Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08YAOUNDE280
2008-03-24 11:01:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Yaounde
Cable title:  

CAMEROON: RIOT TRIALS BEGIN, SIGNS OF INJUSTICE

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM CM 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO PRIORITY 0072
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C O N F I D E N T I A L YAOUNDE 000280 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM CM
SUBJECT: CAMEROON: RIOT TRIALS BEGIN, SIGNS OF INJUSTICE

REF: YAOUNDE 211

Classified By: Poloff L.Wahid for reasons 1.4. b and d

C O N F I D E N T I A L YAOUNDE 000280

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM CM
SUBJECT: CAMEROON: RIOT TRIALS BEGIN, SIGNS OF INJUSTICE

REF: YAOUNDE 211

Classified By: Poloff L.Wahid for reasons 1.4. b and d


1. (C) Summary. Cameroon's Ministry of Justice is conducting
trials to prosecute those suspected of participating in the
February 25-29 riots in five of the country's ten provinces.
Most of the accused are poor young men. Minister of Justice
Amadou Ali told reporters at a March 6 press conference that
1,671 people had been arrested. However, many lawyers
believe the numbers to be much higher because there are some
detainees in smaller cities that have not been included in
the figures. Post continues to receive reports of arbitrary
arrests, beatings and other mistreatment of detainees, and
arbitrary judgments. Lawyers criticize the government (GRC)
for condemning many suspects to two years of imprisonment
with little to no evidence against them. Some speculate that
the GRC is using these trials for two reasons: to create fear
within the population and to gain support when the GRC
eventually pardons those condemned. End Summary.

Minister Ali Speaks: 1671 Persons Arrested
--------------


2. (U) On March 6, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of
Justice Amadou Ali held a press conference to announce the
status of those arrested during the February 25-29 riots. He
said that 1,671 people had been arrested and charged with
destruction of property, failure to present identification
cards, and illegal obstruction of the highway. The arrests,
Ali said, were conducted under Article 103 of the Criminal
Procedure Code, "flagrante delicto". This provision states
that officers can make arrests under the following
conditions: when the suspect is in the process of committing
a felony or misdemeanor or when the crimes have just been
committed; when the suspect is pursued by the public; or when
the suspect is caught with the stolen items or shows signs
which suggest that he participated in a felony or
misdemeanor. According to the Minister of Justice, in the
Littoral Province (Douala) 671 persons were arrested, in the
Center Province (Yaounde) 400 persons were arrested, in the
West Province 280 persons were arrested, in the North West

Province 220 persons were arrested, and in the South West
Province 100 persons were arrested. Minister Ali said that
as of March 7, 107 people had been convicted and were serving
prison sentences ranging from four months to three years.
Regional representative of the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) Philippe Galliard told Poloff that the
Ministry of Justice asked the ICRC to visit and provide food
and medical supplies to the riot detainees. Galliard said
that so far, the ICRC had visited detainees in the South and
North West Province and estimated that they would visit about
eighty percent of the riot detainees.

Judges Under Pressure to Convict
--------------


3. (C) Poloff spoke with members of the Cameroon Bar
Association who have been serving as pro bono lawyers for the
accused. The defense lawyers said that it was evident that
judges were under pressure to issue guilty verdicts despite a
lack of evidence. The lawyers argued that most of the
suspects were spectators to the riots and were arrested
because the gendarmes could not catch the actual rioters.
One lawyer told Poloff about the case of 30 Malians and 5
Burkinabes, alleging that on March 5 (six days after the end
of the riots) the Battalion Intervention Rapide (BIR) stopped
the defendants, tour bus and accused them of participating
in the riots that occurred in Yaounde on February 27. They
were immediately sent to the Commissariat for detention.
Although the riots in Yaounde stopped on February 28,
security forces continued to arrest "suspects" under the
pretext of "flagrante delicto." The Malians were released
with the assistance of their Embassy and the Burkinabes
remain in prison awaiting trial.


4. (U) Poloff attended several court proceedings for the
accused persons and observed that there were no state
witnesses present at the trial, not even the arresting
officer. According to Cameroon Bar Association lawyers, one
Commander testified in support of the state and said that his
troops told him that the accused were caught during the
riots. This Commander acted as the sole witness against 75
defendants. Each suspect was called by name and questioned
by both the pro bono defense attorney, the prosecutor
general, and the judge in an effort to establish their
whereabouts when they were arrested. The judge is expected
to declare the verdicts only after all of the cases have been
heard.

Students Allege Arbitrary Arrests, Torture
--------------


5. (SBU) Poloff spoke with students at the University of
Yaounde who recounted their experience with gendarmes during
the height of the taxi strike in Yaounde. According to some
students, two trucks filled with gendarmes entered the campus
and began knocking on students, doors, threatening to shoot
if they did not open the door. One of the students said that
about ten gendarmes entered his room and started beating him
and his friends. The students said that the gendarmes told
them, "we were not able to win the war in Bakassi, but we
will win the war against you." In response to the beatings,
the Minister of Higher Education paid for the students,
bandages.


6. (SBU) On February 27, gendarmes reportedly entered a
restaurant and ordered the patrons to leave and assemble
outside. Once the patrons were assembled they were beaten,
forced into a gendarme truck, and taken to the gendarme
station. According to a student, he heard the arresting
officers tell the colonel in charge that they were caught in
the streets. The colonel then ordered them to remove their
clothes except for their underwear and told them, "you will
taste the baton and machete, one hundred strokes for each
person." After the beating the detainees were reportedly
ordered to crawl on their knees through gravel and sharp
stones for 100 meters and then to roll in the gravel
chanting, "I will never do it again." They were reportedly
then drenched in cold water and made to sit outside for
mosquitoes to attack.


7. (SBU) The next day the gendarmes took their statements
and, although gendarmes reported that the detainees were
arrested in the same place, their statements said otherwise.
The student told Poloff that when he gave his statement the
officer commented that he believed that the majority of
detainees were innocent. The following day two trucks full
of detainees were sent to the Court of Appeals, First
Instance, where many were convicted without a trial. The
student was released on March 3.

40 Killed and Billions in Property Damage
--------------


8. (U) On March 10, Minister of Territorial Administration
Hamidou Marafa held a press conference to discuss the damage
resulting from the riots. According to Marafa, 40 people had
been killed, 33 gas stations vandalized, and property damage
was estimated to be 10 billion CFA (23 million USD). He then
"revealed" that the Social Democratic Front (SDF) led by John
Fru Ndi had codenamed the riots as "Operation Kenya," aimed
at destabilizing the country using youths the organization
had trained. As further evidence of this alleged plot,
Marafa said that a known escaped criminal was spotted in Fru
Ndi,s car. In response to Marafa's accusations, John Fru
Ndi in a telephone interview with journalists said, "if they
found a murderer in my car, they would have arrested me and
the murderer." In a later press conference, he denied
involvement in the recent riots, said he would sue Minister
Marafa for defamation, and offered to meet with President
Biya in the presence of a third party.

Comment
--------------


9. (C) President Paul Biya told DAS James Swan on March 7
that he plans to release most of those arrested (septel) if
they agree not to undertake further violence. Some civil
society contacts also believe this is likely but opine that
Biya hopes this will boost his popularity. We have heard
other worrying allegations of mistreatment of detainees by
security forces, including allegations from defense lawyers
who have commented that many of their clients bear similar
markings indicating some kind of torture. While some of
those detained may have committed criminal acts, the scale
and expedited nature of the trials point to underlying
political motives. Together with media restrictions and
published threats by groups of top officials in Yaounde
against "outsiders," the arrests aim to sow fear in the
population. Some private media and NGO sources believe the
total number of deaths was over 100, although we cannot
substantiate this figure. Marafa's accusation against Fru
Ndi, while shared by some others in government, is
questionable (but not impossible) given the SDF's limited
organizational abilities. We will continue to monitor the
current human rights situation closely.
GARVEY