in Cameroon’s Anglophone Northwest and Southwest Regions after the government violently repressed peaceful protests begun in 2016 against perceived marginalization of English speakers.
Cameroon’s linguistic divide harks back to the end of World War One, when the League of Nations divided the former German colony of Kamerun between the allied French and British victors.
Dozens of people have been killed since late last year – including more than 20 soldiers and police ambushed by the separatists – and tens of thousands of refugees have fled to neighboring Nigeria.
The United States and rights groups have accused the Yaounde government of burning down villages and carrying out targeted killings in the Anglophone regions, charges the government has angrily denied.
The latest violence comes just months ahead of an election in which President Paul Biya, who has ruled the Central African oil producer for the last 35 years, is expected to stand for a fresh term.
Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Stephen Powell
The post Dozens killed in Cameroon appeared first on World The News.
from World The News https://ift.tt/2KT4fJF via Online News
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party-hard-or-die · 6 years
Text
Dozens killed in Cameroon
YAOUNDE (Reuters) – More than two dozen people have been killed in one of Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, local sources said on Saturday, although the exact circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear.
The incident in the town of Menka in Cameroon’s Northwest Region is one of the deadliest since armed secessionists from the English-speaking minority launched an insurrection last year against the predominantly Francophone central government.
Agbor Balla Nkongho, a local human rights lawyer and activist, told Reuters that at least 34 bodies were found on Friday in Menka. He declined to say who had killed them.
Another local source who visited Menka on Saturday and asked not to be named said she saw a total of 29 bodies, including three outside a school, riddled with gunshot wounds. Some were women and others boys as young as 13, she said.
The bodies “are rotting already and reek,” she said.
Army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck said in a statement to local media that government troops surrounded a hotel in Menka on Friday morning after they were tipped off to the presence of separatist rebels.
A long firefight ensued and “several terrorists were neutralized”, Badjeck said, without providing further details.
A representative for the separatists did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Armed conflict erupted last year in Cameroon’s Anglophone Northwest and Southwest Regions after the government violently repressed peaceful protests begun in 2016 against perceived marginalization of English speakers.
Cameroon’s linguistic divide harks back to the end of World War One, when the League of Nations divided the former German colony of Kamerun between the allied French and British victors.
Dozens of people have been killed since late last year – including more than 20 soldiers and police ambushed by the separatists – and tens of thousands of refugees have fled to neighboring Nigeria.
The United States and rights groups have accused the Yaounde government of burning down villages and carrying out targeted killings in the Anglophone regions, charges the government has angrily denied.
The latest violence comes just months ahead of an election in which President Paul Biya, who has ruled the Central African oil producer for the last 35 years, is expected to stand for a fresh term.
Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Stephen Powell
The post Dozens killed in Cameroon appeared first on World The News.
from World The News https://ift.tt/2KT4fJF via Breaking News
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newestbalance · 6 years
Text
Dozens killed in Cameroon
YAOUNDE (Reuters) – More than two dozen people have been killed in one of Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, local sources said on Saturday, although the exact circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear.
The incident in the town of Menka in Cameroon’s Northwest Region is one of the deadliest since armed secessionists from the English-speaking minority launched an insurrection last year against the predominantly Francophone central government.
Agbor Balla Nkongho, a local human rights lawyer and activist, told Reuters that at least 34 bodies were found on Friday in Menka. He declined to say who had killed them.
Another local source who visited Menka on Saturday and asked not to be named said she saw a total of 29 bodies, including three outside a school, riddled with gunshot wounds. Some were women and others boys as young as 13, she said.
The bodies “are rotting already and reek,” she said.
Army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck said in a statement to local media that government troops surrounded a hotel in Menka on Friday morning after they were tipped off to the presence of separatist rebels.
A long firefight ensued and “several terrorists were neutralized”, Badjeck said, without providing further details.
A representative for the separatists did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Armed conflict erupted last year in Cameroon’s Anglophone Northwest and Southwest Regions after the government violently repressed peaceful protests begun in 2016 against perceived marginalization of English speakers.
Cameroon’s linguistic divide harks back to the end of World War One, when the League of Nations divided the former German colony of Kamerun between the allied French and British victors.
Dozens of people have been killed since late last year – including more than 20 soldiers and police ambushed by the separatists – and tens of thousands of refugees have fled to neighboring Nigeria.
The United States and rights groups have accused the Yaounde government of burning down villages and carrying out targeted killings in the Anglophone regions, charges the government has angrily denied.
The latest violence comes just months ahead of an election in which President Paul Biya, who has ruled the Central African oil producer for the last 35 years, is expected to stand for a fresh term.
Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Stephen Powell
The post Dozens killed in Cameroon appeared first on World The News.
from World The News https://ift.tt/2KT4fJF via Everyday News
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