Can Cameroon’s New Criminal Procedure Code Deliver “Justice with a Human Face”?

Dibussi Tande

Cameroon’s much heralded new criminal procedure code went into effect today, January 1, 2007.  Adopted by Parliament in July 2005, the new code is a hybrid system which merges key features of the French Civil law and English Common law systems, along with customary law.

Before the adoption of the new code, criminal procedure was governed in Francophone Cameroon by the French code d’instruction criminelle of February 14 1838 and its subsequent amendments, while in Anglophone Cameroon, it was governed by a variety of common law texts, primarily the Nigerian Criminal Procedure Ordinance of 1958.

Attempts to “cameroonize” the anachronistic systems began in the mid 1970s but the process stalled after Francophone jurists and legal practitioners balked at the preponderance of common law practices in the draft documents that resulted from those initial attempts.

Nonetheless, the criminal procedure code adopted in 2005 still draws extensively from common law practices, the most significant being the adoption of the Habeas Corpus, and the accusatory system of justice in place of the more widespread French / civil law inquisitorial system. [In very simplistic terms, the accusatory system is based on the presumption of innocence with the burden of proof on the accuser, while in the inquisitorial system there is a presumption of guilt with burden of proof on the accused].

According to Section 8 of the new code:

(1) Any person suspected of having committed an offence shall be presumed innocent until his guilt has been legally established in the course of a trial where he shall be given all necessary guarantees for his defence. (2) The presumption of innocence shall apply to every suspect, defendant and accused.

And in section 584, the code states that

(1) The President of the High Court of the place of arrest or detention of a person or any other judge of the said court shall be competent to hear applications for immediate release based on grounds of illegality of arrest or detention or failure to observe the formalities as provided by law.

In a bid to address the common practice of arbitrary arrests and secret detentions, the criminal procedure code lays down clear guidelines for arresting individuals. According to Section 31,

Except in the case of a felony or misdemeanour committed flagrante delicto, the person effecting the arrest shall disclose his identity and inform the person to be arrested of the reason for the said arrest, and where necessary, allow a third person to accompany the person arrested in order to ascertain the place to which he is being detained.

Furthermore, Section 23 states that “The judicial police officer charged with the execution of a warrant of arrest may not enter any place of abode before 6 a. m. or after 6 p. m. for the purpose of executing the warrant.”

Protection of the Individual in Custody
Some of the revolutionary changes (particularly for those trained in the Cameroonian civil law system) center around the treatment of individuals in police custody.

No Torture
According to Section 30 (4) “No bodily or psychological harm shall be caused to the person arrested. However reasonable force may be used where necessary.”

Section 122 (2) adds that

The suspect shall not be subjected to any physical or mental constraints, or to torture, violence, threats or any pressure whatsoever, or to deceit, insidious manoeuvres, false proposals, prolonged questioning, hypnosis, the administration of drugs or to any other method which is likely to compromise or limit his freedom of action or decision, or his memory or sense of judgment.

Right to Visitation and Medical Treatment
The right of a defendant to visits, legal counsel and medical treatment is no longer a privilege but a right enshrined in the new law. According to Section 37:

Any person arrested shall be given reasonable facilities in particular to be in contact with his
family, obtain legal advice, make arrangements for his defence, consult a doctor and receive medical treatment and take necessary steps to obtain his release on bail.

Section 122(3) clarifies that

The person on remand may at anytime within the period of detention and during working hours, be visited by his counsel, members of his family, and by any other person following up his treatment while in detention.

The right to client / attorney confidentiality
According to section 239 a remanded defendant has the right to unrestricted correspondence with third parties subject to the said correspondent being read by the Superintendent of Prison. However, Section 242 specifically protects client / attorney confidentiality by stating that:

1) The provisions of section 239 (2) are not applicable to correspondences between the defendant and his counsel or those between the defendant and the judicial authorities. (2) Any information got in violation of subsection (1) above cannot be used against the defendant.

Search & Seizures
One of the areas where police abuse is most rampant is that of search and seizures. The new code tries to provide a legal framework for search and seizures more in line with international norms.  According to Section 93(2),

“Any search or seizure shall be carried out in the presence of the occupant of the place and the person in possession of the objects to be seized, or in case of their absence, their representatives, as well as two witnesses chosen from among the persons or neighbours present.”

And in a clause that caused outrage and consternation particularly among security officers, individuals now have the right to search the police before they begin their search. According to Section 93(3),

“The occupant of the place and the person in possession of the objects to be seized, or in case of their absence, their representatives shall have the right to search the judicial police officer before the latter commences his search. He shall be informed of the said right and mention of it shall be made in the report of the fulfillment of this formality.”

This is ostensibly to prevent against planting evidence.

Explicit Consent
In cases where the police do not have a search warrant, searches may take place only with the explicit consent of the person being searched. In this regard, Section 94 states that

(1) In the absence of a search warrant, searches, and seizures of exhibits may be carried out only with the consent of the occupant or of the person in possession of the objects to be seized.
(2) The consent shall be a written declaration signed by the person concerned, and if he cannot
sign he shall make a thumb-print at the bottom of the declaration.
(3) The consent of the person concerned shall be valid only if he had been informed before hand by the judicial police officer of his right to object to the search.

A Step Forward
Although the new criminal code has numerous flaws, some which were identified even before the code became law (see for example the comments of the International Bar Association), it is still a landmark legislation which, at least on paper, seeks to promote what the official media has described as “justice with a human face”. As Buba Ndifiembeu has pointed out in A handbook on the criminal procedure code of the Republic of Cameroon, the new code "paves the way for a much more…. improved human rights practices and provides the possibility for a more humane treatment of accused persons in Cameroon." 

But Old Habits Die Hard…
The million dollar question is whether there is an enabling environment to facilitate and promote the effective implementation of these new laws. In this regard, it should be noted that the criminal procedure code was initially supposed to go into effect on August 1, 2006, but this was postponed to January 1, 2007 apparently because of resistance some of those charged with implementing it. Many groups were uncomfortable with the “restrictions” placed on judicial and security forces and with the “liberties” given suspected criminals. It is also worth pointing out that even before the adoption of the new code, Cameroon had one of the most stringent laws against torture. However, it is still common place to see tortured suspects paraded on national TV, or to read about confessions obtained through torture in the official media.

So, can “justice with a human face” become a reality in an environment where the violation of rules is a national hobby; where the judiciary is still tethered to the executive branch; where police abuse generally goes unpunished; and where the entire incarceral culture is based on punishment of the accused? Only time will tell…

Comments

[PAOLO LAURENT]

the common law system used in southern cameroons was never adopted from nigeria as the french would want the world to belief, but from the united kingdom, who was the colonail master at the time, same as nigeria, and the whole would inluding usa, australia, south africa, ghana, canada etc, all operates under the umbrella of common law, and this law ( the queen law) never came from nigeria.

LA REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN IS HISTORY IS ALL BASED ON LIES, LIES, AND LIES, THIS FRENCH COLONY IS NOTORIOUS FOR LIES, CORRUPTION, KILLINGS, RAPES AND DISINFROMATION, NOTHING GOOD CAN EVER CAME FROM THESE GANGSTER REPUBLIC,

SOUTHERN CAMEROONS IS BETTER OFF, WITHOUT THESE CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE.

ANY LAW THATS NOT UNIVERSAL IS DEAD, IS BAD, HAVE NO STANDING,
ANY LAW THAT DOESNT RECKOGNISE FIRST AND FOREMOST , HUMAN INDEPENDENCE AND DIGNITY IS EVIL , AND THE COMMON LAW IS THE BEST LAW, IS TIME HAVE PROVEN TO UPLIFT AND GROW MAN AND SOCIETY. THE FRENCH LAW. OR SPANISH LAW, OR PORTUGUESE LAWS ARE ALL SMALL EUROPEAN
KANGAROO LAWS MADE FOR THEIR SELF CONSUMPTIONS NOT FIT TO EXPORT TO THE WORLD.

THIS CRIMINAL ENDEAVOUR OF HARMONISING THINGS WILL FAIL , WITH THE INDEPENDENCE
OF SOUTHERN CAMEROONS SOON.

[Ma Mary]

Paulo Laurent. I could not agree with you more. 50 years with these chaps does not engender confidence. We have to strike out on our own. This is a joke, especially with no independence of the judiciary from the executive and deeply engrained police lawlessness. See how they shot our children. The message is a very bad one. They are nullifying peaceful change.

[Nju Davis]

Hello Paolo, you are quite right that any law which is not universal is bound to fail. However, I will like to point out that while common law has its origins in England, the criminal procedure code used in the English speaking provinces ofCameroon is the 1958 Nigerian ordinance. Nothing wrong with that since this is justified by SC colonial history. Just setting the record straight

[SJ]

The judicial system of la Republique du Cameroun has never ruled on the legality and constitutionality of the abrogation of the Federal Constitution by France and puppet-strongman Ahidjo in 1972, the basis of which they purport to exist as a state (we of the Southern Cameroons know otherwise). The ruling won by Fon Gorji Dinka of Ambazonia after Biya declared his "Republique du Cameroun du Premiere Janvier 1960" earned the presiding judge a death sentence, and was tossed in the a French-made trash can.

Republique du Cameroun is a primitive lawless French colonial jungle-state refined in the practice of what Shanda Tomne has called the "Politics of the Bush" and ruled by French-cultivated monkeys.

Recent case in point, the little rascal Fame Ndongo, so-called Minister of Higher Education, with the stroke of his tribal Beti pen decided to change an ordinance to increase the number of students admitted to a Medical Faculty from 60 to 85 because none of his tribes people were qualified enough to merit admission; with his additional 35 being selected arbitrarily and solely by tribal consideration! It does not matter to this monkey if the logistics and human resources of the Medical Faculty, obviously planned to train 60 Doctors can handle the additional weight of 35 unqualified and meritless students.

Any serious debate on anything emanating from this French colonial jungle republic should be purely for entertainment purposes like a debate regarding characters in a fictional movie: Chewbacca or Han Solo, who's your favorite?

Too bad that there is nothing fictional in this jungle republic that has real human beings who have to bear the brunt of such morbid machinations.

[Nju Davis]

Somehow, I think that by focusing too much on the big picture, many among the Southern cameroons nationalist camp may be missing those little details that matter. Having studied about the trials and tribulations of this criminal procedure code back in my student days in the University of Yaounde in the late 1970s under the guidance of one of the foremost anglophone legal luminaries the late Prof. Ntamark, I can attest to the positive guiding force which has been behind this bill in the last 30 years.

So while we might scoff at its implementation (and rightly so), those of us who believe in a future Southern Cameroons state can do well to study what makes this law a positive one and how a similar law will be crafted in that future state - unless we plan to once again turn to archaic British and Nigerian laws at that time. As we march forward, let us not miss any chance to learn even from the "enemy". Southern Cameroons will not reinvent the wheel; it already exists.

Note also that after close to 50 years of the Anglo-Franco union, most Anglophones are no better than their "frog" counterparts when it comes to wheeling and dealing and violating the law as long as it suits their personal interests. So there is a long road ahead for SCnians legally and otherwise. In case we have forgotten...

[PAOLO LAURENT]

nju davis.
A NATION IS A REFLECTION OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVES THERE.
TODAY, 45 YRS AFTER THE TRIAL UNION WITH FRENCH CAMEROUN, THE QUESTION IS HAVE SOUTHERN CAMEROONS SUCCEEDED OR HAS IT FAILED? THE ANSWER IS SHE HAS FAILED MISERABLY IN ALL ECHELON. IT HAS BEEN REDUCED TO A MERE COLONYOR PROVINCE OR
L,AUTRE COTE DU MUNGO. ALL SHE NEEDS NOW
LOOKING 45 YRS AHEAD IS A TOTAL INDEPENDENCE ,NO GLASS CEILING UP ITS HEAD AS HARMONISED LAWS. BEFORE UNIFICATION SOUTHERN CAMEROUN HAD ITS COMMON LAW, NOT FROM NIGERIA AS YOU WRONGLY WANTS TO DIS BELIEF, BUT FROM UK.
NIGERIA, ALSO HAD THE SAME, AND THE FACT THAT SOUTHERN CAMEROONS WAS RULE ALONGSIDE NIGERIA ,BY BRITAIN JUST JUSTIFYING THE NIGERIA LAWS ALSO BEEING APPLIED IN SOUTHERN CAMEROONS, ITS THE SAME LAW THE OPERATE ANY WHERE IN THE WORLD TODAY( ANGLOSAXON HEMISPHERE)
THE SAD THING IS MOST OF SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS LAWYERS/INTELLECTUALS/LEADERS
LACK JUST ONE THING CALLED (VISION)
WITH VISION, THEN THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN ASKING THENSELVES, WHATS THE INTENT
OF ANOTHER FOREIGN LAW TO BE FORCED ON US, IS THAT INTENT GOOD OR EVIL? THE ANSWER IS THE INTENT IS EVIL. FOR ITS MEANT TO CONTROL THE PEOPLE, THE RESOURCES, THE LAND, THE SEA, THE AIR , THE DESTINY OF
SOUTHERN CAMEROONS, NOT BY SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS THEMSELVES BY BY A FOREIGN POWER, IN THIS CASE AN AFRICAN BROTHER STATE, CALLED LA REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN.
THINK ONCE IF THE PROMARY SCHOOLS. SECONDARY SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, HOSPITALS, FACTORIES, ALL WERE UNDER THE CONTROL OF SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS THEMSELVES, DONT YOU THINK, THEY WOULD HAVE

A. PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP
B. INVEST IN THEIR CITIES AND TOWNS
DILLIGENTLLY
C.. BETTER MANAGE THESE PLACES
D. BE HAPPY HUMANS.
SINCE ALL THE REVENUES ARE PAID DIRECTLY TO THEM AND THEY WOULD AUTOMATICALLY. IMPROVE THEIR LIFES.
SUBJUGATION GOVERNMENT, THE TYPE IN THE CAMEROUNS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE, SINCE ITS DESTROY THE SPIRIT OF THE YOUNG AND THE OLD, ITS DESTROY DIGNITY OF OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL OF GRAND PAA LAND, PASS ON THE THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS.
CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME, IF THEY THE FRENCH CAMEROUN GOVERNMENENT ARE GOOD ENOUGH, THEY MUST START FROM THEIR HOME TOWNS AND VILLAGES AND GOVERN THEMSELVES,IN PEACE AND LET SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS DO THEIR OWN THING,

BEFORE THEM WE WERENOT IN DARKNESS, WE WERE NOT THIRTY OF WATER, WE WERE NOT
HUNGER OF FOOD, WE WERE NOT LACK OF PETROL. BUT THEY CAME WITH EVIL INTENT, FONCHA DIDNT KNOW, THEY BROUGHT, SNEC,
SONEL. FEICOM,, SONARA, ETC.
GUEST WHAT, THE DAY THEY LEAVE FOR ANY REASON, WE WILL BE IN DARKNESS, SNEC TAPS WOULD BE TURN OFF OR EVEN POISON THE WATER,SONARA HAD ALREADY POLLUTED ALL THE WATER AND FISHING VILLAGES AROUND IDENAU AND MANO WAR BAY, THE ARE NO LONGER FISHES THERE, YET NONE OF US WORK THERE
, NO MONEY FOR TAXES PAID TO VICTORIA
NO RESPECT ,NO NOTHING, HOW MUCH MORE CAN WE TAKE/
WE NEED OURSELVES. WE NEED OUR PAAS LAND, WE NEED OUR INDEPENDENCE, WE ARE SUFFERING OUR NOT OUR FAULT, WE CAN EVEN LAND A PLANE ON OUR OWN LAND
WE OUR LIKE IN A HOLE, ALL AROUND CLOSELLY WATCH BY ARMED GUARD MEN CALLED GERDAMES/POLICE CAMEROUNAIS DE
LA REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN, OUR GIRLS ARE BEEING INFLICTED WITH HIV/AIDS DAILY, THROUGH RAPE,. BY THESE MEN IN ARMED. WHO SEES US NOT AS HUMANS BUT A CO CO FOR
THEM TO CHOP. WAKE UP MEN . WAKE UP ITS NOT TOO LATE, ITS NOT FINISH TILL ITS FINISH, THERE CANT KILL US ALL IF ALL PARENTS SAY NO , ALL KIDS SAY NO.
ALL DOGS SAY NO, ALL CATS, SAY NO, THE

WATERS SAY NO. THE WOODS SAY NO..

HE WHO IS NOT HAPPY TO BY INDEPENDENT

SHOULD GO LIVE IN APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA, IN 1974, THE SAME PICTURE OF
STEVE BIKO KILLED BY APARTHEID POLICEMEN,
AND A YOUNG STUDENT CARRIES THE BODY OF HIS DEATH CLASSMATE ON THEIR BACK HAVE PASSED IN BUEA, RECENTLY.YET SOME STILL DONT YET , DID THEIR PRESIDENTMADE ANY REMARK OF OUTRAGE, OF CONDOLENCES TO THE BEREIF FAMILIES? NO NO, CAUSE ITS A PLAN ACT, ITS A PLAN ACT, IY HAVE BEEN PLAN.
THEY SEES US AS DEER, THE WAY A LION SEES IT, THE MORE THE SUBJUGATE US, EXPOIT US, THE STRONGER, PROUDER, FEARFUL THE LOOK. LOOK AT VICTORIA FUEL SHORTGAGE.
FUEL IS REFINE RIGHT THERE, THEN IT HAVE TO BE TRANSPORTED, ACROSS, 100 MILES TO
ANOTHER COUNTRY. STORED. THEN WHEN WE NEED FUEL FOR OUR CARS THEY WILL COME AND GIVE US A BIT OF IT, (VOUS LES ANGLOS, PRENEZ CE PETIT).
FREEDOM IS EVERYTHING ITS INDEPENDENCE, ITS THE LAW, THAT WHAT COMMON LAW IS ABOUT. UNDER THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH MAN MUST NOT BOW TO MAN BUT TO HIS CREATOR, BUT FRENCH MEN OF BLACK SKIN SEES IT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, MAN MUST BOW TO THE CHEF DE L ETAT, L ETAT CEST SUPREME. EVERY THING IS L ETAT, THEN THE CHEF DE L ETAT IS THE ONE WHO CONTROLS ALL, HE EVN HAS THE SPELL OF DEATH ON EVERY ONE, NO JUSTICE, NOLAW COURT, NO BANK PRESIDENT, NO DOCTOR, HE IS THE LIVING GOD ON EARTH, WELL COMMON ALW DOESNTSAYS THAT. ITS GARANTY OUR LIBERTY TO BE INDEPENDENT, PRODUCTIVE, AND SERVICE FOR THE GOODNESS OF HUMANKIND.

[SJ]

Mr. Nju Davis,

I beg to disagree with you.

First, there was never a union, this figment of rich and fertile imaginations over the years must now be exposed and trashed as part of the big fat lies that has la Republique du Cameroun stuck in a mess of Gaullist France making that will only go away with end of their brutal occupation of the Southern Cameroons. If there was a union, as some one who came under the guidance of legal luminaries, please provide us with the treaty of union as demanded by Article 102 of the UN Charter. Where is it? Exactly. No wonder you advocate that we not focus on the big issues. Pierre Messmer has revealed the truth about this figment of some fertile imaginations called "a union" (continue reading please). My invoking the Federal Constitution is a concession I made you should take advantage of for argument sake.

Sir, you must be delusional. There is a Constitution of la Republique du Cameroun conceived by the Beti boys and their French handlers that was to take effect in 1996 which talks of a Senate and other Gaullist-inspired provisions including the combustible concept of "autothochones" and "allogenes." Has even this tailor-made jungle constitution been fully implemented eleven years later? Exactly. And you expect rational human beings not to scoff at the offerings from those who have elevated mendacity to a policy of governance?

Sir, it is evident why you advise Southern Cameroonians not to focus on the big picture, for focusing on the big picture means:

-knowing that the Southern Cameroons has its own internationally recognized borders that are not being drawn today.

-knowing that there is no treaty that has given France and their Vichy jungle republic a title deed over a territory that was not part of it upon its attainment of her Gaullist independence.

-that the international legal priciple of uti posseidis juris applies to la Republique du Cameroun and her benefactor France.

-informing the young and old of the Southern Cameroons that they and their land was considered by Charles de Gaulle as "a little gift to France from the Queen of England." That this view and attitude from those that the government of LRC enjoys their tutelage de-humanizes them, and gives Biya and his gang comfort in repeatedly sending troops to Buea, Ndu and other parts of the Southern Cameroons to kill kids and rape 12-13 year old girls without consideration and without consequence.

-that Pierre Messmer, a former colonial governor of French Cameroun and PM of France can arrogantly put it in the historical record the Fumban Conference was, to use his own words "a sham, that safe for appearnace was the annexation of the Southern Cameroons .... by [a] Ahidjo meticulously prepared by his French lawyers and experts," and not a union as some apologists for the brutalisation of the Southern Cameroons claim.

Looking at the big picture negates the small picture and palavers of graffi and sawa, "northwest" and "southwest," and it scares the apologists for this fatricidal jungle regime who would want the people of the Southern Cameroons to remain programmed in animus against each other.

And with all due respect to those you call "anglophone legal luminaries," they spent a life time attempting to polish what could have been the golden ring, unfortnately placed on a French pig's snout. It is unfortunate that the student persists in the error of the tutor's ways.

There is nothing positive that can come out of a system unable to address this basic question about the state they purport to incarnate, and once again, I make the concession in the absence of a treaty of union: The judicial system of la Republique du Cameroun has never ruled on the legality and constitutionality of the abrogation of the Federal Constitution by France and puppet-strongman Ahidjo in 1972, the basis of which they purport to exist as a state (we of the Southern Cameroons know otherwise).

[Nju Davis]

Hi SJ,

Let me explain the "big picture" concept which you failed to understand in my mail.

Whenever any decision is taken in Cameroon, I ask myself,"how is it going to help or hinder / free or oppress Anglophone Cameroonians"? But must importantly, I ask "how can a poor implementation, discriminatory nature, or just plain absurdity of that decision/ law be exploited by Southern Cameroons nationalists to further their course?". I am afraid to say with regards to the last question, all we have is a series of missed opportunities.

Today La Republique claims that it has given the "people" a "law with a human face". Good and fine. Instead of spending precious time scoffing at the law, why are SC groups not sending "troops" across the NW and SW province to clearly document how the new law is being violated?

Our people can't be bothered by all those UN resolutions and "violated" international agreements, and principles that form the cornerstone of the SC discourse - some of which you have quoted in your piece above. But they understand what it means to be flogged at a police station simply because someone accused you of a crime; they know what it means for the police to break into your house at midnight to arrest you without a warrant, etc.

So show the world how these practices are still continuing even with the new code and people will listen. Just scoffing the law and making a mockery of "gaullist monkeys" instead shows a dearth of arguments on your part, even though there are millions of arguments to make...

[SJ]

Mr. Nju Davis,

You obviously consider the Petainiste junta in Yaounde people of good faith, otherwise you won't advise a colonised people who have been so brutally humiliated to bother themselves with how this new proposition is going to "help or hinder/free or oppress Anglophone Cameroonians"? Malcolm X did protest that you do not thank some one who has stuck a knife 12 inches into you back only to pull it back by a few inches.

Ahidjo promised infront of the UN that he had no intention of annexing the Southern Cameroons, and I believe Ahidjo meant it. However, Ahidjo never had the final say in matters of that French colonial state called la Republique [Francaise] du Cameroun. As a Gaullist monkey, his masters in Paris did, and the will of France carried the day: our country and her inhabitants became "a little gift to France from the Queen of England." Nothing has changed under France's self-proclaimed best pupil, puppet Biya. There can therefore not implement this their law with a human face; not that what you call Southern Cameroonian nationalists should see anything useful in its implementation.

Sir, do you really believe this law will stop the French-trained gendarmes from giving Southern Cameroonian or even Camerounese activists the beatings of their life when they challenge this Petainiste junta? Will it stop them from smashing down doors without warrants?

It is apparent that the Camerounese Gaullist monkeys can not live with what legal minds call the fundamental law of the land: a country's constitution.

Is your bigger picture argument implying that until now, it was lawful "to be flogged at a police station simply because someone accused you of a crime"? Will this stop because a group of thugs who can not respect their own constitution passes a law with a human face. I don't think so.

Before this law with a human face, was it lawful "for the police to break into your house at midnight to arrest you without a warrant, etc."? Will this stop because a group of thugs who can not respect their own constitution claim to pass new laws with a human face?

What makes you think people who can not implement their own-tailor made constitution will implement a law with a human face? It can not be their past actions, and certainly not their "trust us" promises.

The basis on which la Republique du Cameroun purports to exist as a state (i.e. including the territory of the Souhern Cameroons)is non-existent legally, fictional and is based on a fantasy that rides on the most extreme perversions of Cartesian logic.

Anything emanating from this illegality regarding the Southern Cameroons is therefore not legal in our point of view as Southern Cameroonian nationalists. But because the colonial occupation forces can elicit compliance from the Southern Cameroons' population only by the threat of force or the use of it, it means henceforth we must find any means necessary to combat their occupation of our land and send them back within the international borders of their political correctly named country: la Republique du Cameroun.

[Louis_Mbua]

Nju Davis,

What one believes is at stake here is the will and ability for the Republic of Cameroon to follow the law. Firstly, the 1972 abrogation of the "gentleman" law of Federation of the two Cameroons makes a mockery of their legislation. Secondly, the law that Ahidjo signed in September 1961 to bring about the constitution of the Federation was illegal because LRC had no jurisdiction in SC who had their own parliament. It is not possible to legislate in illegality. I am not a lawyer but I believe this to be true. But for the sake of realpolitik, let's argue on the following grounds....

As to the Southern Cameroons argument, they have the right to dismiss laws from LRC with contempt because the present system in Cameroon violates their fundamental right of self determination. Consequently, the only way is to confront the system. Appeasing the legal system as you appear to suggest may bring short term benefits for a few but the underlying problem of ineffective decolonisation and self-determination remains.

No law in Cameroon carries any weight as long as Southern Cameroons has no autonomy which is clearly underlined in international law. Nelson Mandela never tried to compromise Apartheid and its "laws". All he had to say was that the illegal and evil system must go. There was nothing else he could say. That is the starting point.

Now, If LRC agrees on their illegalities, then we can discuss on which way forward. But as long as they continue to display fascist tendencies and primitive bravado they must be dismissed as a "Bush State". Here a Minister of "Higher Education" can openly conduct academic fraud against Southern Cameroonian medical students; and actually get away with it. This, clearly, is an example of backwardness and a shamefully primitive act undeserving of a nation. There is, unfortunately, no other way such a state can be described in the modern era of enlightenment -- a Bush State.

[Nju Davis]

Hello Louis,

Let me state categorically that the new law will NOT fundamentally change the situation on the ground. My point of contention is however fairly simple. EVERY oppotunity must be used to expose the leaders of Cameroon for what they are and the Cameroon system for what it is. In that regard, the anglophone nationalist forces should be ready to use every occasion to clearly demonstrate that duplicity. It is not enough to say other laws have not been applied, or come back a year later and say "that law doesn't work". They should be able to clearly demonstrate, with verifiable examples, that the law is not being applied. One more time, the people of Southern Cameroon willl be mobilized by palpable real-life and daily issues and not by theoretical concepts such as SJ's "uti posseidis juris"

[Ma Mary]

Dear Mr Nju:

The way you are thinking about this would have been considered highly progressive in 1973, as we began to feel the tightening vice of La republique's annexation eating deeply into our civil liberties and our physical environment. There is a portion of Southern Cameroonian society that still believes in accomodation, and in giving a proven aggressor and profligrate "another chance" to mess up.

The second wave of Southern Cameroonian nationalism arose in the 1990s and is growing. The language of Southern Cameroonian nationalism is now part of the common lexicon. According to us Southern Cameroonian nationalists, la Republique francais du Cameroun ran out of chances long ago, and there is a long record of cosmetic measures by la republique since the days of Ahidjo. Numerous initiatives are started in words that remain that, just words, while the same corrupt, criminal activities continue uninterrupted. We no longer want to give la republique 5 more years to fool around. "Fooling the people all the time" time is gone forever. Caput. Finito. Evidence is already there. We need no more.

As a Southern Cameroonian, we hope you would reconsider the notion of giving la republique five more years to mess with our peoples minds.

[SJ]

PRESS RELEASE
Done in Bamenda this January 4, 2007

For the Southern Cameroonian People.

NFOR, N. NFOR
National Vice Chairman, and
Chair, Foreign Affairs Commission.

ARREST AND DETENTION OF SCNC LEADER

The occupation forces of la Republique du Cameroun determined to break the strong will of the Southern Cameroonian people to restore their statehood, have once again arbitrarily arrested an SCNC leader, Mr. Ngiewih Asunkwain, National Secretary of
Communication.

He was arbitrarily arrested in a Bar with friends and other compatriots on Friday December 29, 2006 at about 20 hours GMT. He was abused and humiliated before his
very friends and others.

His crime; he was found with an SCNC Press Release issued by the National Chairman, Chief Ayamba E. O.

Having been detained at the Police Mobile Intervention Unit he was moved to the Judicial Police Unit and finally to the notorious "Awaiting Trial" Unit of the
Bamenda Prison.

To subject him to physical and psychological torture and break his moral and spiritual will power, the wife, Mrs. Asunkwain, was chased away with the warm
clothing she brought for the husband. Efforts by the SCNC lawyers to have him released have been turned down with impunity. This tactic of persistent
detention under inhuman and degrading conditions, and subjection to physical, moral and psychological torture has been the diabolic instrument of silent genocide from which the SCNC and Southern Cameroons in general have suffered enormously.

Mr. Ngiewih Asunkwain is a seasoned Journalist who rendered meritorious services in the Ministry of Information and Culture and rose to the rank of Director. He served as Provincial Delegate of
Information and Culture, the post from which he retired.

The SCNC calls on the international community, Human Rights bodies and all Press Organs to mount pressure on the Biya regime to release Mr. Asunkwain and all
other Southern Cameroonian prisoners of conscience who are languishing in the numerous prisons.

La Republique du Cameroun's acts of intimidation are aimed at provoking a crisis in Southern Cameroons in order to carry out massive elimination of SCNC leaders and sustain the occupation and assimilation of Southern Cameroonians. The imperial tactics of la Republique du Cameroun will fail like any other before
it. The will of the Southern Cameroonian people to self-determination will triumph.

[Ma Mary]

Mr Nju: that is just one more piece of evidence brought in by SJ. There are websites where these are documented. What more would you want or need to stop the futile capitulation/accomodation to forces of annexation?

Marginalization is not the correct term to use for what Southern Cameroonians are going through. Marginalization is a term that citizens of la Republique may use to describe the impact of their bad govt on them. We are suffering plunder and human rights abuses from an occupying power. These are two distinctly different predicaments. Tomorrow, Nordistes or Bamis take over, it will not change.

[Tesa]

Hello SJ,

This is a very interesting discussion, and I agree with most of your points, although I do concede that the underlying message in Nju's comments is an understandable one.

However, I totally part ways with you on the "big picture" aspect of this discussion because your langaguage is exactly the same as what I have heard from Francophones.

You write:

"Looking at the big picture negates the small picture and palavers of graffi and sawa, "northwest" and "southwest," and it scares the apologists for this fatricidal jungle regime who would want the people of the Southern Cameroons to remain programmed in animus against each other."

I cringe each time anyone tries to brush off the Graffi-Coastal divide in this pursuit of Southern Cameroons nationhood. That in my mind is sheer hypocrisy - just like the francophone brushing off the "Anglo/Franco" divide in his frenzied search for "la patrie". Both the Anglo/franco divide and the NW/SW divide (which was called the coastal/graffi divide prior to unification) are living realities (whatever their origins) which we must accept and address head-on, or lose our credibility.

How would you feel if a Francophone said the following (I simply changed the characters in your statement above)?:

"Looking at the big picture negates the small picture and palavers of Anglo and Franco, "French Cameroons" and "British Cameroons," and it scares the apologists for secession who would want the people of the bilingual Republic of Cameroon to remain programmed in animus against each other.

I am sure you would blow your top... No revolution, no matter how noble or justified, can be successful if it is based on sweeping uncomfortable issues under the carpet, or on ignoring the obvious. The Southern Cameroons revolution is no different.

Let us not bury our heads in the sand just like the Francophones who we condemn every passing day.

[SJ]

Tesa,

Bringing up the NW/SW or graffi/coastal issue in my discussions here is acknowledging this cleavage that exists in the Southern Cameroons in my opinion, and not sweeping it under the carpet. Afterall, did I not bring it up?

But my argument is that when you look at the "big picture" it puts the NW/SW or graffi/coastal in it's subordinate place relative to the decolonization of the Southern Cameroons. If you are familiar with any of the ACC Conferences you would know that the best minds of the Southern Cameroons did take pains to create a scientific blueprint that will address this palaver in an independent Southern Cameroons.

However, my expereince debating with the Franco-Camerounese and other Southern Cameroonians still hostile to the de-colonization of the Southern Cameroons is that they do use this apparent cleavage as a wedge issue in an attempt to obscure facts and introduce subterfuge in our struggle for independence. Your attempt to paraphrase me follows that logic.

[Tesa]

SJ, you still do not get it. You write: "But my argument is that when you look at the "big picture" it puts the NW/SW or graffi/coastal in it's subordinate place relative to the decolonization of the Southern Cameroons."

Same like the Francophone ostritch who would say:

"But my argument is that when you look at the "big picture" it puts the Anglo/Franco or La Republique/Southern Cameroons [divide] in it's subordinate place relative to the unification of the Cameroonian nation."

In either case, there is nothing "subordinate". Either the problem exists and should be addresssed NOW by all right thinking people, or it does not exist. Period.

It is this talk of "subordinate issues" by Francophones that pushed Anglophones to adopt the "radical" discourse of today. And it is this same talk by a southern Cameroons fringe that is keeping the SW in the evil embrace of "La Republique". Just an observation of the situation on the ground and nothing more. A word to the wise...

[SJ]

Tesa,

The claim is that a foreign country, LRC with defined international borders is in occupation of another nation with her own defined borders. Whether these two countries were both anglophone or francophone is surbodinate to this legal claim.

If we follow your logic, the next cleavage could be between upper Bayang and lower Bayang, between Nkwen and Bambili etc.

Yes, I still do not get your argument, and I will never get it because it is a false one meant to obscure the issues. Those who want to continue with the "evil embrace" can do so. You seem to be making arguments for them.

[PAOLO LAURENT]

THE MOST POWERFUL, DIGNIFIED AND
CULTURAL APPREHENDED LAWS AND GOVERNMENT SYSTEM IN THE WORLD TODAY IS THE ANGLOSAXON , WORLD SYSTEM, WE CAN NOT,
USE THE COMMON LAW SYSTEM, AMD THE FRENCH LAWS OR THE PHRASE, BECAUSE THEY ARE NEVER COMPATIBLE. THE FACT THAT, THE LA REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN, INTENT, RIGHT FROM THE ONSET WASNT PEACEFUL.AND RESPECTFUL FOR THE SOUTHERN CAMEROONS SOUVEREIGNTY AND AUTOMOMY.
RIGHT FROM 1961, WHAT NATION CAN ACCEPT
SUCH AN ACT, AGREEING TO FEDERATE WITH ANOTHER NATION ON THE BASES, OF TWO STATE FEDERATION ,ONLY AFTER 11YRS,
THE ,SOMEONE , SIGNED A DECREE,SAYING THE FEDERATIONIS DEATH. HOW POWERFUL AND IS SUCH A PERSON? WHY DIDNT THAT PERSON SIGNED A DECREE, IN THE FIRST PLACE TO CREAT THAT UNION, IF ITS NOT JUST, CONTEMPT AND FRAUD?
WHAT NATION IN THE WORLD CAN ACCEPT TO CEASED TO EXIST AS A SOUVEREIGN COUNTRY, WITH RESPECTED BOUNDARIES, ONLY TO BECAME A COLONY/PROVONCE TO ANOTHER, BECAUSE SOMEONE SIGNED A DECREE?
THATS THE ONUS OF THE PROBLEM OF SOUTHERN CAMEROONS /LA REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN WAR.
REMEBER 100 % OF CITIZENS OF LA REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN , HAVE NEVER BEEN TAUGHT THE HISTORY OF SOUTHERN CAMEROOONS, SINCE 1961. THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE OF SOUTHERN CAMEROONS AS A SOUVEREIGN COUNTRY, PRIOR TO 1961, IN THEIR CUURICULUM. SINCE 1961, AND THIS IS NOT AN ERROR, BUT APLAN, TO ANNEX
SOUTHERN CAMEROONS, BY MAKING THEIR CITIZENS THINK THATS SOUTHERN CAMEROONS WAS/IS JUST A TRIBE CALLED

(ANGLOPHONE). THEY HAVE USED THIS APPELATION SOO SUCESSIVELLY, RIGHT TO THE FACT THAT SOME SOUTHERN CAMEROONS CITIZENS ALSO ARE CALLING THEM SELVES ANGLOPHONES, BUT BEFORE 1972, WHEN AHIDJO PEN , DESTROYED THE FEDERATION AND , BALKANISEDM SOUTHERN CANEROONS INTO HIS 2 PROVINCE, FOR EASY COLONISATION, NO HISTORY WORD IS REFFERED TO AS ANGLOPHONES.
SOO, WE MUST BE CAREFUL, BY CALLING OURSELVES ANGLOPHONES, . NIGERIANS, CALLED THEMSELVES NIGERIA,. GHANIANS CALL THEM SELVES GHANINAS,

WE SHOULD CALL OUR SELVES SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS, THATS OUR IDENTITY. WE ARE NOT NEITHER CAMEROONIANS, NOR ANGLOPHONES.

[vito]

Davis,the problem is that of accountability;the powers that be in Cameroun are not accountable to anyone;so how do you exploit whatever "opportunities" as you call them,and to what end?HARMONISATION in cameroun means ASSIMILATION of one by the other.Do i need to tell you which is the one and which the other?I think not.
Secondly ,do you really think Prof.Ntamark was an ANGLOPHONE LEGAL LUMINARY?I'm sorry but i didnt quite get the point of his "anglophoneness",if you dont mind the expression.
Dear Tesa,your analogy is linguistically correct but unfortunately socially,politically and contextually wrong;and i'm being very kind here.You do sound like an appologist for the annexation of my motherland,and that i really dont like.How we solve our differnces as a nation is secondary to our independence ,anytime anyday.Cameroun is in the utter mess she finds herself today because that mistake.How you fellows could possibly negotiate independence without the UPC still amazes me.The UPC then was THe Poeple in your land.Well in our case we are ONE and nobody will divide us or temper our resolve with divide tactics,because that's exactly what you fellows are trying to fan amongst us.
Harmonisation indeed.These poeple will kill me with ulcers.They just harmonised the tertiary educational system a month ago at the cost of two students' lives and untold material and psychological damage.Just to proove that they are above the system.
Its quite trying and tiring.It wont last dear friend,just watch.Thanks

[Ndiks]

Mr Tesa,
Do you think if we go to the crinkum-crankum of the NW/SW divide, graffi cam no go exchanges,we will not find gory colonial hands at play?Who do Tesa think is the brain behind these gammon?Tesa,who bifurcated the territory of Southern Cameroons into NW/SW ? and for what rationale?

[M Nje]

Ahmadou Ali Violates Constitution, Bans English At Press Conference
Who Is Supposed To Sanction Him, Biya Or Inoni?

The Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals in what is obviously a flagrant violation of the constitution of the country sent shock waves through English-speaking Cameroonians by banning the use of English during his press conference in Yaounde last Friday, January 5.

The press conference was related to the recent unrest in some prisons in the country occasioned by a strike action by staff of the Penitentiary Administration.

In a visibly uncontrollable rage and classic approach in handling issues of this magnitude by the regime in power. The Honourable Vice Prime Minister moved from one blunder to another.

First, he openly declared that he wouldn't entertain questions in one of the official languages during the press conference. The declaration placed the English-speaking journalists in the hall in the uncomfortable situation of feeling like strangers in their own country.

Then, as if to add insult to injury, he went on in the characteristic manner of handling sensitive issues of this nature by the regime, resorted to 'scapegoatism' by meting out sanctions to penitentiary officials whom he considers propagators of the strike action for violating their statutes.

This leaves one to wonder what moral authority the Hon. Vice Prime Minister, who has so flagrantly violated the highest law of the land, has to sanction other Cameroonians for violating a mere statute?

SCNC sources in Buea revealed that this is only one in a catalogue of instances where high-ranking officials of the Biya regime have been lending credence to their struggle for an independent Anglophone state through their pronouncements.

He recalled the declaration of one-time Minister of Territorial Administration during the hey days of political upheaval in the early 1990s who said that those who are not satisfied with the status quo could go elsewhere.

They also pointed that a one-time Government Delegate to the Yaounde Urban Council (of late) called Anglophones "enemies in the house."

Although this seemingly unimportant declaration may have passed unnoticed in Yaounde, in the two Anglophone provinces, it has rekindled the debate on the place of the Anglophone in this union called the Republic of Cameroon.

A sampling of public opinion in the two provinces suggested that Anglophones are tired of being pushed against the wall by such provocative pronouncements by high-ranking government officials. Most believe that it is high time the President of the Republic began sanctioning such officials or be guilty of complicity with them.

It is not clear what role Anglophone penitentiary officials may have played in orchestrating the strike action that provoked the Hon. Vice Prime Minister's wrath.

What is clear, however, is that since the transfer of the Penitentiary Administration from the Ministry of Territorial Administration to the Ministry of Justice, there has been simmering friction between both corps, which finally manifested itself in the strike action.

The elite corps of the Magistracy in the Ministry of Justice has always considered those of the Penitentiary Administration as inferior intruders. This attitude is manifest in the slow and sometimes nonchalant manner in which documents related to staff of the Penitentiary Administration are treated within the Ministry of Justice and Penitentiary Administration.

A glaring example is the document related to the integration and implementation of the statute of staff of the Penitentiary Administration, which has been dragging for over two years now.

Whatever the case might be, it is evident that the Hon. Vice Prime Minister in violating the constitution by banning the use of the English language in his press conference, has compromised not only his authority to sanction prison officials for violating their statute, but also to continue to exercise his functions as Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Justice in a country which prides itself as a torch bearer in upholding the rule of law in the sub-region.

Whoever is responsible for upholding the constitution in this case should assume his responsibility. Is it President Paul Biya or Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni?
Enough is enough!

By V.N.Mbai, Likomba

http://www.postnewsline.com/2007/01/ahmadou_ali_vio.html

[PAOLO LAURENT]

IF SOUTHERN CAMEROONS COMMON LAWS OR
AS YOU WANNA CALL IR CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW IS FROM NIGERIA, THEN WHERE DID NIGERIA GOT THIS LAW FROM?

FOOLS NEVER LEARN, 11M FRENCH AFRICANS, HAVE TRIED UNSUCCESSIVELY TO DISTANCE
SOUTHERN CAMEROONS FROM UK, THEY TOOK THE NAME VICTORIA OUT AND BROUGHT IN LIMBA, THEN THEY TOOK OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM LONDON GCE, AND MADE IT CAMEROON GCE, THEY DESTROYED LONDON
CITY AND GUILDS, AND RSA AND BROUGHT IN CAP, THEY DESTROYED, THEY ARCHIVES IN BUEA AND BAMENDA HOUSING VOLUMES OF OUR BRITISH HERITAGE IN A BONNE-FIRE, THESE BANDITS ,THEN ALL THESE UNDER THE BARREL OF A GUN OF THEIR ARMY, THESE BANDITS NOT ONLY HATE US BADLY, BUT LAUGH EVERY TIME THEY KILL OUR BOYS /, RAPE OUR GIRLS, STEALL OUR RESOURCES, ETC. THESE LOW LIFES ARE LOWER THAN PIGS. THEY MUST PAY, EVEN AFTER SOUTHERN CAMEROONS INDEPENDENCE, BIYA, EYAYA. KOUMPSAA, . MBONDA THOMAS, ,FAME NDONGO ETC
MUST BE TRIED AND HANGED.LIKE SADDHAM/

[Tuks]

THE NEW CRIMINAL CODE IN ACTION - BREAKING NEWS FROM BAMENDA
*******************************************
Dear People,
This writer was an eye witness to one of the most horrible incidents marking the beginning of this promising year 2007. As a journalist and an activist of the struggle for the Independence of former British
Southern Cameroons,this reporter saw the so-called Cameroun's New Criminal Code being dashed on the rocks by the agents and forces of La Republique du Cameroun. Here below is a synoptic presentation of the event.

= 1:30 P.M.- Activists and journalists assemble in the compound of late Pa Stephen Ndi( housing the office of SCNC;[ at least 250 activists, 7 journalists; the leaders of SCNC and other invited leaders from other
groups.]

=1:45 P.M. - The Press Conference proper begins with a word from Chief Ayamba, the SCNC Chairman, and a presentation by Nfor. N. Nfor, Vice SCNC Chair... mainly on his recent tours to Asia, Europe and the USA.

=2:30 P.M. - As he is rounding up his presentation, a contingent of well armed gendarmes arive the premises and sorround the area... led by the Company Commander
for Gendarmerie, Mezam..himself a Southern
Cameroonian.

= 2:45 P.M.- A journalist of The Post newspaper who was coordinating the Press Conference stands up togive the modalities for the Conference...he is hushed down by the "Officer"...who then proceeds to announce that he has been sent to arrest the "activists".

At this juncture, Chief Ayamba asks to see the arrest warrant from the State Counsel, according to their so-called new Criminal Code. He presents a letter from the SDO Mezam signed on 20th January 2007(a Saturday). The letter further states that the arrest is ordered on the "Activists"!!!
Journalists and many enlightened activists,
prominent amongst whom were Stephen Kongso of Kumbo, reminded the Officer that the close to 250 present are all activists and if at all any arrests were to take place, all will go. He was reminded that only the
State Counsel has the right to issue an arrest warrant, not an administrator.

Moreover, their law prohibits arrests on non-working days. The Officer , who looked embarrased , was given free lectures on their new law and the raison d'etre
of the struggle. He had no option but to call the SDO himself.

In less than 30 minutes, the 1st Ass. SDO arrived and ordered the leaders to surrender and follow him to the "Station". This activist reminded the leaders that they were under no obligation to sort out themselvesto be arrested. Moreover,everyone present was an activist of the struggle. It were better they used force to arrest them in a private residence than they moving to the streets to be arrested there. This
caused Mr. SDO to retreat and later came in with a full force of the Mobile Intervention Squad,the Police, to back up the gendarmes. More vehicles were brought as well.

It took the forces close to 45 minutes to arrest some 50 activists who were driven to the detention camps.

N/B. TORTURES:
THE POPULATION HAD GATHERED IN THEIR THOUSANDS AT THE COW STREET AREA AND WERE WITNESSES TO THE BRUTAL TREATMENT GIVEN THE ACTIVISTS, AS THEY WERE BEING THROWN INTO THE TRUCKS.

This reporter saw a young gendarme office violently remove the cap of a 70 year
old man in the back of a truck, and hit with open palms on his nostrils.

Nfor Nfor {I hope I am right here} was seen being hit with the butt of a gun as he was thrown at the back of a truck.

The trucks were full, so the other activists
decided to follow on foot. This activist/reporter was violently pushed of the veranda where he was taking notes( by our fellow Southern Cameroonian... Company
Commander for Mezam. H e hails from Donga Mantung or Bui...details later). The SDO intervened and told Mr. Commander to be careful with journalists. Reason why I
am able to give this quick report in a rush.
Commentaries are rife on the lips of all.

We will be hearing them, as the entire press was there from start to finish. So, what next>>>??

MARTIN FON YEMBE reporting liVE from Cow Street Nkwen, Bamenda.

[Ma Mary]

Dear Mr Nju and Mr Ateh:
I thank Tuks for posting this article here. This is a live example of la Republique Francais du Cameroun failure to live by rules, its own or international norms. Infact, it crumbled upon the first test of its much heralded new law. In a similar way, I do not think there is any law that covers "regional balance", and if there were one, it is continuously being flouted to suit the purposes of greedy superclass.

I am wearying of Southern Cameroonians wanting to give la republique yet "another chance" to mess up. The pattern has been clear for a whole half century. The delinquent is beyond correction, therefore it is time for more radical action. If all of us, Southern Cameroonians resolved our little differences, reached out and picked up our independence, we would have it in no time at all. How much srewing up is too much screwing up for us?