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Van Hollen, Risch, Cardin, Colleagues Condemn Violence in Anglophone Cameroon

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues, today in introducing a resolution calling on the Government of Cameroon and armed separatist groups from the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions to end all violence, respect the human rights of all Cameroonians, and pursue a genuinely inclusive dialogue toward resolving the ongoing civil conflict in Anglophone Cameroon.  

Key provisions of the resolution include encouraging all parties of the Anglophone conflict in Cameroon to:

  • Conclude and uphold an immediate ceasefire.
  • Guarantee unfettered humanitarian access and assistance to the Northwest and Southwest regions.
  • Exercise restraint and ensure that political protests are peaceful.
  • Establish a credible process for an inclusive dialogue that includes all relevant stakeholders to achieve a sustainable political solution that respects the rights and freedoms of all of the people of Cameroon.Full text of the resolution can be found here. 

The Senators were joined by Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

Background: 

Since 2016, Cameroon’s security forces have been credibly accused of grave human rights abuses, including suppressing the basic freedoms of expression and assembly, arbitrarily detaining those who challenge the president’s authority, torture, and extrajudicial killings. Human Rights Watch has documented extensive burning of villages by members of the security forces in the last two years in both the Northwest and Southwest regions, as well as rampant killings of civilians and sexual violence.