(credit: un photo)  United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at UN world headquarters in New York

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS  –  NEW  YORK –   UN Secretary-General António Guterres  urged authorities in Cameroon to take steps to prosecute perpetrators behind two recent deadly attacks killing at least 10 people in the Anglophone provinces of the country, his Spokesperson said on Friday.   Cameroonian soldiers  reportedly opened fire on villagers during a weekend raid in the country’s southwest region.  The UN chief is concerned about persistent violence in the North-West and South-West regions, mainly affecting civilians, his spokesperson said Friday in a statement. 

“The Secretary-General urges the Cameroonian authorities to take all necessary measures to swiftly bring the perpetrators of both attacks to justice and enhance the protection of civilians. He takes note of the willingness of the Government of Cameroon to launch an investigation into the 10 January incident in Mautu (in the South-West) that reportedly left at least 10 civilians dead.”

-Stéphane Dujarric,  UN Secretary-General spokesman said in a written statement. 

The Secretary-General also condemned an attack on the convoy of the prefect of Momo department in North-West Region which occurred last week.   Guterres has extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded, his spokesman said.

In recent years, the army has clashed with Anglophone separatist fighters among the forests and cocoa farms of western Cameroon. Over 3,000 people have died in the violence, which has intensified since the start of this year. 

Cameroon is a predominantly Francophone country, located in West Africa, and separatists in the English-speaking regions have been fighting to create their own state.   The UN chief also reiterated his call on all parties to cease hostilities and engage in a political dialogue to end the crisis.

 United Nations Strongly Condemned Attack in CAMEROON School That Killed 8 Children

An abandoned classroom in a primary school in southwestern Cameroon. The Government-funded French school closed after receiving direct threats from armed groups.   (file photo)  OCHA/Giles Clarke

Last October  2020,  a t least eight children were killed and a dozen wounded after attackers stormed a school in southwestern Cameroon with guns and machetes, the UN reported. The horrific attack was strongly condemned by the UN.  A group of armed men attacked Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Kumba, in Cameroon’s restive South-West region.  According to local reports, the victims were aged between 12 and 14.  

Critics Accuse International Community Of Ignoring Cameroon Crisis and Violence   

More than 3,000 people have died in Cameroon’s armed conflict but very little has been done by the international community including the European Union,  African Union, United States,  in terms of economic sanctions or political isolation on the government of President Paul Biya.

 ‘Worst atrocity’ in Cameroon  Since Schools Resumed

According to the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Cameroon, Matthias Z. Naab, the attack is the worst atrocity since the resumption of the school year on 5 October, in which more students enrolled in the North-West and South-West regions than in recent years. Unrest in parts of Cameroon had affected school enrolment and access to education.

 Top U.S. Diplomat Meets With Cameroon President Paul Biya Amid Human Rights Concerns   

credit: twitter.com/PR_Paul_BIYA / Tibor Nagy, the Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African, meets with Cameroon President Paul Biya  in Yaoundé,  Mar. 18, 2019

On March,  18,  2019.   It was one of the most anticipated U.S. diplomatic meetings with an African leader in quite a while. Tibor Nagy, the Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African, met with Cameroon President Paul Biya today. Prior to the top U.S. diplomat’s arrival in the west-central African nation’s capital city Yaoundé, human rights organizations, members of U.S. Congress, and the European Union were pressing Nagy to get tough with Biya  amid the troubling crackdowns on freedom of expression in Cameroon. There were  growing concerns over the Cameroonian government’s arrest of political opposition leader Maurice Kamto.   Mr. Kamto, Cameroon’s main opposition leader who insists he won October  2018 presidential election, was arrested in January 2019   and charged with insurrection. Biya,  an 87-years-old veteran leader,  who has ruled Cameroon for 36 years, was  sworn in  November 2018 as the Central African country’s  President for a seventh term.  Kamto was arrested and  held in the maximum security Kondengui Central Prison, a location which has drawn international criticism for harsh conditions and overcrowding. Kamto was freed in November 2019.  President Biya also  ordered all charges dropped against more than 300 people detained in connection with the Anglophone crisis. But the decision failed to appease critics who say thousands more are locked up on trumped-up charges.   President Biya remains defiant refusing to heed concerns of human rights violations and neither the U.S., France, and EU have been able to do much to change his strong-man behavior since he was  re-elected in 2018.  Ambassador Nagy also met with Cameroon foreign minister Mbella Mbella Mar. 18, 2019 during his two-day visit, during which the diplomat highlighted his “concerns about the arrest of Kamto and others.” 

Priot to his visit to Cameroon,  Ambassador Nagy stated  that there were  two serious problems in Cameroon that need resolving: The political crisis in the Anglophone Region , and in the North-the Boka Haram plight.    Horrific videos circulated online in 2018 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.  

Reports Alleged Cameroon President Biya Runs His Country from a Luxury  Geneva Hotel Switzerland 

Cameroon President  Paul  Biya

Reports in 2018 that alleged Cameroon’s president Paul Biya runs his country from a Geneva hotel raise questions whether official Switzerland can intervene in such cases, according to an article by  swissinfo.ch.   

“According to reporters’ conservative calculations – based on publicly available hotel room prices and a compilation of entourage lists – the total hotel bill of Biya and his colleagues for one stay at Intercontinental adds up to around $40,000 per day,” says OCCRP. “At that rate, the cost of all of the president’s private trips (1,645 days in total) would add up to about $65 million since he came to power – and that’s not counting food, entertainment and the rental of a private plane.”

-Swissinfo.ch

 According to a reportExternal link in early 2018 by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting ProjectExternal link (OCCRP), the Cameroonian president has spent at least 1,645 days on private visits abroad since he came to power in 1982, and Geneva is by far his favourite destinationExternal link. The Hotel Intercontinental in GenevaExternal link with its swimming pool and view of Mont Blanc is the residence of choice for the Cameroonian presidential couple,  Swissinfo.ch reports.