NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2020
Contact: Brian Silverman, Rotman
cameroondatabase@rotman.utoronto.ca
December 8, 2020
Contact: Brian Silverman, Rotman
cameroondatabase@rotman.utoronto.ca
Cameroon Database of Atrocities Releases New Reports
(Toronto) Today, the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities releases
eight new verification reports of atrocities perpetrated in the Anglophone conflict
in Cameroon, Africa. The reports span selected incidents from 2016 to 2020, and
include brutality against peaceful student protesters, burning of villages and markets,
an IED explosion, and the notorious Ngarbuh Massacre.
The eight reports include five incidents allegedly perpetrated by the Cameroonian
military, gendarmerie, and police; two by non-state armed groups; and one unknown.
They are:
- Reactions by Security Forces to Student Protests in Buea, Cameroon (November 2016)
- Burning of Labonge Village, Cameroon (August 2018)
- Burning of Bangang Village, Cameroon (September 2019)
- Burning of Buildings in Maumu Village, Cameroon (December 2019)
- Burning of Market in Bali Nyonga, Cameroon (January 2020)
- Ngarbuh Massacre, Ntumbaw, Cameroon (February 2020)
- Burning of Mbufung Church in Bali, Cameroon (February 2020)
- Explosion at Likomba Market, Tiko, Cameroon (September 2020)
The verified incidents demonstrate an escalation of the Anglophone conflict, and
are indicative of deterioration to deadlier methods as the conflict spins further
out of control. The reports are published ahead of the United Nations Security Council
meeting on Central Africa scheduled for December 9, and the global observance of
Human Rights Day on December 10. The Database project understands that the human
rights abuses and crimes against humanity documented in the reports may be punishable
by international laws.
The global Database of Atrocities, hosted at University of Toronto, collects and
stores information on atrocities and crimes against humanity being perpetrated by
the Cameroonian defense and security forces, and non-state armed groups (NSAGs),
in the two predominantly English-speaking regions of Cameroon. It aims to counter
the culture of impunity that has pervaded this crisis since 2016; provide a deterrence
from further mass violence; and store atrocity information for future international
justice processes and a possible national truth, justice, and reconciliation commission.
Where the level of evidence permits, the Database team investigates submitted incidents
and produces verification reports. The Database has received approximately 638 submissions
from the Cameroon conflict to date.
The Database team that prepared these particular reports includes volunteer researchers
at the Edinburgh International Justice Initiative, Leiden University, and the University
of Toronto, with support from the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa
(CHRDA).
The Database team is committed to storing information about violent rights abuses
that harm civilians, and to promoting human rights and peace. Individuals or organizations
with photos, videos, or documents about atrocities perpetrated from October 2016
to present in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, and documentation about the chain of
command, can anonymously and securely upload them using the link below.
To view the verification reports, go to:
https://dataverse.scholarsportal.info/dataverse/cameroon
https://dataverse.scholarsportal.info/dataverse/cameroon
For more information on the database, go to:
https://research.rotman.utoronto.ca/Cameroon/
https://research.rotman.utoronto.ca/Cameroon/
To anonymously submit photos, videos, or documents to the database, go to:
https://cameroondatabase.ushahidi.io/posts/create/4
https://cameroondatabase.ushahidi.io/posts/create/4
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