Human Rights Outreach in Cameroon

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 000039 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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 YAOUNDE 00000039 002 OF 002 possibly expand our roundtable over the coming year.