Credit: © Borigue/Flickr/ Cameroon  Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC) opposition leader Maurice Kamto was arrested by Cameroonian authorities  in January 2019 and charged with insurrection

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC TIMES

International pressure continues to mount on the government of Cameroon to free jailed opposition leader Maurice Kamto who has been incarcerated since Jan. 28, 2019.   Kamto, Cameroon’s main opposition leader who insists he won last October’s presidential election, was arrested and charged with insurrection. Paul Biya,  an 85-years-old veteran leader,  who has ruled Cameroon for 36 years, was  sworn in last November as the Central African country’s  President for a seventh term. The opposition accused the October 7 elections of being rigged in favor of Biya.  Kamto and more than 150 supporters were arrested in January after taking part in anti-government demonstrations, and are being tried in military courts for charges including ‘hostility to the homeland’.

U.S. Diplomat Appeals To Cameroon Government To Release Opposition Leader Kamto From Prison 

Credit: U.S. Department of State / Tibor P. Nagy, Jr., Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs

Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Tibor Nagy is currently on an African tour that includes travel travel stop overs in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.),  Rwanda, and Uganda from March 9–22, 2019.  On March 17–18, Nagy will visit a U.S.-owned firm in Cameroon, and discuss Cameroon’s role as a regional partner with government officials, and meet civil society.  In an interview on Radio France International, Nagy stated concerns over jailed Cameroon opposition leader Kamto. Nagy told RFI that:

the Cameroonian government “must ensure that Maurice Kamto has been arrested and jailed for legitimate reasons. I really think it would be wise to release him.” 

U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Tibor Nagy

Nagy was also interviewed on France24 television ahead of his African tour during he expressed more concerns over the situation in Cameroon. Nagy, a retired career Foreign Service Officer, spent 32 years in government service, including over 20 years in assignments across Africa.  Nagy knows Cameroon  quite well, having served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Cameroon (1990-1993). 

“He (Paul Biya) has been in charge of Cameroon longer now than I believe any other serving African head of state.  The problem is with such long long service, so many fundamental problems have gone unaddressed. I hope to meet with Paul Biya, we have requested it. I will be asking for the release of Opposition leader Maurice Kamto.”

Nagy,  France24 Television. 

Nagy also noted that there are currently two serious problems in Cameroon, which are the political crisis in the Anglophone Region , and in the North, the Boka Haram plight.  Last month, the U.S. announced it is slashing nearly $20 million in aid to Cameroon, earmarked for such items as airplanes, patrol boats, armored vehicles, and drones over growing concerns of serious human rights violations in the country.  Horrific videos circulated online last year showing Cameroonian security forces shooting and killing civilians,  including children, and in one incident a woman who had a small baby strapped on her back which  was also killed. The U.S. diplomat accused the Cameroonian government of President Biya of not doing anything to resolve the Anglophone crisis. The violence has uprooted 437,500 people from their homes and forced over 32,000 to seek refuge in neighbouring Nigeria according to a report by a United Nations body, OCHA.

“The more fundamental, existential  problem is what is going on in the Anglophone region. The government has been totally ineffective in addressing that. Some of their actions have actually worsened what is going on. There has been just a mounting cycle of violence from both sides. Tremendous loss of life since last November, particularly on  the Anglo side. The Cameroon government  has just not been proactive in addressing this problem,”  Naga said on France24.

United Nations Human Rights Chief Warns Cameroon risked falling into further violence if the government did not act to stop hate speech by politicians and heavy-handed tactics by security forces

“I am also concerned by alarming instances of hate speech, including by political leaders, as well as serious restrictions on the political space, with prosecutions in a military court of a number of members of opposition parties,”

said the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.

European Union Criticizes Cameroon’s Treatment Of Opposition Activists 

Credit: European Commission /  Federica Mogherini ,  High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

“The arrest and prolonged detention of several leaders of an opposition party, including its leader Maurice Kamto, and a large number of protesters and supporters, as well as the opening of disproportionate proceedings against them military justice, increases the political malaise in Cameroon. The rule of law calls for fair justice and the release of detainees against whom evidentiary evidence can not be presented.”

Federica Mogherini ,  High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Cameroon Government Defends Arrest Of Opposition Leader Kamto And Other Activists 

Credit: Wikipedia /  Republic Of Cameroon Coat of Arms

A spokesperson for the Cameroon government,  Emmanuel Rene Sadi, who serves as Minister of Communication responded to U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Nagy’s comments, by stating that Kamto is in “no way in detention for having exercised political activities. They are being tried for among others, insurrection, hostility against the State, rebellion and destruction of public property, both inside the country and in several embassies abroad.”

Anti-Biya Protesters Ransack And Occupy Its Embassies in Paris and Berlin 

Credit: wikipedia / Cameroonian embassy in Paris, France was occupied by anti-Biya prostesters Jan.  27, 2019

Opposition to Cameroon President  Biya’s regime took on a bold dimension in January Sunday in several European capitals. Cameroonians occupied the embassies of their country in Paris and Berlin to support protests in their home land. Some 50 protesters opposed to President Biya broke into the country’s Paris embassy, vandalising portraits of him, witnesses said. 

Credit: thelocal.fr /  PrinceNfor Hanson N /  Protesters invade Cameroon embassy in Paris Jan. 27, 2019

In a statement issued  by  Cameroon’s Communication Ministerand government spokesman Rene Emmanuel, in January,  the government condemned the assault on its foreign embassies it blamed on leaders and militants of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM):

“…militants of this party stormed certain diplomatic missions of Cameroon abroad, notably, in Paris and Berlin, ransacking everything in their path, causing significant material damage within these Embassies, including the destruction of symbols of the State, effigies of the President of the Republic, passports and various civil status records of Cameroonians.”        

Cameroon’s Communication Minister and spokesman Rene Emmanuel