DOUALA, 29 August 2008 (IRIN) - In 2001 the Cameroonian government created a special rapid intervention battalion (BIR) to quell hostage-taking and looting by criminal gangs operating on its eastern and northern borders, but this force is now straying from its original mission, causing anger among human rights groups. 
The BIR was originally set up to fight criminal gangs known as ‘coupeurs de routes’ who operate on the borders with the Central African Republic in the east and Chad and Nigeria in the north taking hostages for ransom, stealing cattle, as well as attacking and looting passenger vehicles.
According to a high-level army officer who preferred anonymity, the attackers are made up of Central African and Chadian rebels, many of whom operate with sophisticated weaponry.
When the extent of these attacks started to overwhelm the national police service, the BIR was called in. According to local press reports, up to 600 people have been killed in Cameroon over the past two years and US$8.9 million taken in ransom in 2007 alone.
But in February 2008 in the cities of Douala and Yaoundé the BIR was called on to crack down on rioters protesting against the high cost of living. Jean Bertin Kemayou, leader of human rights organisation Freedom Services, claims up to 100 people died in these protests, most of them unarmed civilians at the hands of the BIR.
“Brutal repression”
“The number of deaths in the riots was very high mainly because of the brutal repression of the protests by the BIR. People are now too afraid to speak out against anything because of the repression of those demonstrations," Kemayou told IRIN.
Tchuenbou Paulin, general coordinator of an umbrella human rights association, told IRIN: “Nothing could justify such a punitive action since the BIR [already] has a clear mission and the youths’ protests against miserable living conditions were legitimate.”
The same senior army official justified the BIR’s February intervention. "This was a special operation and as a general rule the BIR does not operate in cities... but [in this case] the country's security was threatened and we had to do everything possible to restore peace." The local authorities put the number of deaths at 40.
President Paul Biya then mobilised the BIR again in April 2008 fearing that a change to the constitution might incur mass protests, leading the BIR to take control of several of the country’s major towns.
Force less effective
For some, diverting the BIR to cities means it is unable to carry out its original mandate. While the unit is to be increased from 1,000 to 1,800 by the end of 2008, a former BIR officer said this would not be enough to secure the border areas. "The BIR…must secure a vast territory. For its actions to be effective, it would need to increase its staff to at least 3,000 and to not be sidetracked for police or gendarmerie operations.”
However, rather than reinforcing the BIR’s existing work on the border, the government plans to extend the BIR’s role by deploying it to the oil-rich Bakassi region which has been in dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria for over a decade.
Though ownership of Bakassi was officially handed over to Cameroon on 14 August following an International Court of Justice ruling, the region is still plagued by armed attacks, some allegedly perpetrated by Nigerian rebels who are challenging the decision of international justice, according to a Cameroonian public official.
For the army officer, extending to Bakassi is a bridge too far for the BIR. "The elements of this unit have been trained for a specific mission… they are unable to cope with rebel armies."
In the meantime on the borders the bandit attacks continue. In June 2008 bandits killed 10 hostages of the 15 they had abducted in May, on the Chad border. In a separate incident that same month a group attacked a transport vehicle, killing a policeman.
(c) IRIN
The premodial objective of each government is to safeguard the safety of its people.This serves the reason why much attention has to be focused on crimes committed internally and at the borders. The creation of BIR special unitis to combat against the rising border banditism,hijackings and gangsterism simply known as coupeur de route, was a move to commend.It could have served the people of Cameroon a boost if this unit was deployed to Bakaasi to combat the Niger Delta rebels who threatens our security on a daily bases. Deploying them into the cities to quel any strikes masterminded by unarmed citizens who are merely expressing a grievance is a blatant violation of universal declaration of human rights of which Cameroon is a signatory.Strikes and demonstrations are the simplest an inexpensive way the citizens can transmit their grievances to the government in a democratic society.This serves the reason why in any constitutional democracy, strikes and demonstrations are unequivocally enshrined within the constitution. Cameroon is not exception.
In a government such as that of Cameroon where appointments are based on how support you show to the ruling party,heads of departments will always act ultra vires at the detriment of the common citizens for political favours.This is the reason why innocent citizens shall live to suffer in the hands of unscrupulous heads of authorities.The use of brute force even when not necessary takes the order of the day. The police force are trained to suppress any sort of strike or demonstartions that turn violent.A special operational unit such as the BIR have an equivalent task like that of the gendamerie and the army. The presence of thess groups may only be needed in times of war or to counter attacks that emcompasses the use of weapons.Why then should they be deployed to suppress a simple up rising, demonstrations or strikes.Should the Cameroon government always resort to abuse of human rights to seal the voice of the innocent citizens?.What was the purpose of accepting a democratic government if the same government was not ready for it?.Why don't the government summons the different factions on a negotiating tables to hear out their grievances?.Why? and Why??.We do not wish our beloved country to be transformed into a lawless state such as Uganda under General Ami or Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe.Though the current regime has been associated to failures,we still have an aorta of hope that one day things may change to better.
God safe my country.
Posted by: akamembulle | September 02, 2008 at 07:23 AM