Human Rights Outreach in Cameroon

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SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C and DRL
PARIS AND LONDON FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICERS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM CM
SUBJECT: Human Rights Outreach in Cameroon


1. Summary: Recent post human rights engagement has included a
human rights discussion with the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of
Justice, two workshops on trafficking in persons, and a
well-attended human rights roundtable to mark the sixtieth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The
December 16 roundtable, which used the 2007 Human Rights Report as a
basis to discuss 2008 issues of security force abuses, prison
conditions, political rights, and women's rights, highlighted
significant mid-level government engagement on human rights. End
Summary.

Minister of Justice on Human Rights
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2. Pol/Econ Chief recently met with Vice Prime Minister and
Minister of Justice Amadou Ali to discuss human rights. Pol/Econ
Chief highlighted the USG's priority on human rights in Cameroon and
the roundtable we were organizing to spur dialogue on human rights
(see below). Ali said human rights was also a Government of
Cameroon (GRC) priority and that he personally reviews the
newspapers every day to look for reports of human rights abuses,
tasking his staff to follow up. His ministry initiated its own
annual human rights report in 2006 as a response to the USG's annual
human rights report, he said.

Combating Trafficking in Persons
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3. In the meeting with Minister Ali, Pol/Econ Chief drew his
attention to Cameroon's Tier 2 Watch List trafficking in persons
status. Pol/Econ Chief highlighted the need for Cameroon to make
further progress in data collection, prosecution and conviction of
traffickers, and broadening the anti-trafficking law to include
adults. Ali said his Ministry was working on the TIP issue and had
recently met with representatives from the American Bar Association
(ABA) on the issue. Note: ABA sources said they had had a
productive, hours long meeting with Minister Ali and his staff on
TIP. End note.


4. The ABA held two successful Department-funded workshops on TIP
in June and September 2008, one to train the police and one to train
members of the judiciary. Pol/Econ Chief spoke at the opening of
each of these events, garnering significant press coverage on the
need for Cameroon to do more to combat TIP.

Human Rights Roundtable
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5. On December 16, in honor of the sixtieth anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Ambassador hosted post's
first-ever, three hour round table discussion of the Department's
2007 Human Rights report. Participants included about 40 human
rights activists, diplomats and government officials, including
mid-level representatives from the Ministry of Defense, the National
Police, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of External Relations,
and the Ministry for Women's Empowerment and Family. The group felt
that our report was generally accurate and they appreciated the
chance to provide input. The discussion focused on the excessive
use of force by security services, elections and political rights,
prison conditions, and women's rights.


6. Many of the NGO participants appreciated their first opportunity
to sit at the same table with representatives from the ministry
officials and security forces. One NGO rep focused remarks on
homosexual rights, a topic which is taboo in Cameroon. A number of
participants remarked at the difficulty in registering to vote and
all agreed that prison conditions are dismal. Each of the
government representatives spoke, sometimes at length, on the
challenges as well as the efforts at reform. They agreed that much
work remained to be done, but affirmed that the government was
committed to improving the human rights situation in Cameroon. The
Ministry of Defense representative was surprisingly open about
challenges in the security services and highlighted that the
military is incorporating human rights into its training. Emboffs
invited participants to send post information and statistics on
human rights violations and/or improvements for use in future human
rights reporting.


7. Comment: At our Pol/Econ chief's meeting to discuss human
rights with Ali, he remained always friendly, but appeared focused
on other things. Ali was angry about perceived lack of USG
cooperation in recovering stolen Cameroonian assets in the U.S. He
was also eager to discuss a book, Hate for the West, he was reading
which he said was critical of Western moral judgments (he left the
room at one point to find his copy of the book). This frame of mind
made it difficult to engage more in depth on human rights or TIP.
What came out clearly in our roundtable was that a range of
mid-level officials are willing and able to talk knowledgeably about
human rights, even if NGO activists (and we) do not always agree
with them. Officials and NGO reps alike urged us to repeat and

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possibly expand our roundtable over the coming year.