The Cameroon Conflict Research Group Human Rights Report 2021-2023

“Conflict in the anglophone regions of Cameroon has been ongoing since 2016/17. Despite the severity of the violence and the wide-reaching effects, the conflict has consistently been recorded as among the most neglected displacement crises in the world. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of human rights abuses in the Cameroon conflict between January 2021 and April 2023.

The analysis herein reveals that human rights abuses documented in previous reports are ongoing, while new forms of violence are also emerging. The Cameroon state forces are continuing to engage in village raids, massacres, and arson attacks; unlawful killings; arbitrary arrests; the use of torture; forced displacement; sexual violence; and targeting international humanitarian organisations. In addition to these longstanding violent practices, developments include the state’s increasingly hostile response to asylum seekers returned to Cameroon from abroad, the threat of the death penalty in legal proceedings, the government’s strategic underplaying of the conflict’s severity, and the breakdown of peace talks led by the Swiss and Canadian governments. Similarly, strategies adopted by armed separatist groups have both continued and evolved. Armed separatists reportedly still kidnap and extort, loot and commit arson, kill state targets as well as civilians, and target schools. Emerging forms of violence reportedly include the use of extended lockdowns, extending activities into the Francophone regions, increasing military power, the growing use of improvised explosive devices, and sexual violence.

By drawing attention to continuing patterns of violence alongside recent developments, the Cameroon Conflict Research Group aims to provide material that can prompt further engagement with these pressing issues.”

Access full report here: Cameroon Conflict Human Rights Report 2022_23