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Recent abuses in Cameroon (fwd)
Robert Johnson (johnsorl@COLORADO.EDU)
Mon, 11 Sep 1995 06:37:45 -0600
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 1995 06:56:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: Joedeu-Forgey Elisa Von <jvon@sas.upenn.edu>
To: nuafrica@listserv.acns.nwu.edu,
postcolonial@jefferson.village.virginia.edu
Cc: Philipp Prein <hs4a048@rrz.uni-hamburg.de>
Subject: Recent abuses in Cameroon
The Forum of African Intellectuals in the Diaspora is issuing an urgent
appeal to all scholars and people of goodwill to join in condemning the
persecution of Jean-Marc ILA, noted Camerounian sociologist, theologian
and professor at the University of Yaounde. We urge all those concerned
by the Camerounian states campaign of terror and violence to sign a
petition of protest which will be forwarded to the President of the
Camerounian Republic, His Excellency Mr. Paul Biya, and to Mr. Andze
Tchoungui, Minister of the Interior (Ministre de lAdministration
Territoriale). The text of the petition itself and suggestions for
further action follow a brief description of the current situation in
Cameroun: Background: Threatened with death by the Camerounian state,
Jean-Marc Ila was forced to flee his country and seek political asylum in
Canada on the 6th of August, 1995. Educated at Strasbourg University and
the Sorbonne, Ila holds dual Ph.D.s in theology and sociology and is the
most prominent liberation theologist in Africa. He has devoted his life
to working with peasant communities in Northern Cameroun (1967-1985), and
with the urban poor in Yaounde (1985-1995). Because he immersed himself
in the daily life and struggles of these communities, his large and
influential body of work is remarkable for the depth of its insight and
for its innovative integration of both rural and urban social conditions.
He is the author of, among others, LAfrique des villages (Paris, Karthala,
1982), La ville en Afrique noire (Paris, Karthala, 1983), My Faith as an
African (New York, Orbis Books, 1986) and Quand lEtat penetre en brousse
(Paris, Karthala, 1990). The persecution of Ila is the most recent
example of the multiple forms of systematic violence that the Camerounian
state has unleashed against intellectuals, such as Lovett Elango, Ambroise
Kom and Fabien Eboussi Boulaga, artists, such as Manu Dibango and Mongo
Beti, and others involved in any cultural expression perceived as
threatening to the state. Members of the clergy, the press, opposition
parties and union leaders have also been targeted for repression. The
strategy of terror has included physical and psychological intimidation,
military occupations of university campuses and widespread infringement of
academic freedoms, culminating in a wave of assasinations. The gruesome
murder and dismemberment of Engelbert Mveng, theologian, historian and
poet, is perhaps the most well-known example of the states campaign of
terror which has also claimed the lives of Msgr. Yves Plumey, Fr. Joseph
Mbassi, and Fr. Jean Kounou, among others. None of the investigations
into these deaths has resulted in the indictments or convictions of those
responsible.
The increase in state violence during the last 2-3 years has coincided
with the mass democratization movement which began in 1992. In its
attempts to destroy the nation-wide support for democratization , the
state has deliberately exarcerbated ethnic and regional conflicts and
encouraged the genocidal discourses of the extremist factions which are
current regimes primary supporters. Camerouns Anglophone minority, in
particular, has been subjected to a brutal assualt on its cultural and
political rights. The Camerounian press and international human rights
organisations have revealed that Biyas regime has given refuge to members
of the exiled Hutu High Command responsible for the Rwandan genocide.
These Rwandese military officials are helping the government to train
paramilitary units and militias, known as anti-gangs which are then
deployed against Camerounian civilians and opponents of the regime. A
network of torture facilities has been instituted by the state to silence
the voices of protest. Newspapers, such as Le Messager and La Nouvelle
Expression, are regularly banned, journalists detained without charges,
and pervasive censorship exercised. Arbitrary seizures of private
property has become a common practice. The daily brutalities of the
police, the army and the militias in the market places, in roadblocks, and
in the streets have created an atmosphere of insecurity and fear,
especially in the major urban centers. During the last ten years, the
state apparatus has fallen into the hands of secret societies, the most
powerful of which is the Rose Croix. The President of Cameroun himself,
Paul Biya, is a member. Former members of these societies have testified
that they practice human sacrifice and rituals involving the body parts
and organs, such as the brain, genitals and heart, of the victims of state
violence.
The Forum of African Intellectuals in the Diaspora is asking
members of the international intellectual community to voice their concern
by signing the petition that follows. WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, CONDEMN THE
PERSECUTION AND EXILE OF JEAN-MARC ELA AND THE REPRESSIVE AND VIOLENT
POLICIES OF THE CAMEROUNIAN STATE. WE URGE THE CAMEROUNIAN GOVERNMENT TO
RESPECT AND PROTECT THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF ITS CITIZENS
ESTABLISH THE RULE OF LAW AND THE INSTITUTIONS OF DEMOCRACY
RESPECT AND FOSTER INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC FREEDOMS AND CREATIVITY
To have your name included in the list of signees of this petition,
return this message to Achille Mbembe [at ambembe@mail.sas.upenn.edu] or
to Elisa Forgey (at jvon@mail.sas.upenn.edu] as soon as possible. The
petition and the list of names will be forwarded to His Excellency Paul
Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroun and to Mr. Andze Tchoungui,
Minister of Interior Affairs (Ministre de lAdministration Territoriale).
To write directly to the Camerounian authorities, contact: Son
Excellence M. Paul Biya Prisident de la Ripublique Prisidence de la
Ripublique Yaounde, Cameroun or M. Andze Tchoungi Ministre de
lAdministration Territoriale Yaounde, Cameroun.
For further information on Jean-Marc Ila, the situation in Cameroun, or
the activities of the Forum of African Intellectuals in the Diaspora,
please contact: Yao Assogba Fax: (819) 595-2201
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