CAMEROON: POST DEMARCHES GOVERNMENT, TRADITIONAL

UNCLAS YAOUNDE 001049 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/C, DRL LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICERS KAMPALA FOR REGIONAL REFUGEE OFFICER EUCOM FOR J5-1 AFRICA DIVISION AND POLAD YATES E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL PREF PGOV CM SUBJECT: CAMEROON: POST DEMARCHES GOVERNMENT, TRADITIONAL LEADERS CONTINUE TO CAMP OUTSIDE US EMBASSY REF: YAOUNDE 1044 ¶1. (U) Summary. Leaders and community members from Sabga (reftel) spent the night August 21 outside the Embassy gates, claiming fear of harassment and arrest if they left. In an August 22 demarche to the Political Director at the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization (MINATD), Poloff expressed the USG's desire for a peaceful resolution to the dispute and emphasized the potential negative repercusions for the Government of Cameroon if the situation was mishandled. End summary. ¶2. (U) About twenty men from the Sabga community in Cameroon's Northwest Province, including many members of the traditional leadership structure (reftel),spent the night from August 21 to 22 outside the Embassy compound. Post received reports that the Government of Cameroon intended to forcibly remove them, but there has been no such attempt. Representatives from the group spoke to Cameroonian press outlets and an officer from the sub-regional office of the UN High Commission on Human Rights on August 21. The UN office said it was passing a report on the matter to its headquarters office in Geneva. ¶3. (U) On August 22, Poloff demarched Alexandre Yomo, the Director for Political Affairs at MINATD. Explaining that the USG was not seeking to take sides in the dispute, Poloff explained the USG's interest in encouraging all sides, but especially the Government of Cameroon (GRC),to respect human rights and the rule of law. Recalling that the same region had been the subject of the USG's Country Reports on Human Rights in 2003 and in subsequent years, Poloff reminded Yomo that the GRC's handling of the matter could have ramifications for future human rights reports, and that Cameroon's record on human rights would influence a number of important areas of USG engagement including AGOA eligibility, training and equipment of police and armed forces, and the Millennium Challenge Account. Poloff expressed hope that the GRC handle this situation in a manner that would help improve, not damage, the GRC's record on human rights. ¶4. (U) Yomo took copious note of the demarche and asked for further detail on the situation in Sabga, indicating he was not briefed on the history or the current state of the dispute. Yomo said he would brief the MINATD Minister, Hamidou Yaya Marafa, immediately. NELSON