LIONGO

(TheLiberation
Guide)

"Any contract borne out of deceit and falsehood, maintained through

violence and coercion is non binding to the contracting parties" (SG SCYL)
 BRITISH
SouthernCameroons
Claim for Self-Determination

ere;;ted

The Press& CommunicationsDepartmentof

TheSoathernCumeroonsYouthLeugue(SCYL)
Kwame
Nkrumah(C),
Ghana'sfatherof independence andPanafricanist
received
bySouthern
Prime
Cameroons Minister
JohnNguFoncha (L),flanked
byOpposition
leaderEmmanuel
Mbella
Lifafe
Needles(R)andformer Prime Minister
AugustineNgom Jua
 CONTENT
Preamble
HomelandFeatures

Part {

Human Rights PersPective

BrutalitY against a PeoPle

Part | {

Case for Self-Determination

A. Our Case
B. WarInevitable

Our Vision
Preamble

The right to self-determination

remainsthe cornerstone that formsthe foundationof a
peacefuland securednation stateand the best instrumentto guaranteethe rights of
every people.It has been guaranteedthroughvariousmechanismsfrom autonomy,
throughfederalismto the devolutionof powers.It hasbeenthe bestmethodto arrest
political discontentbeforethey drift towardsconflict. The campaignof decolonisation
has beenthe thrust that hasmovedthe campaignof self-determination struggleto a
new pedestaland forced the internationalsystemto institutionaliseit as one of the
best instrumentto guaranteeinternationalsecurity.From the collapseof the Soviet
Union, the disintegrationof the Balkans,the devolutionof powers in the United
Kingdom to the independence of East Timor, the clamour of peoplesto govern
themselvesbase on their values, traditions and customs has become the core
intemationalprinciple that has markedthe last decadeof the 20thcenturyand will
defineconflict management andresolutionin the 2ltt century.

We, the peopleof the Ex-UN Trustterritory of the SouthernCameroons underUnited

Kingdom mandate,seeknothingbeyondthe right to determineour economic,social
and political future. This is a strugglethrust upon us, by the failure of the United
Nationsin complicitywith the UnitedKingdomto terminateproperlyaccordingto the
principles outlined in Article 76 (B) of the UN Charteron Trust territories,the
mandatesystemimposedin 1946by UN Resolution.....This failureand subsequent
manipulationof the SouthernCameroonspeople into a federal Union with an
independent Stateof La Republiquedu Camerounon the guarantee of its involvement
in negotiating and shaping the Union led to the occupationof the Southern
Cameroons.

From the onsetof this occupation,La Republiquedu Camerounsortto consolidateits

rule througheconomicexploitationof a part that providedover 60% of the GDP,
social abandonement, political exclusionand a systematicpolicy of Human Rights
Violation. Every oppositionto thesepolicies was treatedas a threat to "national
cohesion"and ruthlesslysuppressed. The peopleof the SouthernCameroonswere
treatedwith contempt,arrestedindiscriminatelyand thrown into jail, dozenswere
extra-judiciallyexecutedand the whole societysubjectedundercruel, inhumanand
degradingtreatment.Torture was systematicand rampant as proven by the LiN
SpecialRapporteuron tortureSir Nigel Rodleyand severalotherintemationalhuman
rights organisations.As a direct consequentof this, SouthernCameroonians today
representthe highestsingleper capitalasylumseekersin virtually everycornerof the
world.

The SCYL is a movementformed in the SouthemCamerooniancapital of Buea in

1995 and has beenat the forefront of the campaignof the peopleof the Southem
Cameroonsto self-determination.It's Pressand Communicationsdepartmenthas
compiledthis report for the sake of explainingthe plight of the people and why
interventionmight arresta very explosivesituation.
 Homeland Features

The Prime Minister's Lodge, Buea (built 1902)official residenceof the Prime
Minister and Seatof Governmentof The SouthernCameroons.

l,t"
l/t

Buea, The Southern Cameroons (1958): Bi-partisan Parliament in Session

Erupting Mount Fako: 4100m high is a toweringtourist attractionin Buea,the
capitalcity of The SouthernCameroons.HighestPeakin WestAfrica, it is also
called"The Chariot of the gods."

The Oil Refinery in the deepseaportcity of Victoria -exploitation beganin1975.

Oil Palm Plantation: The largest single employer in the Southern Cameroons
 Bamenda:The largestcW in the SouthernCameroons

Korup National Park: One of the Cocoaplantation: Export product

largestwildlife reservesin the
world.

Finestcoastline in Seaporttown of Victoria, SouthernCameroons

Kumba Town: Oncebustling

 Supe E}firtge (Pt|oto: Njei f'l.Il

The Supe Bridge in the midst of virgin forest

LakeOshen,This GraterLakesituatedbetweenBamendaand Wum in

the NorthWest Provinceof Cameroon'sometimeschangesits colour'
Lake llum, Cameroon: Roughlytwenty kilometresfrom lake Oshenon
Bamenda-Wumroad

Menchum waterfall: Said to be biggestin West Africa the

Abundant wildlife: Chimpanzeesin the Victoriazoo

 Tea Ptantation, Tole {photo: Njei M.T}

Tole Tea - Her ndts Favourite

SouthernCameroonianBananasare the sweetestin the world Market

Abundant X'reshNatural fruits from Near-by farms

Above:SouthernCameroonianCraft man at work

Rich Oroko Tradition

 -F".f?F-rf?
.**-#ffiffiF
 PART I

Human Rights Perspective

Brutality Against A People

On ThursdayApril 28,2006,GilbertNforlem, a Mastersdegreestudentin zoologyof

the University of Buea, the lone English speaking university in The Cameroons
whose pictures appear below received over five bullets into his chest from a
gendarme'srifle following a peacefuldemonstration.
He fell anddied instantly.

The following weekPaNforlemhis old fathertravelledfrom their village over 300km

away and cameand confrontedthe governorof the province. The old man broke into
tears in front of the governor 'What have you done with my last hope---tell me Mr
Governor,who will take careof my family now that I am on retirement?Despitethe
emotionsof this scene,ThomasEjake Mbondethe francophone'military' governor
showedman's inhumanity againstman by shamelesslytelling the old man that oPa,
you canstill haveanotherchild'.

During the sameshooting spree,Aloysius Abouam of the departmentof education

was also gruesomelymurderedby anothergendarme'sgunshotbehindhis head.The
cruelty of the gendarmeswent evenfurther.
19 years old JosephineS. Tumnde a female fresh woman narratedher ordeal with the
'they broke
marauding gendarmesas they broke into her room while she was cooking,
into my room and immediately askedme to lie down, and before I could, they started
beating me with truncheonsand sticks. They shatteredmy water closet and toilet bowl
into pieces' the young woman narrated in tears as she bled profusely on her right
ankle and shin.

The two slained students and the hundred or more who suffered injuries and lost
properties had been part of a mass demonstration by students and teachers of the
university to protest against a decision by francophone politicians from the
predominantly French speakingpart of the country to force authorities of the school to
include the names of Francophones who failed or didn't even seat the entrance
examinationsinto a newly createdfaculty of medicine of the school.
Created only in 1993, this university has become a source of pride to the English
speaking population becausefor over 30 years after a failed independencestruggle
since 1961, the people of the former British SouthernCameroonswere forced by a
well crafted policy of assimilation to study in French in the Francophoneuniversity or
migrate out to other countriesto acquire university education.

Previous cases of targeted killings in the same university have even been more
vexing. Hilary Muabe an Economics student was shot on the head, Ivo Obia an
Economics studentwas shot in the mouth. Laura Mbianda and TerenceNdeh also fell
down from the bullets of French gendarmesjust because they seek to get better
leaming conditions

Profiling, Targeting and Extra judicial killings for speaking English

The minority French speaking Canadians of Quebec province usually pride

themselvesfor being a bilingual country after having observed the sacrifices put in
place by their majority English speaking counterpartsto integrate them and enable
them feel at home. This is not the samein The Cameroonswhere the only reasonwhy
the Francophonemajority population think their minority Anglophones counterparts
are important is only becauseof their natural resourcesparticularly petroleum.
Speaking English in The Cameroons can sometimes turn into very bitter and nasty
experiences.

French speakingpolice, gendarmesand military personnelhave targeted,tortured and

killed English speakingCameroonianson basesof their language.
Just last January 8, 2008, a SouthernCameroonianby name Paul Babila was targeted
and summarily battered to death by Francophonespeakingpolice officers in Victoria
becausehe spokeEnglish

In Banso, over 350 km away from where the University of Buea is located, a similar
pattern of targeted killing is narrated. Mrs Shinyuy a middle aged woman stood with
her three children and the big half photograph of George Shinyuy, her husband who
'This is his grave' Mrs. Shinyuy narrated in
was beaten to death by the gendarmes.
tears. 'The gendarmescame 8 of them and kidnapped him away at midnight. When
we went to inquire, they started playing games, dribbling us from one place to
'He is at the brigade', and when we goT to the brigade, they said 'he is at the
another.
company'and by the day we finally saw him, he was at the point of dieing.He was
refusedfood and waterand whenwe got the station,we heardhim crying. Whenone
of our relationsprotested;the gendarmeslaughedand said'if he dies,you candeliver
anotherone'. 'Al1 along' Mrs Shinyuycontinued'they were beatinghim to accept
that he killed a gendarme,but he was refusingsayingthat he was a herbalistwho
helpsto savelives, and he could not be the samepersonwho would kill someone'.
Shetold Ulrike Kobacha Germanjournalistwho hasproduceda 105documentaryon
the humanrightsabuseson British SouthernCameroonians.

A WesternWashingtonUniversity Cameroonspecialiststated in one report that

selectiveharassment continuedagainstmembersof the SDF and SCNC (All English
speaking)andthat in the last l8 months(2002)a numberof casesof womenaffiliated
with political organizationsin Cameroonwho said they had been raped,had been
broughtto his attentionaccordingto a finding by The Medical Foundationfor the
Careof Victims of Torture(MFCVT).

In its June2002report,the MedicalFoundationconcluded:"In the presentstudyof 27

Cameroonianwomen receivingtreatmentat the Medical Foundationin London,25
havebeenrapedby agentsof the CameroonianStateand/orwhile in the custodyof
the State"(MFCVT 26 Jun2002,4.1).Of the 60 men and womenwhosetreatment
formed the basis for the report, 35 of the subjects(58 percent)were membersor
supportersof the Social DemocraticFront (SDF), nine (15 percent)were affiliated
with the SouthernCameroonNationalCouncil(SCNC), 13 percentwere membersof
otherparties,andonly eightpercentwerenot politically active(MFCVT 26 Jun2002,
7.r).
AmnestyInternationalin severalreportshascastigatedthe Cameroongovernmentof
systematictargeting of English speakingCameroonians.Casesof (Anglophone)
deathsin custodyamongthis groupof prisonersincludethe following:
EmmanuelKonseh,who was reportedto havebeenseverelybeatenand stabbedwith
a bayonet, died on 28 March 1997 while being transferred to Bamenda;
SamuelTita, aged38, died on 1 May 1997apparentlyas a resultof lack of food and
medical care while held at the Gendarmerie Legion in Bamenda;
Pa Mathias Gwei who had becomecritically ill after having been tortured was
reportedlydeniedadequatemedicaltreatmentand died on25 May 1997,a few hours
after he had finallv been transferred to hospital;
Daniel Tata, from Bui Division, was reported to have died in custody at the
Gendarmerie Legion in June 1997;
Ngwa Richard Formasoh, aged 25, reportedly died on 5 July 1997 as a result of
dehydration caused by dianhoea for which he did not receive treatment;
Lawrence Fai, who had become critically ill in the Central Prison in Yaound6, died
around5 September1998.

Four Anglophones, Abel Achah Apong, Crispus Kennebie Echikwa, John Kudi, and
JacqueNjenta, have been detained in the Yaound6 Central Prison since 1995, and a
fifth, Etchu Wilson Arrey, since 1997. Each was incarcerated after signing or
displaying a petition for a referendum on independencefor the Anglophone provinces.
At year's end, none of these detaineeshad been brought before a judge or charged
with a crime.
Therewereno knowndevelopments, nor areany likely to be, in the May 2000caseof
Mamfe residents Joseph Enow, Joseph Tafong, Chief Assam, and Mathias
Takunchung,who disappearedafter security officials searchedtheir homes. The
familiesof the four Mamferesidentshaveallegedthat they wereexecuted,andthat 30
otherpersonsdisappeared undersimilarcircumstances in 2000.

On October I in Kumbo, a gendarmeshot into a crowd of approximately400

unarmeddemonstrators,killing 3 and injuring 16 persons,after a SCNCanniversary
celebrationbecameviolent (see Section2.b.). No action was taken againstthe
responsiblegendarmeby year'send.

Becauseof the presenceof two Anglophonebrothers,Eric Chia andEffician Chiathe

DoualaOperationalCommandarrestedand killed with acid nine personswho were
of stealinga gascanisterin the BepandaDistrict of Douala.
suspected

On May 26,2000 at leastsix peopleweretargetedand shotdeadin Bamendaduring

the launchingof the SocialDemocraticFront.

Another report concludesthat 'In this predominantlyFrench-speakingcountry,

Anglophonessuffer discriminationfrom both Stateand societyand disproportionate
humanrights abusesincluding arbitrarydetention.During the 1990s,radio stations
controlledby or supportiveof the govemmentrepeatedly"incited ethnic animosity
againstAnglophones."Public -sectordiscriminationandtheir under-representation
in
public institutionshas led many English-speakers
to supportclaims for greaterself-
determinationfor the AnglophoneNorthwestand Southwestprovinces

Theseincidencesmight be a microcosm,but understanding the plight of the over 6.5

million peopleof the former UN trust territory of The British SouthernCameroons
andtheir clamourfor an independent statehoodcanbetterbe explainedby suchgross
injusticesand violationsof the individual civil and political rights of the peoplein a
mannerthat hasled thousandsof peopleto an early grave,maimedand handicapped
hundredothers,and convincedvirtually the entire populationof the territory that
independence NOW is the only way to avertanotherbloody conflict in the armpit of
Africa that couldhavea bitter spill overengulfingthe wholeof subSaharanAfrica.

EbenezerAkwangaa nativeof SouthernCameroonswas arrestedin 1997along side

dozenof his fellow countrymenandwomenfor speakingout againstthe unspeakable
human rights abusesand targeting of English speakingCameroonians.He was
humiliated,tortured and tried in a midnight military tribunal and sentencedto 15
years.He was rescuedfrom prison in 2003 and has recountedhis ordealin a book
'Smiling throughhardship'.His sufferingand tribulationshas cometo representthe
hopeof a new dawnfor the over 6.5 million peopleof the formerUN trustterritoryof
British SouthernCameroons.

Ebenezer Ahuanga: Tortured and allowedto die - Tale of a sarvivor

"Despitethat I got to the gendarmebrigadeat night; the placewas unusuallyfull of

gendarmes.They had tightenedthe handcuffson my handsto the point that I was
 bleeding.My legsequallyhadbeenchainedtogether.I wasbundledon the floor anda
bucket full of stenchwas pouredon me. It was as if I had been lying beneatha
urinary. I was beatenon the solesof my feet. The gendarmesusedbatons,my legs
stretchedout and two of the officers stoodon both sidesof my knee: one usedhis
right leg to pin down my left kneewhile the otherperformedthe sameact on my left
knee.One of them took out a baton and startedbeatingme on the solesof my feet
again.I can't recall if I was crying or shoutingbut I guessit was a mixture of both. I
knew at this juncture {hat they were on a mission to kill me and rcalizedtime was the
only thing that separatedme with death. Though still bleeding from the booth
squashedbeneathmy chin, the gendarmesbeat me up until I passedout. When I
regain consciousness, I can't tell how long after, I found myself in an extremely
narrow cell and seatedbesidesme was Julius Ngu Ndi and the daughterof another
activist..Juliuswas so frightenedwith my state,blood spilledall over my body and I
was stinkinglike someonefrom a piglet or like a child pulled out of a pit latrine.The
odour that camefrom me, includingthe stinking natureof the cell madethe whole
situationvolatile and it takesonly a God to get someoneout of sucha situationalive..
I was so weakto think, or reflecton anythingbecauseI hadpassedout a lot of blood.
To worsenthe situation I was arrestedwith a bit of fever. At about 2am, I was
draggedout of the cell, technicallynaked.I can recall that I had a greenpair of
trousers,a greenturtleneckthat were all soakedwith my own blood. When I was
strippedof thesethings, they were put in a plastic and I was pushedto a certain
position.I sat in front of two officersand a third who pretendedto be an angelin the
land of the dead,camein. He broughtin a type of plasticchair and I was forcedto sit
on it. I was then handcuffedonce more with my legs chainedand they started
questioningme. I found it very diffrcult to go throughsomeof the questions.I was
being called 'Mr. Ambazonia'.This is referring to one of the appellationsof The
SouthemCameroons. Theymadea mockeryof me. They saidI claim I wasa freedom
fighter and they want to seehow I will fight for my freedom in here. They made it
clearthat whereI was,therewas no God. That immediatelyyou get in that building
they becamethe next god and that they had the power of life and deathover me and
that every momentI called the namegod, I will only increasemy torture. It was a
very frighteninghour to listen to suchtales.At one moment,I becametensedand
angry graduallypushingmy pain to my sub-conscious mine. I was interrogatedfor
close to two hours. It was not really an interrogationper se but like a mockery
showdownwherepeopletook turnsto abuseme. After thesetwo hoursof mockery,I
was takenback into the cell totally nakedand how I survivedthis period could only
be attributedto somepowersabovehumancomprehension. At about8.15,only with
our under-wears,handcuffed,we were dumpedinto a truck and driven to the Kumbo
gendarmeriestation.At Kumbo we were takenout of the truck, chainedand dumped
into anothercell. I thoughtat one momentthat this may be my last destinationbut
little did I know that our Himalayawas still far off. At about 10 am, after their guard
of honourand military proceduresone gendarmeapproached me and said it was 'le
momentdu cafe'. Translatedin English'time for coffee',I thoughtthat we wereto be
servedbreakfastbut little did I know that we were the real coffee.We were brought
out and sat on the floor and faced the brigade commanderwho said he was a very
lucky man to havesucha big delegationin front of him that he had orderedhis boys
to serveus well and that if we were not satisfiedwe could ask him for more. I was
very curiouswith this level of cordialityand waitedanxiouslyfor our breakfast.First
the gendarmesbrought out two chairs and I was asked to stretch my legs in between
the chairs. The assistantcommander came out and said in their tradition elders eat
first. The chair was pushed up to below my chest level and a gendarmesat on it and
his boots placed on my knees. I heard a name oMvogo', and a voice answeredin a
nearby room ... 'patron'...he came out with two batons.The assistantcommander
was so furious and yelled at Mvogo what he needed batons for. He ordered him to
bring out a Machete. At this moment I realized the coffee I was expecting will be
something else and that I was in for a rough ride. Mvogo brought out one new
machetenicknamed 'man no rest' and three gendarmestook turns in the torture. They
gave me close to 300 strokes on the soles of my feet. I had never cried before, but if
really I cried, my tears could engulf the entire station. I cried until I could cry no
more, for the pains were unbearable.And what angeredmy torturers was that during
the entire period they never heard a single word of appeal.For every stroke that they
gave it was 'oh, my God' and as the pain increasedsomethingtook over my body and
my flesh becameresistant,the urge to die for the truth increased,my determinationto
resist evil, quadrupled: all what I thought of during those very dark moments was
Freedom,not for myself, but for those for whose sake I was being tortured. I had long
forgotten about Lake Nyos but I thought of it, I thought of the series of students I
knew personally and who died mysteriously in the University of Yaounde. I thought
of so many other evils against our people, and then I becamehuman once more, my
thinking about my wife and my children. I askedmyself if I will ever seethem again.
I became a little bit weak at this juncture and that was the moment tears started
dropping from my eyes,then I realized I was praying truly that the only one man who
could keep the Causegoing who was in Victoria should not be arrested.I realized that
as they were beating me I was praying in my sub consciousmine for these men and
my family. It was in between crying and talking, in between pain and anger, in
between courage and resignation. I repeated those words thrice. When the beating
stopped,they shifted the chair from me. The entire soles of my feet were red and the
pain so excruciating that it paralyzedme. I could not move my legs, not becausemy
legs were chained but becausethey were virtually out of action. They pushed me
aside to make way for Julius. A1l through my ordeal, Julius watched with total
paralysis. I can only believe he died severaltimes before his tum came. Then came a
loud voice in French...pass6alatabac..., c'est ton tour du caf6...Julius'sordeal
though short live was never the less violent. After that I was raised up still chained
and prepared for the next phase of the drama. The next drama phase took place in
front of the office. Here there were very sharp pebblesthat will wound you any time.
We were now taken out and askedto step on the pebbles.Though I could barely stand
or move my legs, falling on kneeling or doing otherwise as instructed wasn't an
option. Our torturerstuned a song ('ai chechez,j'ai truer, Biya avant Dieu...) and as
we were singing we were dancing. There was kind of an official competitive
atmospherebetween me and Julius who will come out the better dancer. While the
vocal was seriously taken, the rhythm was of greater consideration becausewe had
both unconsciously decided to please our torturers hoping that God will reduce our
ordeal. This was not Beethovenbut heavy metal. This went on for close to 20 minutes
during which time the torturers enjoyed the show, especially the gendarmerieladies
who were present. One said this had been one of the best shows they had ever
watched but they regretted that we will soon be moved to another quarters.All this
went on while our legs were still chained and our handshandcuffed behind our backs.
 the gendarmesbrought out two chairs and I was asked to stretch my legs in between
the chairs. The assistantcommander came out and said in their tradition elders eat
first. The chair was pushed up to below my chest level and a gendarmesat on it and
his boots placed on my knees. I heard a name 'Mvogo', and a voice answeredin a
nearly room ... opatron'...hecame out with two batons.The assistantcommander
was so fi.rious and yelled at Mvogo what he needed batons for. He ordered him to
bring out a Machete. At this moment I realized the coffee I was expecting will be
something else and that I was in for a rough ride. Mvogo brought out one new
machetenicknamed 'man no rest' and three gendarmestook turns in the torture. They
gave me close to 300 strokes on the soles of my feet. I had never cried before, but if
really I cried, my tears could engulf the entire station. I cried until I could cry no
more, for the pains were unbearable.And what angeredmy torturers was that during
the entire period they never heard a single word of appeal. For every stroke that they
gave it was 'oh, my God' and as the pain increasedsomethingtook over my body and
my flesh becameresistant,the urge to die for the truth increased,my determination to
resist evil, quadrupled: all what I thought of during those very dark moments was
Freedom,not for myself, but for those for whose sakeI was being tortured. I had long
forgotten about Lake Nyos but I thought of it, I thought of the series of students I
knew personally and who died mysteriously in the University of Yaounde. I thought
of so many other evils against our people, and then I becamehuman once more, my
thinking about my wife and my children. I asked myself if I will ever seethem again.
I became a little bit weak at this juncture and that was the moment tears started
dropping from my eyes,then lrcalized I was praying truly that the only one man who
could keep the Causegoing who was in Victoria should not be arrested.I realized that
as they were beating me I was praying in my sub consciousmine for these men and
my family. It was in between crying and talking, in between pain and anger, in
between courage and resignation. I repeated those words thrice. When the beating
stopped,they shifted the chair from me. The entire soles of my feet were red and the
pain so excruciating that itparalyzed me. I could not move my legs, not becausemy
legs were chained but becausethey were virtually out of action. They pushed me
aside to make way for Julius. All through my ordeal, Julius watched with total
paralysis. I can only believe he died severaltimes before his tum came. Then came a
loud voice in French...pass6a la tabac..., c'est ton tour du caf6...Julius'sordeal
though short live was never the less violent. After that I was raised up still chained
and prepared for the next phase of the drama. The next drama phase took place in
front of the office. Here there were very sharp pebbles that will wound you any time.
We were now taken out and askedto step on the pebbles.Though I could barely stand
or move my legs, falling on kneeling or doing otherwise as instructed wasn't an
option. Our torturerstuned a song ('ai chechez,j'ai truer, Biya avantDieu...) and as
we were singing we were dancing. There was kind of an official competitive
atmospherebetween me and Julius who will come out the better dancer. While the
vocal was seriously taken, the rhythm was of greater consideration becausewe had
both unconsciously decided to please our torturers hoping that God will reduce our
ordeal. This was not Beethovenbut heavy metal. This went on for close to 20 minutes
during which time the torturers enjoyed the show, especially the gendarmerieladies
who were present. One said this had been one of the best shows they had ever
watched but they regretted that we will soon be moved to another quarters.A11this
went on while our legs were still chained and our handshandcuffed behind our backs.
I never know how I survived these 20 minutes. Under normal circumstances,it is
difficult to mount these black sharp pebbles bare feet. Dancing on them with swollen
and bleeding feet for 20 minutes was only adding salt to injury.

A series of plastic bags were brought out by a gendarme officer, including my bag
that contained personal documents like my birth certificate, my medications and
placed a few meters from us. A gendarmeofficer brought out a gallon of keroseneand
a box of match and handedit to Julius. He was askedto set everything alight. Turn by
turn, one gendarmeafter the other, held me at the back of my neck and asked to open
my mouth and eyesto the flame. One pressedmy head close to the buming flame and
a few minutes after I was already suffocating from inhaling carbon monoxide. After a
few minutes Julius took his turn. I went through this process three times refueling
with more plastic bags and kerosene.We were now hushed into the cell just close to
the torture chamber. Two of the gendarmes brought in two plastic bags. One
gendarmetold me that they didn't put sugar in my tea. One took the plastic bag and
set it alight and allowed it to be dripping on my lap. I shouted so loud that the
company commander came out. When he saw it, he told Mvogo that that was a good
job. I still have visible burn marks of this incident on me as a witness to my ordeal.
Before they stopped the pain knocked me off for close to ten minutes. They revived
me by pouring water on my body. All theseincidencestook closeto 5 hours.At about
lpm, we were taken to the office of the Prefect of Bui division, Tami -Tiku Arikai
Martin. He came out of his office and looked at us in the car with stunning disgust. I
couldn't remember the original colour of my underwear but then it looked so dark
with bloodosweat and stenchthat one could mistakenly take it for black

Upon arrival, we were unchained and the people in Yaound6 brought their own
chains. We were taken to the cells after the formalities. We were at the underground
cell of the national gendarmerielocked up in the cell with hardenedcriminals. As I
enteredthe cell, the inmates there sent me to where their urinary was. That was where
I was supposedto stay

The following day, the chaining on my legs was reinforced to the point were I could
not stand and I thought my veins were to cut. This baffled the chief investigator who
shoutedat his subordinateswhy they chained us that way. Apparently there was a TV
journalist who had come to film us. The white journalist could not bare the scenehow
we were creeping with chains. It was then that the chains were relaxed a bit. My legs
were already swollen so it took us quiet some times to even stand up. Becauseof the
awful scenario, the white TV camera man had to surrender his camera to the
gendarmejournalist to do the shooting.

After we were returned to the cell, and while in there I went for 2I days as from when
we were arrestedwithout bathing. In this cell, the gendarmeshad planted a criminal
who was out to extort information from me. Sensing danger, and with nothing to use
to communicate,I used a pear seedto scribble an SOS messageon an empty cigarette
park to the National Human Rights Commission who acted promptly and paid a visit
to us. By the 2l day, the gendarmechief investigator came down to our cell and when
he saw my conditions, he orderedthat I should be allowed to bathe. Still under chains,
one of the guys struggled and removed my trousers, and this permitted me to bath.
There after, the same investigative gendarmeofficer who happenedto be a Southern
Cameroonianand I was told he had studied in West Point ordered that the chains be
removed from my legs. Feeding was dramatic. Our food was terrible and we had to
use half plastic water bottles as eating plates.

On June 2, lggT we were transferredto the military court to go and sign papers.Here
we were carried in a military truck and we got there, we were exposed in the sun.
After a long wait, wq were called in one after the other and read a report in French
and we were asked to sign. We signed without even understandingwhat was written
becausethere was no translator. We were then transferredto the Kondengui prison.

At kondengui, the warders welcomed us and askedus to sit on the floor. Surprisingly,
one warder came from behind and gave me a knock on my head. I cannot recall
whether it was a baton or what but I almost went unconscious.Later, one of them
strip-searched me and I was picked-out for slaps and insult for another
motif: "starring at him." I couldn't bring myself to comprehend why a glance at
someone could lead to so much brutality. And then I remembered: I am just an
Anglophone who deservesno better or decent treatment than the one just meted out.
Yes, Kondengui epitomizes terror, suffering, hardship and death.Each night here
producesa nightmare. In fact, between40 and 55 men are put to stay in an ever over-
crowded cell of 5 meters square.Here, there are makeshift planks passing for bunk
beds for 15 persons, the rest are made to sleep on bare floor in a sardine-like
manner.They are called "Dormoteur". Here, we lie side by side in rows. I have got
used to walking up entwined in the arms and legs of those next to me. Kondengui is
indeed a place where people are sent to die. Kondengui bring to life the continuous
stigma in La Republique du Camerounof comrption, injustice and brutality."

VICTIMSO FILE

Mr. Nkongbang. He was arrested in 2001, detained illegally for two weeks,
tortured using the Blancoire
Scotched-Earth Policy: Mr. Nkongbang's school destroyed by the gendarmes

Selai:After the shootingdeathof his 19year old son,he was shoton the toe,
arrested,detainedfor weeksand tortured
 Widow of George Shiynyuy explains the torture to death of her husband seen in
the background picture

Unknownvictim shotto deathduring peacefulprotest

Gendarmes unleashedarsenal against protesting students

1;.l
,'iH;.
.,€: +
,4&1,,
:,j+,
 Ambouam Aloysius.Gunned down at closerange,executionstyle; La
Republiquedu Camerounmethod of upholding international human rights
standard.

Nforlem Gilbert: Gunned down during a university protest.The Governor told

the father, its no problem, he can deliver another child.

NtanenDanielNdifon: After five yearsof detentionand torture, he succumbed

and died in jail

Khan Zacharia Ndifet under detention; tortured until he lost all his toes
 This is five yearsold pupil - "WanTata NoelMobit" who was arrestedat
11:30pmon 30 Sept.,2001and detainedat The BrigadeTerre and The
GendarmerieLegionin Bamendafor 2 dayseach

The deliberate killing of the innocent and oppressedpeople of the Southern

Cameroons during a peaceful demonstration in Kumbo County
 Part II
The Casefor Self-Determination

As argued by Professor Carlson Anyangwe in the African Court on

Human and Peoples Rights, Banjul, The Gambia

INTRODUCTION

1. The substanceof the complaintof the peopleof the SouthernCameroonsis that the
rightsrecognizedto peoplesunderthe African Charteron HumanandPeoples'Rights
have,for the peopleof the SouthernCameroons, beensuppressed by Republiquedu
Cameroun(theRespondent State)throughdominationandcolonizationin violationof
the Chaner;andthat Republiquedu Camerounis guilty of a seriesof gross,massive,
continuingand reliably attestedhumanrights violationsin respectof namedcitizens
andgroupsof citizensof the SouthernCameroons.

2. The Commissionis requestedto find Republiquedu Cameroun(the Respondent

State) guilty of these violations; to reaffirm the inherent, unquestionableand
inalienableright of the peopleof the SouthernCameroonsto self-determination, and
thus to the enjoymentof all the rights recognizedto peoplesunderthe Charter;to
reaffirm the right of the people of the SouthernCameroonsto live in peaceand
securityasa freepeople;to call on Statespartiesto the Charterto assistthe peopleof
the SouthernCameroonsin their liberationstruggleagainstthe foreigndominationof
Republiquedu Cameroun;to call on Republiquedu Cameroun(Respondent State)to
end its continuingviolation of the humanrights of individual SouthemCameroons
citizens; and to find that victims of human rights violations by Republiquedu
Camerounareentitledto adequate compensation.

3. The facts are recountedin some detail and the law elaboratelyenunciated.
Reasonableminds would immediatelyobservethat the presentcommunicationis
hugely distinguishableboth on the facts and in law from self-determination
matters
that the Commissionhashithertoconsidered. suchasKatanga.Sir DawdaJawara.and
Casamance.
PART I.

THE F'ACTS

The territory of the SouthernCameroons

4. The SouthemCameroonshas a surfacearea of 43,000 sq. km and a current

populationof about6 million people.It is thus demographicallybigger than at least
60 UN and 18AU MemberStates,andspatiallybiggerthanat least30 UN and 12AU
Member States.Locatedin the 'armpit' of Africa, it is sandwichedbetweenNigeria
andRepubliquedu Camerounlike a wedgebetweenWestAfrica andwhat in effectis
still FrenchEquatorialAfrica. It has frontiersto the west and north with Nigeria, to
the eastwith Republiquedu Cameroun,andto the southwith the EquatorialGuinean
Islandof Bioko. The bordersarewell attestedby internationalboundarytreaties.

5. The naturalresourcesof the SouthernCameroonsincludeoil, gas,timber, coffee,

cocoa,tea,bananas,oil palm, rubber,wildlife, fish, medicinalplants,waterfallsand a
wide varietyof fruit andagriculturalproduce.

80 yearsof British Connection

wasoriginally British from

6. The territorylater identifiedasthe SouthernCameroons
1858-1887.It was ceded to Germanyand subsequentlyincorporatedinto the
contiguousGermanprotectorateof Kamerun,which had been acquiredearlier in
1884.

7. A l9l3 Anglo-GermanTreatyrespectingthe settlementof the frontier betweenthe

British territory of Nigeria and the Germanterritory of Kamerunfrom Lake Chadto
the sea.That territorially groundedtreaty has remainedthe instrumentdefining the
internationalboundarybetweenNigeria and the SouthemCameroons.Moreover,a
1954 British Order in Council (Definition of BoundariesProclamation)definedthe
boundarybetweenthe EasternRegionof Nigeriaandthe SouthernCameroons.

8. The sameterritorythat hadbeencededin 1887by Britain to Germanywascaptured

by British forcesin SeptemberI9l4 soonafter the outbreakof World War I. It later
becameknown as the British Cameroons,consistingof two separateparts, the
SouthemCameroons andtheNorthernCameroons.

9. Germanyheld on to its original Kamerunprotectorateuntil 1916 when Anglo-

Frenchforcescapturedit. Francetook possession of theterritory andit becameknown
as French Cameroun. In 1916therefore,Germany ceasedto exerciseany territorial
authority(sovereignty)over Kamerun.The utter defeatof Germanyentailedthe loss
of its colonialterritory.UnderArticles 118 and ll9 of the 1919VersaillesTreaties
Germany renouncedand relinquishedall rights in and title to all its overseas
possessions,includingher Kamerunterritory.

10. An Anglo-Frenchtreaty of 1916 (the Milner-Simon Declaration)defined the

internationalboundarybetweenthe British Cameroonsand FrenchCameroun.This
territorialdelimitationwasconfirmedby the Leagueof Nationsin 1922whenthe two
territories were separatelyplaced under the Mandates System. The territorial
alignmentwas further confirmedby the Anglo-FrenchTreaty of 9 January1931,
signedby the Govemor-Generalof Nigeriaandthe Governorof FrenchCameroun.

11. The SouthernCameroons wasthusunderBritish rule from 1858to 1887,andthen

from 1915to 1961,a totalperiodof nearly80 years.Thatlong Britishconnection left
an indelible mark on the territory, bequeathingto it an Anglo-Saxonheritage.The
territory'sofficial languageis English.Its educational,legal,administrative,political,
govemanceandinstitutionalcultureandvaluesystemsareall English-derived.

Internationaltutelage

12. The SouthemCameroonswas under intemationaltutelagewith the statusof a

class'B' territory,first asa British-Mandated
Tenitory of the Leagueof Nationsfrom
1922-1945,and then as a British-administered United Nations Trust Territory from
1946to 1961.

13. UnderArticle 22 of the Treatiesof Versaillesthe MandatoryPoweracceptedand

undertook to apply "the principle that the well-being and developmentof [the
inhabitantsof the territoriesconcerned]form a sacredtrust of civilization."At the end
of World War II the international mandatessystem was transmutedto the
intemationaltrusteeshipsystemunderchaptersXII andXIII of the UN Charter.

14. By Article 73 of that Charterthe AdministeringPower"recognizethe principle

that the interestsof the inhabitantsof [tenitorieswhosepeopleshavenot yet attained
a measureof self-govemment]are paramount,and accept as a sacredtrust the
obligationto promoteto the utmost, within the systemof internationalpeaceand
securityestablishedby the presentCharter,the wellbeingof the inhabitantsof those
tenitories." One of the basic objectivesof the internationaltrusteeshipsystem,as
statedin Article 76 b of the Charter,is "to promotethe political,economic,social,and
educationaladvancementof the inhabitants of the trust territories, and their
progressivedevelopmenttowards self-governmentor independenceas may be
appropriateto the particularcircumstances of eachterritory and its peoplesand the
freely expressedwishesof the peoplesconcerned,and as may be providedby the
termsof eachtrusteeshipagreement."

15. Up to 1960,the SouthernCameroonsthough under intemationaltutelagewas

administered by Britain aspart of her contiguouscolonialterritory of Nigeria.But its
distinct identity and personality,separatefrom Nigeria, remainedunassailable. UN
Resolution 224 (IX) of 18 November 1948 protectedthe Trust Territory from
annexationby any colonial-mindedneighbour. While acknowledgingthat the
TrusteeshipAgreementmakesallowancefor 'administrativeunion', the Resolution
providesthat "Such a union must remain strictly administrativein its nattne and
scope,andits operationmustnot havethe effectof creatingany conditionswhich will
obstructthe separatedevelopmentof the Trust Territory, in the fields of political,
economic,socialandeducationaladvancement, asa distinctentity."
Self-Government

16. In 1954the SouthernCameroonsbecamea self-governingregion within Nigeria

and gradually assertedits distinct identity and its aspirationto statehoodthrough
increasedpolitical andinstitutionalautonomy.

17.In 1958the British Governmentstatedat the UN that the SouthernCameroons

was expectedto achievein 1960the objectivesset forth in Article 76b of the UN
Charter.Sincethe So'uthernCameroonshad alreadyattainedself-govemmentstatus
four yearsearlier in1954, the objectiveto be attainedin 1960could only havebeen
full independence. GeneralAssemblyResolution1282 (X^lll) of 5 December1958
took note of the British statement.The peopleof the SouthernCameroonstherefore
legitimatelyexpectedto be grantedfull independence in 1960giventhat their country
hadbeenself-governing since1954.

18. Basic self-governmentinstitutionswere in place: a Governmentheadedby the

Premieras Leaderof Governmentbusiness;a bicameralparliamentconsistingof a
Houseof Assemblyand a Houseof Chiefs; an Official Oppositionin parliament;a
Judiciaryheadedby a Chief Justice;a Civil Service;anda police force.The systemin
place was a democratic and accountable dispensation; a Westminster-type
parliamentarydemocracy.In 1959whenthe term of office of the incumbentPremier
came to an end peacefulfree, fair and transparentelectionswere organized.The
oppositionwon and therewas an orderlytransferof powerto the in-comingPremier.
Consistentlywith the parliamentarysystemof governmentthe out-going Premier
becameLeaderof the Oppositionin parliament.

19. On I October 1960 the SouthemCameroonswas separatedfrom Nigeria. The

SouthernCameroonsConstitutionOrder in Council came into force. By 1960 the
SouthernCameroonshad attaineda full measureof self-government. Indeed,from I
October1960up to 30 September1961it was a full self-governing territoryfully
responsiblefor all its internal affairs, exceptfor defenseover which matter,along
with foreignaffairs,Britain continuedto exercisejurisdiction.

20. Quite apartfrom the fact that the territory had internationalpersonalityby virtue
of its statusas an intemationaltrust territory,the SouthemCameroonswas a statein
the processof being born and was known by the sovereignnameof Governmentof
the SouthernCameroons.Its sovereigntywas in abeyancewaiting to emergeat the
momentof its expectedindependence.

French Camerounachievesindependence
asRepubliquedu Cameroun

21. On 1 January1960,the contiguoustenitory of FrenchCameroun,also a classB

trust territory,achievedindependence from France,the chronicon-goinganarchyand
terrorismtherenotwithstanding. The Frenchhad decidedthat 1960wasto be the year
of independence' for its African colonies.

22.FrcnchCamerounachievedindependence underthe nameandstyleof Republique

du Camerounwith Mr. Ahmadou Ahidjo as its President.It was admitted to
membershipof the UnitedNationson20 September1960.
23. The name 'Republiquedu Cameroun'is variously translatedinto English as
'Republic of Cameroun' or 'Republic of Cameroon' or sometimessimply as
'Cameroon'.However; prudenceand clarity dictate that one sticks to the official
rulme in the languagein which it is expressed.Accordingly, for the avoidanceof
confusion,that country(the RespondentStatein this matter)shall,throughoutthese
proceedingsbe referredto by its official denomination'Republiquedu Cameroun'
exceptwherethe contextdictatesotherwise.

Plebisciterecommendedby UN

24. On 13 March 1959 the GeneralAssemblyadoptedResolution1350 (XIID

recofilmendinga plebiscitein the SouthemCameroonsinsteadof the granting of
independence right away.This wasfollowedby anotherGeneralAssemblyresolution,
1352 (XIV) of 16 October1959,orderinga plebisciteto be held in the Southern
Cameroons "not laterthanMarch 1961". The peopleof the SouthernCameroons
were
to pronounce themselveson 'achieving independence'by the two dead-end
alternativesof Joining' Nigeriaor Republiquedu Cameroun.

tWe are not annexationistsn

25. In 1959someperceptiveminds in the Trusteeship Councilexpressed concems

that after attainingindependence on 1 January1960Republiquedu Camerouncould
try to annexthe SouthernCameroons. The Premierof FrenchCameroun,Mr. Ahidjo,
denied any such intention or the possibility of any such action on the part of
independent Republiquedu Cameroun.At the 849thmeetingof the FourthCommittee
of the [IN, Mr. Ahidjo took the floor and gave the UN the solemnassurancethat
Republique du Cameroun is not annexationist.He declared: "'We are not
annexationists. ... If our brothersof the British zonewish to unite with independent
Cameroun,we are ready to discussthe matter with them, but we will do so on a
footingof equality."
26. In June 1960 he told the 'Agence PresseCamerounaise': "I have said and
repeated,in the nameof the Govemment[of Republiquedu Cameroun],that we do
not haveany annexationist design."

27.ln July the sameyearhe againreassured the internationalcommunitythroughthe

same press: 'oFor us, there can be no question of annexationof the Southern
Cameroons. We haveenvisageda flexible form of union,a federalform."

28. Later eventswere to showthat he took the UN. the intemationalcommunitvand

the SouthernCameroons for a ride.

Plebisciteprocesssetin motion

29. On 31 March 1960the Trusteeship CounciladoptedResolution2013 (XXVD

requestingthe UK Government"to take appropriatesteps,in consultationwith the
authoritiesconcerned,to ensurethat the peopleof the Territory are fully informed,
beforethe plebiscite,of the constitutionalarangementsthat would haveto be made,
at the appropriatetime, for the implementationof the decisionstaken at the
plebiscite."
30. Resolution2013 saddledthe UK Governmentwith a duty to ascertainfrom both
Nigeria and Republique du Camerounthe terms and conditions under which the
SouthernCameroonsmight be expectedto Join' either of them. After making the
ascertainmentBritain was duty bound to inform the people of the Southern
Cameroons,well beforethe plebiscite,of the conditionsof Joining' offeredby each
of the two concernedStates.

31. Given the artful dilatorinessof the UK Governmenton this issuethe Southern
Cameroonsenteredinto directtalks with Republiquedu Cameroun.Severalroundsof
talks were held betweenAugust and December1960. Thesetalks resultedin an
Agreement(expressedin the form of Joint Declarationsand Joint Communiqu6s)
signedby Mr. JN FonchaandMr. AhmadouAhidjo, the respectivepolitical leadersof
the two countries,andpublished.

32.ln the meantimealso,in early October1960,the British Secretaryof Statefor the

Coloniesheld talks in London with a delegationof SouthernCameroonsMinisters
and membersof the Opposition.The aims of the talks included elucidatingthe
meaning of the phrase 'to achieve independenceby joining Republique du
Cameroun'.

33. The Secretaryof Stateput forwardthe following interpretationas consistentwith

the plebiscite alternative of Joining' Republiquedu Cameroun:"the Southem
Cameroonsand the CamerounRepublicwould unite in a FederalUnited Cameroon
Republic.The arrangements [for the union] would be workedout after the plebiscite
by a conferenceconsistingof representativedelegationsof equal statusfrom the
Republicand the SouthernCameroons. The UnitedNationsand the United Kingdom
would alsobe associated with this conference."

34. Both the SouthernCameroonsand Republiquedu Camerounagreedto this

interpretation.

Pre-Plebiscite
Agreement

35. The signed and publishedAgreementbetweenthe SouthernCameroonsand

Republiquedu Camerounprovidedthat in the event of the plebiscitevote going in
favour of "achieving independenceby joining" Republique du Cameroun,the
following would be the broadtermsof the Joining':
The SouthernCameroonsand Republiquedu Camerounwould unite to createa
FederalStateto be calledthe 'FederalUnitedCameroonRepublic',outsidethe British
Commonwealthandthe FrenchCommunity;

The componentstatesof the Federationwould be the SouthernCameroonsand

Republiquedu Cameroun,legallyequalin status;
Each federatedstate would continue to conduct its affairs consistentlywith its
colonially inherited state-culture,with only a limited number of subject matters
concededto the Union govemment;
Nationalsof the federatedstateswould enjoyFederalCameroonnationality;
The Federationwould havea bicameralParliamentconsistingof a FederalSenateand
a FederalNationalAssembly;andfederallawswill only be enactedin sucha way that
no measurescontraryto the interestsof one statewill be imposedupon it by the
majority.

TheAgreementalsostipulatedasfollows:

Constitutionalarangementswould be worked out after the plebiscite by a post

plebisciteconferencecomprisingrepresentativedelegationsof equalstatusfrom the
SouthernCameroons andRepubliquedu Cameroun,in association with the United
KingdomGovemmentandthe UnitedNations;
The post-plebisciteconferencewould have as its goal the fixing of time limits and
conditionsfor the transferof sovereigntypowersto an organizationrepresentingthe
futurefederation;

Those entrustedwith the affairs of the united Cameroonwould put the would-be
federal constitutionto the people of the SouthernCameroonsand Republiquedu
Camerounto pronouncethem on it; and until constitutionalarrangementswere
workedout, the UnitedKingdomwould continueto fulfill her responsibilityunderthe
TrusteeshipAgreementregardingthe SouthemCameroons.

36. On December24, 1960,Republiquedu Camerounsent a Note Verbaleto the

British Govemmentreiteratingits commitmentto this Agreementandreconfirmingits
"on the basisof a Federation".
desirefor unionwith the SouthernCameroons

37. The Agreementbetweenthe SouthernCameroonsand Republiquedu Cameroun

was madeavailableto the UN and the UK Government.The representations therein
'The Two Alternatives',a booklet preparedby the
containedwere reproducedin
United Kingdom Government, published and widely circulated in the Southem
Cameroonsin pursuanceof Resolution2013 with a view to informing the Southern
Cameroonselectorateof the constitutionalimplicationsof the altemativesofferedin
in'The TwoAlternatives 'was the interpretation
of the
theplebiscite.Also reproduced
'altemative' of Republique du Cameroun put forward by the British
Joining'
Secretaryof State for the Colonies and concurredwith by both the Southern
CameroonsGovernmentand Republiquedu Cameroun.The bookletwas widely used
duringthe plebisciteenlightenmentcampaigns.

38. The phrase"to achieveindependence by joining Republiquedu Cameroun"was

thereforeclearly understoodby all concerned(the UN, the UK Govemment,the
SouthernCameroonsGovernment,andthe Republiquedu CamerounGovernment)to
meanthat the SouthernCameroonswould attainindependence andthen form, on the
footing of legal equality, a federalunion with Republiquedu Cameroununder an
agreedfederalconstitution.

39. On 1l February1961 the UN-supervised limited plebiscitetook place in the

SouthemCameroons. The votewasa plebisciteon political statusto enablethe people
of the SouthernCameroonsprogressfrom full measureof self-govemment to national
in favour of achieving independence 'by joining'
independence, The vote went
Republiquedu CamerounratherthanNigeria.
UN Resolution 1608

40. Two months after the plebiscite vote, on 21 April 1961,the UN General Assembly
adopted Resolution 1608 (XV) to give effect to the intention expressedby the people
of the Southern Cameroons at the plebiscite. Republique du Cameroun, through its
Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Charles Okala, made a vain vociferous and pathetic
protest against the taking of a vote on the independenceof the Southem Cameroons
and then voted againstResolution 1608. It speaksvolumes that the overwhelming UN
vote on the independenceof the Southern Cameroons did not go down well with
Republique du Cameroun.

41. In Resolution1608(XV) the GeneralAssembly:

! Endorsedthe results of the plebiscite that"the people of the Southern Cameroons...
decidedto achieve independenceby joining the independentRepublic of Cameroun";
! Consideredthat "the decision made by them through a democratic processunder the
supervisionof the United Nations should be immediately implemented";
! Decided that "the TrusteeshipAgreement of 13 December 1946 concerning the
Cameroons under United Kingdom administration ... be terminated, in accordance
with Article 76b of the Charter of the United Nations ... with respectto the Southern
Cameroons,on 1 October 1961,upon itsjoining the Republic of Cameroun";and
! Invited "the Administering Authority, the Government of the Southern Cameroons
and the Republic of Cameroun to initiate urgent discussionswith a view to finalizing
before I October I96I the arrangementsby which the agreed and declaredpolicies of
theparties concernedwill be implemented."

42. "The agreed and declared policies of the parties concemed" referred to in the
Resolution were the contents of the signed and published pre-plebiscite Agreement
between the Southern Cameroons and Republique du Cameroun reproduced in the
plebiscite enlightenmentcampaignbooklet entitled 'The Two Alternatives'.

43. The said 'agreed and declaredpolicies' were not and have never been finalized.

Foumban and the de facto federation

44. From the lTth to the 2lst of July 1961 the Southern Cameroonsand Republique
du Cameroun held talks in the town of Foumban in Republique du Cameroun with a
view to fleshing up the outline of the federal constitution (agreed upon before the
plebiscite) and to frnalize the same.

45. The talks ended inconclusively as a result of the duplicitous conduct and manifest
bad faith of Republique du Cameroun, aided and abetted in this by the French who
would later claim that the Southem Cameroons was "un petit cadeaux de la reine
d'Angleterre" ("a little gift from the English Queen").

46. The press in Republique du Cameroun has recently revealed that at Foumban
Republique du Cameroun, acting in pursuance of a premeditated plan, fraudulently
and comrptly deflected the Southern Cameroonsdelegation from the serious business
at hand and thereby scuttled the Foumban talks.
47. Even the agreement to resume talks at a latter date on the would-be federal
constitution was ignored by Republique du Cameroun despite repeatedreminders by
the SouthernCameroons.

48. Without the process of negotiating the terms of the agreed federal union having
been completed, without any federal constituent assembly having met, without any
draft federal constitution having been established, Republique du Cameroun
unilaterally drafted a document which that country's Assembly, meeting without any
SouthernCameroonsparticipation,enactedinto 'law' on I September1961 as 'the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Cameroon' to enter into force on I October
t961.

49. The component states of the federation were identified as Republique du

Cameroun (to be called East Cameroun) and the Southern Cameroons (to be called
West Cameroon). Strangely, the long title of the 'constitution' characteized the
document as a revision of the 1960 Constitution of Republique du Cameroun
necessitatedby the need to facilitate the retum of a part of the territory of Republique
du Cameroun. The document was thus in the nature of an annexation law thinly
disguised as a ofederalconstitution'. For, Republique du Cameroun could not at one
and the same breadth be one of two component statesof a federation and yet absorb
the other component state, the Southern Cameroons. Nor can the legislature of a
future componentof a yet-to-be federation validly act as the legislature of that merely
contemplatedfederation.

50. In September1961 the Trusteeshipregarding the SouthernCameroonshad not yet

been terminated and Republique du Cameroun has always been a foreign State in
regard to the Southern Cameroons. Republique du Cameroun had no jurisdiction
whatsoever over the Southern Cameroons and could thus not validly exercise
constituent powers over the tenitory. Neither the legislature nor the executive of
Republique du Camerouncould validly legislate for the contemplatedfederation.

51. Republique du Cameroun's unilateral 'federal constitution' was never submitted

for endorsementto and was never endorsed by the people or the parliament or the
Governmentof the Southem Cameroons.

The Ebubu and Santa slaughters

52. ln the same month of September 1961 a platoon of Republique du Cameroon

soldiers crossed the border into the Southem Cameroons at Ebubu village near
Tombel and massacred thirteen CDC workers in cold blood. No explanation or
apology was offered by Republique du Camerounto the Government of the Southern
Cameroons.Further north, in the village of Santanear Bamenda,marauding soldiers
from Republique du Cameroun crossed the Southern Cameroons border into the
village of Santa near Bamenda, killed a number of people and destroyed property.
They were eventually flushed out by a company of British soldiers. But once again
Republique du Cameroun offered neither explanation nor apology for yet another
armed violation of the territorial integrity of the Southem cameroons.
53. In l962Mr. ZachariahAbendong MP in the SouthernCameroonsparliamentwas
brutally murderedin the vicinity of Kekem in Republiquedu Cameroun.In the same
year a Camerounese gendarmemurderedin cold blood two SouthemCameroons
youthsarbitrarilydetainedby the verygendarmesinthe SouthernCameroons town of
Bota. Therewas neverany inquiry into the circumstances of thesemurdersand the
soldierswho carriedout thoseextra-judicialkillings wereneverbroughtto book.

Onsetof the armed occupationof the SouthernCameroons

54. On 25 September1961the British Queenissueda proclamationdeclaringthat the

British Government"shall as from the first day of October 1961 ceaseto be
responsiblefor the administration of the Southern Cameroons."The British
Govemmentthen beganto withdraw its personnelfrom the territory, culminatingin
the departureof its troopson September30th 1961.The territory was left defenseless
as it had no military force of its own. Republiquedu Camerounmovedin its military
forceswithout the concurrence of the Governmentof the SouthernCameroons.Those
forcesoccupiedthe territory and haveremainedin occupationsincethen, a situation
indistinguishable from belligerentoccupation.

55. On 1 October1961the British Governmentandthe UN washedtheir handsoff the

SouthernCameroons,leaving the political statusof the territory and the fate of its
peoplein limbo. The British Govemmentdeclaredthat "the SouthernCameroonsand
its inhabitants were expendable."(Declassified Secret Files on the Southern
Cameroons, P.R.O.,London)The auitudeof the LIN is all the moresurprisingwhenit
is recalledthat the World Body had drafted constitutionsfor the Ethiopia/Eritrea
federationandalsofor what is now the DemocraticRepublicof Congo.

56. On that same day a de facto CameroonFederationcame into existence.

Sovereignty over the Southem Cameroons that had supposedly achieved
independenceon that day was neverhandedover to the Governmentof the Southern
Cameroons(which would thenhavehandedit to a legitimatefederalgovernment)but
apparentlyto Mr. Ahidjo, Presidentof Republiquedu Cameroun,and the self-
declaredheadof a yet-to-be-formed
federalgovernment.

Revealingprovisionsof de facto federalconstitution

57. The 'Federal Constitution' unilaterally drafted and enactedby Republiquedu

Camerouncontainedsome revealingprovisions.The Presidentof Republiquedu
Cameroungavehimself absolutepowersunderArticle 50 to rule by decreeduringthe
first six monthsof the federation.Article 54 madeprovision for the compositionof
federalparliamentarians in proportionto the numberof inhabitantsof eachFederated
Statein the ratio of oneparliamentarianto 80,000inhabitants.The constitutionput the
population of the SouthernCameroonsat 800, 000 and that of Republiquedu
Camerounat 3, 200, 000, thus yielding 10 parliamentariansfor the Southern
Cameroonsand 40 for Republiquedu Cameroun,in the FederalNational Assembly.
This inconsequential'representation'was designedto ensure that the Southern
Cameroons influencedneitherlegislationnor policy in the federation

58. Article 56 enactedthat "on I October1961the Governmentof the Republicof

SouthernCameroon... and the Governmentof the Republic of Camerounshall
become the Governmentsof the two FederatedStatesrespectively." Article 59 stated
that the Frenchtext of the constitution was the authoritative version.

59. These telling provisions were later expunged from the constitution but without in
fact changing the factual situation createdby them.

60. Conspicuously absent from the document were certain key matters the Southern
Cameroonshad insisted on during pre- and post-plebiscite talks with Republique du
Cameroun: robust state autonomy, a constitutional Bill of Rights, a Federal Senate
and judicial independence.

61. However, there was no provision in the document to the effect that the Southern
Cameroonsand Republique du Cameroun shall be united in one sovereign Republic;
no provision to the effect that the federation was 'one and indivisible'; and no claim
that the document representedconsensusad idem of the Southern Cameroons and
Republique du Cameroun.The political authorities of Republique du Camerounwere
and remained in the driver's seatof the defacto federation. Aware that the federation
lacked a legally valid founding document and that it had a mere de facto existence,
those authorities never applied for UN membership of the federation and so the
federation was never a member of the UN.

Onset of reign of terror in the Southern Cameroons

62. In his unilateral Federal Constitution the President of Republique du Cameroun

declared himself President of the Federation.In early October 1961 he issued a
proclamation placing the Southern Cameroons under a state of emergency for six
months renewablead inJinitum, a situation that has more or less remained unchanged
to this day.

63. He also issued a decreeextending to the Southern Cameroonsthe pass system in

force in Republique du Cameroun.The systemrequired any person intending to travel
from one district to another or from one town to another to obtain a laissez-passer
from the military or police authorities and to exhibit the sameto those authorities on
demandat any checkpoint, under pain of arrest and imprisonment.

64. Another decree also extended the'carte d'identite'system to the Southern

Cameroons.The systemrequires all personsaged eighteenand above to carry on their
personat all times a documentcalled 'carte d'identite nationale'and to produceit at
any time and place on demand by the police or military authorities, under pain of
arrest and imprisonment. The card contains details about the holder: his names, the
namesof his father and mother, his date and place of birth, his profession,his place of
abode,his thumb print, his signature,and body identification marks.

65. Other decreesfollowed notably the 1962 Subversion Ordinance,the 1966 law on
press censorship,and the 1967 law proscribing meetings and associations.This latter
law effectively outlawed civil society organizations and the formation of political
parties. These laws seriously eroded the civil and political rights the people of the
Southern Cameroons were accustomed to enjoying during the period of British
colonial rule.
 secretpolice in Republiquedu
66. The activities of the sinister Gestapo-modeled
Cameroun,deceptivelynameddocumentation andresearchcentre(first known by the
acronym DIRDOC then later SEDOC and finally CND), were extendedto the
SouthernCameroonstogetherwith infamoustorture units called 'Brigade Mobile
Mixtes' (BMM). These structurestortured or disappearedpersonswho dared to
opposethe political statusquo. Among the SouthernCameroonianvictims of these
structuresis Mr. Mukong who miraculouslysurvived twelve years of gruesome
detentionandtortureandwasable,in his bookPrisoner WithoutA Crime,to recordin
graphicdetailfor posteritythe frighteningmodusoperandiof theseoutfits.

67. As early as December 196l another ordinance extendedto the Southem

Cameroonsthe systemof civilian-targetedmilitary tribunalsexisting in Republique
du Cameroun,much to the consternation of the peopleof the tenitory. A permanent
military tribunalwas setup in Buea,capitalof the SouthernCameroons. Like thosein
Republiquedu Camerounit was composedof a civilian magistrateand two army
officers,citizensof Republiquedu Cameroun.It hadjurisdictionto try civiliansfor an
array of ill-defined offencesunderthe subversionordinanceand other decrees,such
as subversiveactivities,offencesagainststate security,possessionof fire-armsor
ammunition,contemptof the President,ridiculing public authority, inciting hatred
againstthe Govemment,disseminationof false news, and any offenceof whatever
naturein an areasubjectto a stateof emergencyor otherexceptionalcircumstances (a
stateof emergencyhad early beendeclaredover the SouthernCameroons) committed
evenby civilians.

68. High profile casesof SouthernCameroonianstried in Buea or Yaoundd(in

Republiquedu Cameroun)include the officer of police, InspectorNdifor; the 143
Bakossipeoplearrestedin Tombelin 1966;the journalistsMartin Yai, J.F Dweller,
Martin Che, Peter Etah Oben; and the publisher SN Tita. In a CameroonTimes
publicationof February1970the journalistsexpressedthe generalsentimentsof the
peopleof the SouthernCameroonswhenthey observedthat the Camerounese forces
in the SouthernCameroonswere by their conductindistinguishablefrom colonial
forcesof occupation.

69. The stateof emergencyprovidedandcontinuesto providethe 'legal' basisfor the

military forces of Republiquedu Camerounto subjectthe people of the Southem
Cameroonsto all kinds of abuse,terror and harassment. Takentogether,the active
enforcementof the state of emergency, the ubiquity of the 'force armee et
gendarmerie',the indiscriminateapplicationof the subversionordinance,and the
activitiesof the military tribunalsand the secretpolice had the effect of unleashinga
veritablereign of terror in the SouthemCameroons.

The'ratissage'(cordonand searchoperation)

70. A typical methodof abuse,tortureand otherinhumanand degradingtreatmentis

the 'ratissage'(or'caler-caler',in the languageof thoseforeignforces).A methodof
psychologicalwarfareusedby the Frenchto enforcetheir colonial rule in Vietnam,
Algeria and French Cameroun,the 'ratissage'is a cordon and searchoperation,
encirclementand dragnet maneuvers,periodically carried out by military forces
againstthe population.
71. This subjugation and terrorization strategy is meant to impress on the people of
the Southern Cameroonsthat they are hopeless,powerless and that any contemplated
resistanceto Republique du Camerounoccupationwould be futile.

72. Routinely carried out, the operation followed a fairly standardizedpattern. As

early as 4 a.m. heavily armed military forces would invade a pre-selectedtown or
village; moving systematically from house to house; breaking in if the occupant
hesitatedto open at the first command to do so; moving from streetto street,from one
locale to another; demanding each person to produce their carte d'identite, ticket
d'impot, recepisse,recu, carte du parti, potente, permis de conduire, Iaissez-posser,
'pieces' (documents)
carte de sejour, or other the soldiers choseto ask.

73. People are forced out of their homes at gunpoint, herded like cattle into an open
space,tortured and humiliated. Forms of dehumanization include being forced to sit
on wet grass or ground, on mud, on dust, or on dirty water ponds on the roadside,as
well as being forced to kneel on sand, gravel, stonesor other road surface facing and
looking at the sun. The haplesspeople are ordered to put their hands on their heads
like captured prisoners of war and forced to sing insulting and obscenesongs about
their spousesand parents,or derogatory songsabout God, and to danceor run around,
sometimes naked, to amuse the soldiers. Anyone who failed to comply with any of
thesecommandsreceived the butt of the gun, kicks in the groin, or slapsin the face.
As if all this was not enough it was not uncommon for the soldiers involved in this
operation to rape women, steal property, and unlawfully detain people in the
'commissariatde police' or 'brigade de la gendarmerie'for days and weeks on end
without charge.

The confessionof a colonialist

74. Addressing his political party in July 1962, Mr. Ahidjo (self-declared federal
President) confessed that Republique du Cameroun had in effect annexed the
Southern Cameroons using the ploy of a pretended federation. He said: ooThe
reunification of the Southern Cameroons and Republique du Cameroun did not
necessitatea fundamental changeof the constitution of Republique du Cameroun,but
only a minor amendmentto allow for part of the tenitory to rejoin the motherland. ...
It was Republique du Camerounwhich had to transform itself into a federation,taking
into account the return to it of a part of its tercitory, a part possessingcertain special
characteristics."

75. There could be no clearer admission of annexationor colonization of the Southern

Cameroons by Republique du Cameroun. For, the claim that the territory of the
Southem Cameroonswas/is a part of the territory of Republique du Cameroun is an
egregiousfalsehoodlegally, historically, culturally and politically.

Domination of the people of the Southern Cameroons

76. The de facto CameroonFederationlasted a mere ten years. During those years the
people of Republique du Cameroun systematically increasedtheir domination of the
people of SouthernCameroons.This domination manifesteditself in severalways:
! The Federal Govemment was essentiallya Republique du Camerounmonopoly.
The SouthemCameroonshad only a small and token presencein all the three
branchesof government,executive,legislative,judicial and thereforecould not take
or influenceanypolicy decision;

! The military and police havealwaysbeenentirely Frenchin training and language

andhavealwaysbeena Republiquedu Camerouninstitution;

! Mr. Ahidjo, Presidentof Republiquedu Camerounand the self-appointedfederal

Presidentcarvedthe federationinto six administrativeregions,each headedby an
'Inspecteur
federal d'administration' nativeof Republiquedu Cameroun,along the
'constitutionally'establishedtwo constituentfederatedstates,eachheadedby a Prime "i

Minister. The Southern Cameroons was decreed an administrative region.

Taxonomicallythis meantit was concurrentlya federatedstate(self-governing)and
an administrative region (under Republique du Cameroun tutelage, for the
'Inspecteur' was alwaysa citizen of Republiquedu Camerounappointedby Ahidjo
anddirectlyanswerable to him; andhis office wasdeemedto be superordinateto that
of the Prime Minister of the Southern Cameroons).Ahidjo thus created an
administrativesystemthat basicallyignoredthe underlyingprinciple of federalism.
He did this to keepup the fiction that the SouthernCameroons was indeedpart of the
territoryof Republiquedu Cameroun;

! Ahidjo gnawedinto such powers as the SouthemCameroonshad and basically

deprivedit of revenue-raising powers,thus making it dependenton federalsubsidies
grudgingly and erratically allocated. The Southern CameroonsPrime Minister
deploredthis systemof ad ftoc subsidiesand wonderedaloud how a state could
developby itself accordingto its prioritiesif it cannotknow how muchrevenueit has
at its disposal.

! Ahidjo arrogatedto himselfthe powerto appointanddismissthe PrimeMinisterand

Ministersof the Governmentof the SouthernCameroons notwithstandingthe fact that
the stateoperateda parliamentarysystemof govemment.

! The SouthemCameroonswasorderedto switchover from left to right handdriving.

The unit of moneyin the SouthernCameroonshad all alongbeenthe pound.In 1962
it was abolished.The franc CFA in usein Republiquedu Camerounwas over-valued
in relationto the poundandthenextendedto the SouthernCameroonswith disastrous
consequences for the SouthemCameroonsGovemmentand for individualswho had
savings.

! In 1966Ahidjo, a consunmatemanipulator,deceitfullymanoeuvered the political

parties in the SouthernCameroonsand decreeda one-partystate,thereby ending
multiparty politics in the SouthernCameroons.The strangleholdof Republiquedu
Camerounoverthe SouthernCameroons wasnow virtually complete.

! Republiquedu Camerounalso set about destroyingthe economicbase of the

SouthernCameroons.Bananas,exportedto Britain underCommonwealthpreference
tariffs, were a major sourceof incomefor the SouthemCameroonsGovernment.By
bringingthe SouthemCameroonseconomywithin the customszurangement of what
is in effect still French EquatorialAfrica the preferentialtariffs were ended.The
Frenchpreferredto buy bananasfrom French-ownedcompaniesin Republiquedu
Cameroun.The Southem Cameroonscould not therefore sell its bananasand suffered
a heavy loss of revenue. The Southern Cameroons' main agro-industry, the
CameroonsDevelopment Corporation (CDC), and private bananafarmers abandoned
bananafarming.

! Southem Cameroons' seaports,Victoria and Tiko were teeming with activities.

Victoria was a vibrant commercial city with thriving firms such as John Holt Ltd,
Cadbury and Fry, Unilever, UCTC, CCC, and Britind Company Ltd. Kumba district
producesabundantfoodstuff of various variety, timber, cocoa and coffee.
In order to induce a dependencysyndromein the Southem Cameroons,
Republique du Camerounconstructedfrom Douala, its main and dredging port, a road
linking it to Victoria and a nalrow gaugerail line linking the samecity to Kumba. The
Victoria and Tiko seaports were then decreed closed. The commercial companies
were then forced to relocate to Douala. People now had to travel 80 km all the way to
Douala for shopping. Cash crop and food produce harvested from Kumba were
henceforth being taken to Douala. A vivid account of the economic strangulation and
ruination of the Southern Cameroons is given in J. Banjamin, Les Camerounais
Occidentatn.

77.The de facto federation was thus not conceived to operateand did not operatein a
manner fully consistentwith the aspirationsof the people of the SouthernCameroons.
Republique du Cameroun frustrated the freely expressedwishes of the people of the
Southern Cameroons to independence.It set in motion the process of forcing the
people of the SouthernCameroonsinto Republique du Camerounmould in a hopeless
homogenizing quest designedto result in the complete extinguishment of the separate
and distinct identity of the people of the Southem Cameroons.

Early protests to no avail

78. Resistanceby the political elite of the Southern Cameroonsto absolutism and "la
francisation imposer" ('imposed Gallic assimilation') was met with high-handed
treatment. For standing up to Republique du Cameroun's expansionistagendaPrime
Minister AN Jua was labeled'un autonomisteavant tout' ('a die-hard autonomist')
and dismissed by Ahidjo. Jua would later die in circumstances, which remain
suspicious. When Foncha reminded Ahidjo that there was no valid union accord or
treaty betweenthe Southem Cameroonsand Republique du Camerounand that it was
high time such an accord is concluded between the two parties, he was shabbily
treatedand dismissedfrom his decorativeoffice of Vice President.

79. Dr Fonlon called for an equal quota of cabinet ministers in the Federal
Govemment. He called for the establishment of a Federal Senate with equal
representationfor the Southem Cameroonsand Republique du Cameroun. He called
for meaningful representationfor the SouthernCameroonsin the FederalAssembly so
as to put the Southem Cameroonsin a position to influence policies and law making.
He called for Southern Cameroonsautonomy to enable it to effectively govern itself.
He called for an end to the treatment of the Southern Cameroonsas a dependencyof
Republique du Cameroun.Fonlon was summarily dismissed from his ministerial job.
Nzo Ekhah-Nghaky was also labeled an 'autonomiste' and was also sackedfrom his
ministerialjob.
80. From the federalperiod to this day nationalsof the SouthernCameroonsare
appointed,if at all, asa matterof grace,andthento subordinate positionsasassistants
or deputiesto nationals of Republiquedu Cameroun.Moreover, key ministries
('ministeresde souverainete ) and officesare,as a matterof policy, out of boundsto
nationals of the Southem Cameroons.These include the republicanpresidency,
secretarygeneralat the presidency,the commanderof the armed forces, director-
generalof the oil industry, the ministry of finance, the ministry of defense,the
ministry of the interior,the ministry of foreign affairs,the ministry of education,the
ministry of information and culture, the ministry of economic and indushial
development,and ambassadorship to Nigeria, France,Britain, United Statesand the
UnitedNations.

Uncheckedpowersconferredon Camerounese
pro-consuls

81. Instead of looseningthe strangleholdof Republiquedu Camerounover the

Southern Cameroons, Ahidjo moved to further strengthen 'l'administration
territoriale' by giving increased powers to the 'Inspecteurs feverous
d'administration'(laterrenamed'gouverneurs) andto the 'prefets'in the Napoleon-
style prefect systemhe had imposedin the SouthemCameroons.They were given
absoluteanduncheckedpowerswithin their administrativeareas,includingthe power
to torture,to detainindefinitely,to confiscateproperty,to control the movementof
personsand goods,to censorthe press,and to disperseany assembly,prohibit any
meeting,and disbandatty association.The 'gouverneur' and 'prefef continueto
exercisethesearbitrarypowersto this day,uncheckedby law or morality.

82. In 1966Ahidjo resolvedto Balkanizethe SouthemCameroonsand to fuse the

areasthus cut up into contiguousregionsin Republiquedu Cameroun.The objective
was to procurethe completeextinguishmentof the SouthemCameroonsboth as a
political and as a unitary territorial unit. Somehowa SouthernCameroons journalist,
Mr. EmmanuelEpie, got wind of the plan and publishedthe story in the 'Cameroon
Mirror'. The PrimeMinister andpeopleof the SouthemCameroons werefurious.The
Govemmentof the SouthemCameroonsissueda pressstatementstatingthat sucha
move would be completelyunacceptable. Ahidjo quickly deniedany plansto absorb
the SouthernCameroons into Republiquedu Cameroun.

The Tombelpogrom

83. In Republiquedu Cameroun,an insurgencygroup (variouslyreferredto as '/es

maquisards','les terroristes'or'lo rebellion) operatingsincethe 1950shad been
fighting the French colonial authoritiesand later the Ahidjo govemment,in that
country.In December1966,shortlybeforeChristmas,somemembersof the terrorist
group,nativesof the Bamileketribe, crossedthe borderinto the SouthernCameroons
andkilled four Bakossivillagersin Tombelfor no apparentreason.
The Bakossiventedtheir angeron residentBamileketribesmen.(Thesewere among
thousandsof refugeesfleeing relentlessrepressionin their native Republiquedu
Cameroun,and who had soughtasylum in the safetyof the SouthernCameroonsand
weregivensanctuaryin Bamenda,Kumba,Tiko, TombelandVictoria asmigrants.)

84. The Bakossiretaliationresultedin two or three casualtiesand the destructionof

some property.A civilized governmentwould have called for calm, given police
protection to the two communities, establisheda commission of inquiry, and arrested
and prosecutedthe culprits. The Yaound6 regime choseto act otherwise.

85. Ahidjo ordered in his troops and a barbaric act of collective revenge was exacted
against the Bakossi people. West Africa Magazine of May 1967 records that 236
Bakossi men, women and children were massacred and Tombel town destroyed.
Another 143 Bakossi people were abducted and transported to Yaound6 under
inhuman conditions. They were tried by the Yaound6 military tribunal in a language
and under a law they did not comprehend. The charge was subversion. Of the 143
people 17 were sentencedto death and executed by firing squad; 75 were given life
sentencesin various gendarmerie-rundetention camps (in effect to slow death given
the cruel conditions of detainees in those camps); two were sentenced to years
imprisonment each;4 were given a two years' jail term each; I person died during the
trial; and 36 personswere discharged.

86. In all about 330 Bakossi people perished at the hands of the Yaound6 authorities.
Every Bakossi family either lost a family member or was affected as a result of the
pogrom.

The preten ded 1972'referendum'

87. Given all these events, between 1966 and 1971 there were persistent rumours of
the collapse of the de facto Cameroon federation. The 1971 security report from the
Southern Cameroons to Ahidjo informed him of the general openly expressed
resentmentin the Southem Cameroonsthat the state was being treated as a colony of
Republique du Cameroun and that the Southem Cameroons would be justified in
proclaiming its separateindependence.The security report also informed Ahidjo that
leading Southern Cameroons politicians held a four-day meeting in Kumba during
which they decided to form an opposition Christian Democratic Party with the
blessing of the Catholic Church.

88. In early 1972 Ahidjo poured in more troops in the Southem Cameroonsto obviate
the danger of a generalizedrevolt. The troops were ordered to systematicallyterrorize
the population as a form of psychological warfare. All movements of key Southern
Cameroonspoliticians were closely monitored round the clock.
89. Ahidjo then conspired with Paul Biya (incumbent President of Republique du
Cameroun since 1982), Charles Onana Awana, Moussa Yaya Sarkifada and Francois
Sengat Kuo, all of them citizens of Republique du Cameroun to end the de facto
federation and to formally annex the Southern Cameroons to Republique du
Cameroun. This was yet another chapter in the game of constant duplicity and
schemingby Republique du Cameroun.

90. On May 6 1972 Ahidio mounted the rostrum of the Federal National Assembly
and in a periphrastic speechdeclaredto a nonplussedaudience:o'J'ai decide de mettre
fin a la Federation." ('I have decided to end the federation'). Then, incongruously, he
said he would 'consult' the 'people' by referendum two weeks later, on May 20th. It
was the people of the Southern Cameroonsalone who had voted at the plebiscite. It
was they who were going to lose their self-government. One would therefore have
thought that Ahidjo would confine his 'referendum' to the people of the Southern
Cameroons to indicate whether they wished a detrimental change in their political
status.But Ahidjo choseto makehis 'referendum'a generalaffair. The ploy was an
insurancecoverto makesurethat evenif the peopleof the SouthernCameroonswere
to vote 'no' that vote was going to be overwhelmedby the crudemajoritarian'yes'
vote of the peopleof Republiquedu Camerounwho had all alongnursedthe ambition
to absorbthe peopleof the SouthernCameroons.

91. In any event,throughouthis despoticrule Ahidjo's word wasthe law and so even
as he spokeon that day no one had any illusions about the result of the so-called
referendum.In view of the fact that the result of the so-calledreferendumwas a
foregoneconclusionandthat the formal annexationof the SouthernCameroons would
in fact alreadyhave been accomplishedby the time of the 'referendum',the said
'referendum' could have been no more than a gimmick for the benefit of the
intemationalcommunity.

92. Ahidjo's speechin effect amountedto a decreesackingthe Governmentof the

SouthernCameroons andthe overthrowof the federalgovernment.MinistersandMPs
simply packed their personalbelongingsand scamperedaway in fright. Neither
parliamentin the SouthernCameroonsnor the federal assemblydared to resume
sitting in orderto debateAhidjo's speechor to disposeof any pendingbusinessor to
formally dissolve.Ahidjo would later boastthat he had carriedout 'une revolution'.
Sincethe de facto federationwas declaredendedit was doubtfulwhat entity Ahidjo
wasPresidentof.

93. Ahidjo and his confederatessecretlydrafted a constitutionand had it secretly

typed by Ahidjo's tribesman,OusmaneMey. The French law Professor,Maurice
Duverger, was then fetched from Paris to review the document.The political
leadershipof the SouthernCameroonswas not eveninformedof what was going on.
Therewasnot eventhe pretenceof a public debateon that document.Before'voting'
day on May 20th the generalityof the peoplehad not evenseenlessstill studiedthe
contentsof that document.Yet the long-windy referendumquestionaskedpeople
whether they approvedof his unitary constitution instituting what he called 'la
republiqueunie du Cameroun'.

94. In a well-choreographedexercise, including 'motions of support' usually

generatedby the Camerounesepresidencyand ministry of internal affairs (the
ministry responsiblefor organizing 'elections' and fixing their results), Ahidjo
claimeda 99.999%approvalof his coup. Takencompletelyunawares,the Southern
Cameroonswas unable to come up with a response,dismissingthe exerciseas a
charade,sayingthechoicewasbetween'oui' and'yes'.

I)estructionand plunder of the SouthernCameroons

95. Ahidjo gave himself 'les pleins pouvoirs' (unlimitedpowers)for six monthsto
rule as he saw fit. He formally institutedthe imperial presidentialismthat existsin
Republiquedu Camerounto this day.In his 'constitution'of 2 Jwrc1972he officially
annexedthe SouthernCameroons to Republiquedu Cameroun.He then embarkedon
a processof systematicallydismantlingthe political and economicinstitutionsof the
SouthernCameroons,plundering its natural resourcesand under-developingthe
territory.
 ! The SouthernCameroonswas cut up into two provinces, which have since continued
to be administered from Republique du Cameroun through a hierarchy of colonial-
type district commissioners known as 'sous-prelfets', 'profits', ogovernor,i", and
'commandants
des legions ' from Republique du Cameroun as dependenciesof that
country. These Republique du Cameroun proconsuls, together with the military
exercisethe amplest of authority over the tenitory, operating in a languageand apply
an administrative systemalien to the Southem Cameroons.

! Policing in the territory is essentially carried out by the military. Military road
checkpoints were instituted every six or seven kilometers. For instance, today from
the border at the Mungo River to Buea, a distance of less than thirty kilometers there
are six checkpoints.
! Museum pieces and archival records, including files in the Southem Cameroons
Public Service Commission were either vandalized or carted to Yaound6 where thev
were subsequentlyburnt.

! The schools calendar in the Southern Cameroonswas aligned to that in Republique

du Cameroun. Teacher training colleges in the Southem Cameroons were closed
down, primary educationunder-fundedand secondaryeducationunder constantthreat
of adulteration. American educational programmes such as ASPAU and AFGRAD
provided scholarshipto deserving SouthernCameroonsstudentsto enable them study
in the USA. Republique du Cameroun requested the US to discontinue these
programmes. Also requested to be discontinued was aid provided to Southern
Cameroonscommunities through USAID and British Technical Assistance.

! The system of local govemment and community development in the Southern

Cameroonswas destroyed.

! The ruthless exploitation of natural resourcesin the SouthernCameroonssuch as oil

and gas, timber, rubber and palms has continued without any benefit accruing to the
SouthernCameroonsor its people.

! Since the abolition of the Southem Cameroons Government there has been little
developmentin the territory. Virtually all the public structuresand facilities in the
Southern Cameroonswere built in the days of the Germans, British or the Southern
CameroonsGovemment. There are no modern facilities and not even a single three
star hotel in the territory.

! Roads constructed when the British were in charge and also at the time of the
Govemment of the Southern Cameroonshave been allowed to dilapidate for lack of
maintenance.A few patchesof tarred roads exist here and there, all totaling no more
than 150 kilometres. These small stretchesof tarred roads have however been done to
serve the economic, commercial and security interests of Republique du Cameroun.
As a general rule the Southem Cameroonsis a territory where 'roads' are no more
than dusty/muddy dirt tracks. It takes a robust truck a whole day to do a distanceof 60
or 100 km. In many places trekking and head load are still the order of the day. Many
areas are unreachableby road or air. Oil comes from Ndian district. But it has no
roads or other infrastructure.
! In fact the only accessto almostall the SouthernCameroonscommunitiesalongthe
borderwith Nigeria areaccessibleonly from Nigeria andmanyof thosecommunities
haveaccessonly to Nigerian educationaland healthfacilitates,and usethe Nigerian
curency in commercialactivities.
! The SouthernCameroonsis purposefully isolated from the rest of the world
physically(lack of roadsandreliabletelecommunication network)andin international
relations.

The SouthemCameroonscannotenter into any relationsof any kind whetherwith

statesor non -state entities.It lacks locus standi before the ICJ to challengethe
colonialstatusimposedon it by Republiquedu Cameroun.

! Overthe yearsfinancialandotherestablishments setup by the Governmentof the

Southern Cameroonsas well as private businessesby Southern Cameroons
businessmenhave all been purposefully and systematicallysnuffed out: the
DevelopmentAgencywas destroyed;the CameroonsBank (CAMBANK) wasmoved
to Republiquedu Cameroun,lootedand then closeddown; the MarketingBoardwas
looted and its financial reservesof over 78 billion cfa francs (approx. USD160
million) misappropriated with impunity; the Electricity Corporation(POWERCAM)
was closeddown, its assetsconfiscatedand the hydro-electricityinstallationsin the
tenitory demolished;the CameroonsTimber Companybasedin Muyuka was closed
down and its assets confiscated;Fomenky's Direct Supplies company, Nixa
Automobile company,Nangahcompany,Kilo Brotherscompany,Union Professin
Kumba,and Che companywere orderedto relocatein Republiquedu Camerounand
then were deliberately starved of credit and squeezedout; agro-industrial
establishmentssuchas SantaCoffeeEstate,ObangFarm Settlement,and Wum Area
DevelopmentAuthority weremaliciouslycloseddown; alsomaliciouslycloseddown
were Cameroons Air Transport (CAT), the Tiko Intemational Airport, the
Besongabang Airport, the Bali Airport, the Weh Airstrip, the Victoria deepseaport,
the Tiko seaport, the Ndian seaport, andthe Mamfeinlandport on the CrossRiver

! Republiquedu Camerounhascontrivedto grabSouthernCameroon'sonly surviving

industry,the CameroonsDevelopmentCorporation(CDC), underthe thin disguiseof
privatization.This move has in effect dashedthe legitimate expectationsof the
indigenousowners of the land occupied by the CDC to eventual recover their
ancestrallands.

! Althoughoil and gascomefrom the SouthernCameroonsno oil storagefacility has

beenconstructedin the territory.Refinedpetroleumproductis takenfrom the refinery
at Victoria by tankersto Republiquedu Camerounand from therea little quantityis
then broughtback to the SouthernCameroonsfor retail saleat priceshigher than in
Republiquedu Cameroun.All oil revenuesgo directlyto Republiquedu Cameroun.In
fact the oil businessis considereda presidentialpreserveanda secret,andis managed
like the privatepropertyof the Presidentof Republiquedu Cameroun.By and large
citizensof the SouthemCameroonsarenot allowedaccessto this industry,especially
accessto key andstrategicpositions.

! Foreigninvestorsintendingto investin the SouthemCameroonshavealwaysbeen

coercedto investin Republiquedu Camerouninstead.For example,the oil company
PECTEN and the breweries, GUINNESS and ISENBECK, wanted to set up shop in
the SouthernCameroonsbut were presswized to locate in Republique du Cameroun.
! Official speeches,texts and documents are exclusively in French, with occasional
translations,if at all; and often later, care being taken to mention that the French text
remains the authoritative version. It is thus not possible to argue a case, make a
political or other point, or claim a right or privilege on the authority of the English
version of any document,be it the oconstitution'.

! The Southem Cameroons has a separateand distinct legal system (Common Law
system). But it is denied a legislature or other institutional framework to make laws
for the peaceorder and good government of the territory. Nor is there any framework
for amending, reforming or updating the body of laws received from Britain.
Republique du Camerounhas always, as in other areas,dominated and controlled the
law-making process. It has therefore been applying its invidious policy of
systematicallyrepealing the English-derived laws in force in the Southem Cameroons
and extending its French derived laws to the territory. The Justice Ministry of
Republique du Cameroun is on record (through its one time Minister Mr. Ngongang
Ouandji) as saying the English legal systemis no legal systemat all.

! The most recent example of the extensionof French-derivedlaws to the Southern

Cameroonsis the imposition on the SouthernCameroonsof the French-law inspired
'Organisation pour I'Harmonisation du Droit des Affaires
en Afrique' (OHANDA)
setting the legal framework for the conduct of businessin French-speakingAfrican
States.The 'OHANDA law' was imposed on the SouthernCameroonseven though it
is entirely French law derived and even though the official language of the
organization is clearly stated to be French. The imposition of that piece of civil law
legislation has entailed the repeal of the CompaniesAct 1948 until now in force in the
SouthernCameroons.

96. It has not been possible to challenge in court this long train of illegalities because
Republique du Cameroun has always been under despotic rule. Moreover, that
country has never had any credible legal framework within which to seek and obtain
redress.It has no credible system of judicial review. It has not properly incorporated
any human rights treatiesinto its domestic law.
It has no constitutional bill of rights. It has nevsr had an independentjudiciary.

97. Not long after the de facto federation was ended in 1972, various Southem
Cameroons groups began to emerge at home and abroad challenging what was
euphemistically referred to as the 'marginalization' of the Southern Cameroons,
meaning the annexationor colonization of the SouthernCameroons.Students' groups,
cultural groups and individual politicians addressedpetitions to the Yaound6 regime
to no avail.

The official restoration of the identity of oRepublique du Cameroun' and

confirmation of the formal colonization of the Southern Cameroons

98. In February 1984, Mr. Paul Biya (another citizen of Republique du Cameroun
who had been picked by Ahidjo and handed the Presidency in 1982) discarded
Ahidjo's 'republique unie du Cameroun' contraption. He signed a law formally
reverting to the denomination and identity 'Republique du Cameroun'. That
denominationhad officially not beenin use since I October1961.That law by Biya
alsoconfirmedthe formal colonizationof the SouthemCameroons. The Constitution
of Republiquedu Camerounprovides in article I that "The united republic of
Cameroun shall be denominatedRepublique du Cameroun." The Southern
Cameroonsis nowherementionedthroughoutthe Constitution.Englishis a language
Republiquedu Camerounhasmerely 'adopted'as beingof the samevalueas French
its actualofficial language

Noticeon the eventuil restorationof the independence

and statehoodof the
SouthernCameroons

99. The responsefrom SouthernCameroonians was swift. Fon Gorji Dinka,Barrister-

at-Law, of Lincoln's Inn, publisheda pamphletcalled The New Social Order. The
booklet detailedthe illegalities Republiquedu Camerounhas been guilty of since
l961andpointedout that no valid constitutionalor other legal basisexistseitherfor
the associationof the two formertrust territoriesor for the assumptionby Republique
du Camerounof jurisdiction over the SouthernCameroons.It informed that the
SouthemCameroonsshall never acceptcolonial rule, be it Black. It advisedthe
Yaound6Governmentthat if Republiquedu Cameroundesiredto associatewith the
SouthernCameroonsthen the two countrieshad to fully agreeon the termsof such
association.It arguedthat the formal revival of Republiquedu Camerounipsojure
entailedthe formalrevival of the SouthemCameroonsaswell.

100. Banister Dinka cautionedthat if Republiquedu Camerouncontinuedto turn a

deaf ear;the SouthernCameroonsshall be left with no otheroption than to proclaim
its separateindependenceunderthe nameand style of 'Republic of Ambazonia'to
avoid any confusionbetweenthe former British-administered UN Trust Territory of
the SouthernCameroonswith the southem province or region of Republic du
Cameroun.

101. BarristerDinka was immediatelyarrested,held in solitary confinement,then

transferredto the dreadedBMM, put through the motion of a trial by a military
tribunal,andthenplacedunderhousearrestfrom wherehe managedto escapeabroad
andstill lives in exile in Europeto this day.

Continuingrevolt

102. Throughoutthe 1980sthe peopleof the SouthernCameroons,as individualsor

as groups, continued to revolt against what was now openly characterizedas
annexationby Republiquedu Cameroun.

103.The revolts,especiallyby parentsandschoolchildrenfrom primaryto University

level, intensified when Biya decreedthe abolition of the General Certificate of
Education(GCE) examinationand thus the English-based educationalsystemin the
SouthemCameroons,and substitutedfor it the Frencheducationaland examsystem.
This was a recipe for disasterfor the future of the children of the Southem
Cameroons.
104. Republique du Cameroun had already destroyed the Ombe Trade Centre, a
leading technical college established in 1954, and imposed the French technical
education system in the Southern Cameroons.The result of this imposition continues
to be an unmitigated disaster for Southem Cameroons children opting for technical
education. The technical colleges in the Southern Cameroons are now a mongrel
institution. The contents of the coursesand the standardof achievementdo not meet
the technical education requirements in technical colleges in France or in England.
Teachersin technical schools are mainly citizens of Republique du Cameroun. They
have no mastery of technical English or of the English language.Examinations are set
in French and translated into incomprehensiblelanguage.Year in year out the failure
rate is in the region of 90%o.

105. This is the same failure rate experienced by students from the Southern
Cameroonsstudying in Yaound6 University. More often than not they were made to
study and write their exams in French. At first they were made to spend a period of
time studying French before proceeding to enroll for the discipline of their choice.
The policy was developedwhereby coursestaught in French were made core subjects
and those in English mere electives. This was designed to ensure that a student,
citizen of Republique du Cameroun could ignore courses taught in English,
concentrateonly on the coursesn French and still pass his exurms;while the student
who is a citizen of the Southern Cameroons could not possibly pass if he did not
concentrateon the subjectsin French.

106. The situation was compounded for the Southern Cameroonsstudent by the fact
that as a matter of policy there was no eagernesson the part of the authorities to
recruit Southern Cameroons lecturers. Those that were recruited had to submit their
degreesobtained from England, USA, Nigeria or other English-speaking country to
the Ministry of Education for an equivalent rating by Camerounesebureaucrats.
French educational system degreesbeing taken as the yardstick. The equivalent rating
system applies only in respectof Anglo-Saxon degreesand more often than not those
degrees are under-rated. For Southern Cameroons students, studying in Yaound6
University was a big gamble.

107. The educational difficulties confronting Southern Cameroons children drove

thousands to Nigeria, the US and the UK to pursue their studies. They led to an
intense long-drawn struggle with the Yaound6 regime for the establishment of a
University in the Southem Cameroons to serve the needs of Southem Cameroons
children. A University was eventually established in Buea in 1993 with financial
contributions by the people of the Southem Cameroons themselves. The Yaound6
Govemment has perseveredin its policy of under-funding that University.

The Lake Nyos mass deaths

108. On 21 August 1986 more than 3,000 people and an untold number of livestock
and other animals in the vicinity of Lake Nyos perished from inhaling a gas later
identified as a mixture of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. The official line of
the Yaound6 regime is that the gas was a gigantic bubble, which had collected below
the bed of the lake and exploded on the night of the fateful day.
109. Many discountthis official version sayingthat the gas was in fact a chemical
weapon of mass destructionbeing tested at night by a foreign power with the
complicity of the Yaound6regime;all the more so as on the day in questionmasked
military personnelof the powerin questionwerealreadyat the sitewith scientificand
medicalequipment.Accordingto this versionthe remoteness of Nyos with not evena
dirt road or other means of communicationand the Govemment attitude that the
haplessvillagerswereexpendable madeit an idealtestingsite.

110. The Nyos gaskilled humansand animalsinstantlyon contactbut did not affect
the vegetation.No commissionof inquiry was ever set up to look into what really
happenedat Nyos. Scientists,local and foreignheld a scientificforum in Yaound6to
determinescientificallythe natureand origin of the Lake Nyos gas. After days of
work the scientistscouldnot agreeon a theoryandthe meetingendedinconclusively.

111. Meanwhile,aid (includingmoney)from relief agenciesand donorsintendedfor

villagersof adjoiningvillageswho had to flee whennewsof the disasterspread,was
plunderedin Yaound6.Only a trickle reachedthe intendedpersons.Speakingfor the
Yaound6regime, its interior minister Mr. Menguemesaid that those unfortunate
peopleweretoo primitive to makegooduseof the aid destinedfor them.To this day
the Nyos victims remainabandoned to their fate.No commissionof inquiry was ever
setup to investigatethe widespreaddiversionof relief aid by governmentofficials.

The butcheryand maimingin Bamenda

ll2. By 1989the choicesfacing the peopleof the SouthernCameroonsto recover

their dignity and self-worthas a sovereignpeoplewere limited: a generalrevolt with
the likelihoodof a bloody suppression; a war of nationalliberationentailinga central
leadershipanda war effort; or defianceof the ban on the formationof political parties
and createa political party to unite the peoplepolitically and fight for the peaceful
decolonizationof the land.

ll3. The choicefell on the third option and this led to the emergenceof the Social
DemocraticFront (SDF) political party in Bamendain May 1990. Republiquedu
Camerounmoved an entire baffalionof its troops into the city of Bamendawith a
missionto forcibly preventthe launchingof the party.

114. On the day of the launchthe soldiersshot and killed six peopleand seriously
woundedscoresof others.In other parts of the SouthernCameroonsseveralarrests
were made and at the University of Yaound6SouthernCameroonsstudentswere
roundedup, put through the third degree,detainedand afterwardsreleased.The
Yaound6regimethen went on televisionand told the world a fat lie that thosewho
died or sufferedinjuries were trampledupon by the crowd at the launch,that those
who took part at the launchwere Biafransand not 'peaceloving Camerounians', and
that the leaderof the political party,Mr. Jon Fru Ndi was himself a Biafranwho had
sincefled to Nigeria.

115. The SDF survived the launch and thanks to externalpressurethe Yaound6
regimewas forcedto acceptthe adventof multi-partypolitics. In October1992the
SDF leader contestedthe presidentialelectionsin Republiquedu Camerounand,
accordingto well-informedand dependablesources,won. Mr. Biya stolethe victory
with the complicity of the Yaoundd SupremeCourt. There were angry demonstrations
throughout the Southern Cameroons.Mr. Biya responded once more by a show of
military force. More troops were again moved into the Southem Cameroons and a
stateof emergencywas once more imposed on the whole Bamendaarea.

LL6. From Victoria to Bamenda grenadesand life bullets were used against peaceful
protesters. Scores of people were killed, maimed or otherwise wounded. John Fru
Ndi's compound, with his family and supportersinside was under military siege for
two months with the avowed aim of starving the occupants to death. The local
population devised various ingenious methods by which they were able to smuggle
food to the besiegedpeople. They also worked out an ingenious way by which Fru
Ndi was able to communicate with the outside world. The siege was only ended
following the intervention of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, who
traveledto Bamendato secureFru Ndi's release.

117. Even after the end of the siegethe military proceededto arrestkey SDF officials,
including Mr. Justice Nyo Wakai, a retired Supreme Court Judge and Chief Justice.
He was abusedand humiliated in front of his wife and children. The personsarrested,
more than a hundred of them, men and women, were first taken to the BMM torture
centre. After days of being held incommunicado they were abducted under cover of
darknessand under inhuman conditions to Yaound6 where they were imprisoned for
weeks. Mr. Biya then constitutedwhat was called a'State Security Tribunal' made up
of military officers to try the detainees. As protest intensified in Bamenda the
Yaound6 regime announcedit was releasingthe detainees'sottscaution'and that it
was lifting the stateof emergencyin Bamenda.

The SCNC mandate

118. In 1993 and 1994, againstthe backdrop of terrorization and disruptions by the
Camerounesemilitary, the people of the Southem Cameroons,assembledfor the first
time as a people since early 1972. They created the Southern CameroonsNational
Council (SCNC) and mandated it to seek and secure constitutional talks with
Republique du Cameroun on the basis of an agreed federal constitution. The SCNC
was further mandated, if the Yaound6 regime refused to engage in meaningful
constitutional talks or if it failed to engagein such talks within a reasonabletime, to
so inform the people of the SouthernCameroonsby all suitable means and thereupon
proclaim the revival of the independenceand sovereignty of the SouthernCameroons
and take all measuresnecessaryto secure, defend and preserve the independence,
sovereignty and integrity of the Southem Cameroons.

119. Six years afterwards, in 1999, Republique du Cameroun had not as much as
indicated a willingness to talk with the SouthernCameroons.The SCNC so informed
the people of the Southern Cameroons, served notice that 'reasonable time' had
expired and declaredthat it intended to fulfill its mandate of proclaiming the revival
of the independenceand sovereigntyof the SouthernCameroons.

120. The SCNC made that proclamation on 30 December 1999 over Radio Buea.

121. Justice Frederick Alobwede Ebong who read the proclamation was arrested
together with key SCNC leaders. They were taken to Yaound6 under cover of
darkness,severelytorturedand held in solitary confinementat a military facility for
14 monthsbeforebeingreleasedin the faceof sustainedpressurefrom especiallythe
SouthemCameroons Diasporaaswell asfrom the internationalcommunity.

Biya's attemptat brainwashingthe peopleof the SouthernCameroons

122. Acutely aware of the separateidentity of the SouthemCameroonsand that

Republique du Camerounremains a foreign land in relation to the Southern
Cameroons, Mr. Biya went to Buea,capitalof the SouthernCameroons andattempted
to get the peopleto identifr themselveswith the peopleof Republiquedu Cameroun.
He told the rentedcrowd to repeatafter him: "I am a Camerounian,I was bom a
Camerounian andI will die a Camerounian."

123. This was an attempt to redef,rnethe identity of the people of the Southern
Cameroons andto re-writetheir history.

l24.It speaksvolumesthat Mr. Biya neverrepeatedthis sameexerciseanywherein

Republiquedu Cameroun.He did not becausethe people of that country are
Camerounians. Remindingthem that they are would have been redundant,if not
nonsensical.

No let-up in killing, maiming and torture

125. Meanwhile the abuse,abduction,detention,torture, maiming and killing of

citizens of the SouthernCameroonscontinuedwithout respite. For example,in
November1992Republiquedu Cameroungendarmeofficersfor dayson endtortured
a young businessexecutiveCheNgwa Ghandiuntil he died; on Thursday25 March
1993 Republiquedu Camerounsoldiersopenedautomaticmachinegun fire on a
groupof peacefuldemonstrators in Bamendakilling threeand woundingtwenty. On
the 18th and 25th of March the same year, in the course of peaceful political
demonstrations 46 citizensof the SouthernCameroonswere abducted,torturedand
left with severeinjuries. Around the sametime Mr. Umaru's three children were
disappeared in Bamenda.

126.OnMonday23 December1992,the BamendaHigh Courtorderedin RulingNo.

HCB/CRI\{/92that 173personsdetainedand torturedat the secretpolice tortureunit
known as BMM be released.In contempt of the court's decision the Yaound6
Governmentdisobeyedthe court order. It orderedthe detaineesto be moved to
Yaound6.On December27 the 173 men and women were moved under the most
inhumaneanddegradingconditionsof transportationimaginableto Yaound6to stand
trial beforea Republiquedu Camerounmilitary tribunal in a languagethey did not
understand andundera law to which they werea completestranger.

127. ln 1995, Paddy Mbawa, a well-known SouthernCameroonsjournalist was

abducted,taken to the city of Douala in Republiquedu Camerounwhere he was
severelytorturedand subsequently put throughthe motion of a 'trial' beforebeing
jailed for a year.
128. In 2001 there were at least 2 Southem Cameroons citizens among the nine
people who were disappearedby the military in Douala in what becameknown as the
'Bepanda Nine'. In the same year Republique du Cameroun soldiers murdered 4
youths in the Southem Cameroons town of Kumbo during a peaceful celebration
marking the 40th anniversaryof Southem Cameroonsindependence.In the sameyear
Matthew Titiahonjo was arbitrarily arrestedin the SouthernCameroonstown of Ndop
in May, severely torture and then taken to Bafoussam in Republique du Cameroun
where he was held captive under atrocious conditions before being murdered on 14
September2002.

129. There are scoresof SouthernCameroonscitizens held in captivity in Republique

du Camerounfor their belief in the self-determinationand independenceof their land,
the Southem Cameroons.Detained under atrocious conditions they are in effect being
subjectedto a slow and painful death.

Signature referendum on independence

139. In May the sameyear, against a backdrop of intensified violent repressionin the
Southern Cameroons the SCNC organized a signature referendum to ascertain the
wishes of the people of the Southern Cameroons whether they wished to be
independent or to be a part of Republique du Cameroun. Between September and
November 1995 300,000 voters indicated their choice by signing the appropriate
ballot paper. Of this number, which accurately reflects the voting population of the
Southem Cameroons,99yo voted for independence.During the signature referendum
exercise a number of individuals were either arrested and well tortured or
disappeared.Among them are Abel Apong and Chrispus KeenebieEchikwa who were
taken to Douala and tortured for weeks on end; and John Kudi, Jack Njinta and Paul
Chiajoy Juangwawho were taken to Yaounde and disappeared.

Attempt by Republique du Cameroun to decapitate the Youth League

140. In April 1997, there were 400 arrestsin Bamenda following what the Yaounde
Government unconvincingly called 'terrorist' attacks on symbols of the authority of
Republique du Cameroun in the Southern Cameroons.The arrestees,members of the
Southern CameroonsYouth League (SCYL), were detainedand put through the third
degree(what the Camerounesepressitself calls 'intercogation musclee).Eighty-seven
were eventually moved to Yaound6 where they were tortured and held in solitary
confinement for two years before being put through the motion of a nocturnal trial by
a military tribunal composedof Camerounesemilitary officers and in a languageand
under a law alien to the accused.The SCNC dared the Yaound6 regime to charge the
accused with attempted secession. Instead, the accused were charged with theft,
'prefet',
murder of a and possessionof explosives allegedly stolen from the work site
of a French road construction company.

141. During the two years of detention without trial letters from all corners of the
world poured into the office of the CamerounesePresident urging the trial of the
detaineesif there was a case against them or else their immediate release.Observers
declared the 'trial' unfair and as a parody of justice. Amnesty International adopted
the detaineesas prisonersofconscience.
142. Many of the accuseddied of torture beforethe pretendedtrial was over. The
others received pre-determinedlong sentences.The continuing torture of these
persons and the very deplorable conditions under which they are deliberately
subjectedis indistinguishablefrom extrajudicial execution.Nearly half of those
sentencedhavealreadydied. The most recentvictim is Martin CentumChewho died
in August 2004. Otherswho died before him include EmmanuelKonseh,Mathias
Ngum, JosephNdifon, Richard Ngwa, Julius Ngwa Ambe, SamuelTita, Mathias
Gwei, Daniel Tita, LawrenceFai Yaound6,Patrick Yimbu, Daniel NtanenNdifon,
JuliusNgu Ndi, andPhilippeTete.

Attempt by Republiquedu Camerounto decapitatethe SCNCleadership

143.In 2002the entirehome-based SCNCleadershipwasarrestedfor organizingand

leading celebrationsto mark I Octoberas the independence day of the Southern
Cameroons.They were detained,torturedand humiliatedand subsequently charged
with disobeyingthe orders of the 'prefet'and the ogouverneur'. The Bamenda
Magistrates'Courtfoundthat the accusedwereguilty of no wrongdoingandacquitted
them.But, actingon ordersfrom the Yaound6regimethey werepromptlyre-arrested
within the courtpremisesandtakenbackto prison.Followinga successfulapplication
for habeascorpus,the BamendaHigh Courtorderedthe releaseof the applicants.
Onceagainthe Yaound6Govemmentrefusedto obeythe courtorder.

144. This sparkeda wave of popularrevoltsin the territory promptingthe releaseof

the detainees.But not before the detaineeshad been so severelytortured that the
elderly oneshad to seekmedicaltreatmentabroad.A few monthslater, the highly
respectedand loved SCNC leader,Dr Martin Luma, succumbedto the ill-treatment
inflicted on him and that had aggravatedhis frail conditionas an elderlyperson.He
expireda few monthslater.

145.In Kumbo and Bamendathe military openedfire at peacefulmarchersandkilled

threeand woundingseveralothers.The SCNC leadershipcontinuesto suffer arrests
anddetentions,harassmento
humiliationandvariousformsof ill treatment.

146. As recentlyas August 2004 the pressin Republiquedu Camerounreporteda

conspiracyby top military and govemmentofficials from PresidentBiya's tribe to
assassinateHis EminenceChristianCardinalTumi. The reportindicatedthat Biya was
awareof the plot. It speaksvolumesthat therehasbeenno reactionfrom Mr. Biya or
his govemmenteitherdenyingthe pressreportsor institutingan inquiry to investigate
the claim. The well-respectedCardinal is from the SouthemCameroonsand is a
knowncritic of the Yaound6regime.

Forty yearsof unremitting bloodyrepression

147. More than forty yearsof patientdeputationand petitioningby the peopleof the
SouthernCameroons to the colonialGovernmentof Republiquedu Camerounseeking
a consensualdecolonizationof the SouthemCameroonshas met with more and
intensifiedmilitarizationof the tenitory, abductions,arbitraryarrestsand detentions,
torfure,disappearance, maiming,killings andplunder.
148. From the 1960s down to this day petitions have been made by Southern
Cameroons political leaders (among them Dr Fonlon, respected academic and
politician, and two ex-Prime Ministers of the Southem Cameroons, Foncha and
Muna), school and university students,parents, elites (individually, such as Barrister
Dinka, or collectively), traditional leaders,and church leaders,all to no avail.

149. The Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) has since 1993 sent
countless memoranda to the colonial Govemment of Republique du Cameroun but
again to no avail. The only reaction from that imperious Government has been the
ruthless enforcement of its policy of terrorization of the people, exactions and cruel
depredations in the land, institutionalized torture of arresteesand abductees, and
unchecked violence against the persons, properties and land of the people of the
SouthemCameroons.

150. The people of the Southern Cameroons are under a colonialism of the most
depraved type,far worse than anything experiencedeither under German or English
colonial rule.

151. They have only obligations and no reciprocal rights whatsoever. They have
nothing in retum for the unlawful and brutal confiscation and suppressionof their
self-determination.They do not even have the basic rights that would, by international
law, be grantedto a people defeatedin war. They are not allowed to speakand act as a
people in any matter whatsoever.

152. There is no limit, not even moral, as to what Republique du Cameroun can do
within the territory of the Southem Cameroons.In fact that country has the power of
life and death over the people and territory of the SouthernCameroons.

153. For the people of the Southern Cameroonsthe francophonity imposed on them
and the ubiquity in their territory of the gendarme, sous prefet, prefet, gouverneur,
commandantde legion, brigade de gendarmerie, camp militaire and commissariat de
police are living symbols of alien domination and daily reminders of their shameful
status as a subjugatedpeople, all the more shameful becausethe colonizing State is a
third rate third world country.

154. Pacific protestshave, as a matter of policy, been routinely drowned in blood. The
systematic domination and oppressionof the people of the Southern Cameroonshas
known no mitigation. Persecution is extreme and unremitting. There are now no
reasonableprospectswhatsoeverfor consensualdecolonization.

PART II

THE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATED BY THE RESPONDENT STATE

155. International law proscribes colonialism "in all its forms and manifestations".
UN Resolution 1514 (XV) "solemnly proclaims the necessity of putting a rapid and
unconditional end to colonialism in all its forms and manifestations" based on the
conviction that "all peoples have an inalienable right to absolute freedom, to the
exerciseof their sovereignty and to the integrity of their national territory."
156. In the preambleto the African Charteron Human and Peoples'Rights States
partiesreaffirm their commitment"to eradicateall forms of colonialismfrom Africa"
and their conviction that 'ofreedom,equality, justice and dignity are essential
objectivesfor the achievementof the legitimateaspirationsof the African peoples."

157.The ban on colonialismis thus not only on White rule over colonizedlandsthat
exist acrossthe oceansoverseas,but includes Black on Black colonization.The
Southern Cameroonscase shows how an African colonially minded State has
colonizedits less fortunateneighbour,notwithstandingthe fact that the colonizing
State was itself yesterdaya colonial territory and had achievedindependence by
assertingthe right to self-determination.

158.The factssetout in detailin PartI showa violation of the following humanrights

underthe African Charteron HumanandPeoples'Rights:

(a) Peoples'rights: equalityof all peoplesandfreedomfrom domination(art. 19),the

right to existenceand to self determination(Nt.20 (l)), the right to freely disposeof
wealth and naturalresources(art.2l (l)), the right to economic,social and cultural
development (art.22(1)),theright to peaceandsecurity(art.23 (l)), andthe right to a
generalsatisfactoryenvironment(art. 24);

(b) Individual rights: the right to enjoy guaranteedrights without discrimination

(art.2),the right to equalitybeforeandof equalprotectionof the law (art.3(l)(2)), the
right to life and to integrity of the person(art.4),the right to dignity and to freedom
from torture (art.5), the right to personalliberty and security (art.6), the right to
proceduralfairness(art.7 (1), the right to receiveinformationand to expressand
disseminate opinions(art.9(1X2)), the right to freedomof association (art.10(1), the
right to freedomof assembly(art.11),the right to freedomof movement(art.l2
(1X2)),andtheright to education (art.17(1).

Peoples'RightsViolated

159. The people of the former United Nations Trust Territory of the Southern
Cameroonsunder British administrationconstitutea people within the meaningof
intemationaland humanrights law. They are so referredin relevantUN resolutions
and other variousdocumentsregardingthe territory. A self-determination plebiscite
mandatedand supervisedby the UnitedNationswasheld in the SouthemCameroons.
The UN in its decolonizationlaboursresortsto that processonly when it is satisfied
territoryconstitutea peoplein the internationallaw
that the inhabitantsof a dependent
senseof the word.

160.The SouthernCameroons had internationalpersonalityby virtue of its statusasa

territory underinternationaltutelage.Following its independence anddefacto federal
associationwith Republiquedu Cameroun,the SouthemCameroonsbecamea half-
sovereignstate and a qualified subject of internationallaw. It has a distinct and
separateidentity. Its intemational borders are well defined by the following
tenitorially groundedtreaties:the Anglo-GermanTreaty of 1913,the Anglo-French
(Milne-Simon)Declaration of 1919,andtheAnglo-French Treatyof 9 January1931.
161. Given the territory's internationalpersonalityand its separateand distinct
identity, the national statusof its peoplehas alwaysbeencitizensof the Southern
Cameroons.

162. During the mandate and trusteeshipperiods, the absenceof citizenship qua the
internal law of England and the absenceof citizenship eo nomine confened by some
other source did not render the people of the Southern Cameroons stateless.Their
nationality was for various purposesof the law attributable to the territory itself. That
national statuslay in ibeyance. It surfacedby operation of law at the precise moment
the SouthernCameroonsattainedindependenceon 1 October 1961.

163. The present communication exposesthe camouflaged annexation and colonial

domination of the Southern Cameroonsby Republique du Cameroun in violation of
the United Nations Charter and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
The institution of these proceedingsbefore the Commission representsan aspect of
the anti-colonial struggle of the people of the Southern Cameroonsbegan over thirty
yearsago.

164. The issue here is one of colonialism. It is not a claim to participate in the
governmentand administration of Republique du Cameroun,the colonizing State.It is
not a claim for good governanceor for decentralizationby that imperial country. It is
a claim by the people to freedom; a claim by the people to be left alone to manage
their own affairs and territory; a claim by a politically subordinate people for
decolonization.

165. The people of the SouthernCameroonsare a captive people in the Republique du

Cameroun house of bondage.They are prisoners held in terrorem. Prisonerscrave to
be set free, not to be given better prison food. Slavescrave for manumission,not for a
place at the master's table. A subjugated people demand independence as the
appropriateremedy for colonialism.

1. The domination of the people of the Southern Csmeroons by the people of

Republique du Cameroan in violation of Article 19 of the ACHPR

166. A people dominated by another people are necessarilya colonized people.

Domination means control, power or authority over somebody or something. The
people of Republique du Cameroun have never denied that they assumedin October
1961 an unwarrantedcontrol, power and authority over the territory and people of the
SouthernCameroons,a people who, immediatelyprior to October 1961,had attained
a full measureof self-govemment status and voted in a UN-supervised plebiscite to
achieveindependence.

167. This domination of the people of the Southern Cameroons by the people of
Republique du Cameroun violates Art.19 of the Charter. It is not the untold and
continuing suffering due to domination that the people of the Southern Cameroons
complain about under Article 19, but the domination itself by reason of which the
rights recognized to all peoples under the Charter, have, in the case of the Southern
Cameroons,beenwrongfully and fraudulently suppressed.
168. Evidenceof that dominationof the peopleof the SouthernCameroonsincludes
the armedoccupationof the territory for over forty yearsalready;the total control of
its economyandresources;the impositionof a foreignadministration;the imposition
of foreign administrators;the imposition of an alien law and legal system;the
impositionof an alienlanguagein the schoolsandpublic administration;the abolition
of the SouthernCameroonsparliamentand government;the confiscationof all means
of expressionfrom the people;and the imposition of direct rule by the colonizing
State.

169. One consequenceof this domination is that the people of the Southem
Cameroons havesufferedretrogression in status.Previouslyself-governingandon the
samefootingof legalequalitywith the peopleof Republiquedu Cameroun,the people
of the SouthernCameroonshavebecomea dependentpeople;a ward of Republique
du Cameroun,an inferior anddetrimentalstatus.

l7l.ltis well to recallthat the British Cameroons andFrenchCamerounhadthe same

statusof a class 'B' trust territory; that British SouthemCameroonsbecameself-
governingin 1954 and FrenchCamerounin 1958;that FrenchCamerounachieved
independenceon 1 January 1960 under the name and style of 'Republique du
Cameroun'and British SouthernCameroonsachievedindependence on 1 October
1961as the SouthernCameroons;that the separateidentitiesof the two countriesis
well defined by international treaties; and that the Southern Cameroonsand
Republiquedu Camerounwere the componentfederatedstates in the de facto
Cameroon federation. By contriving to exercise colonial sovereigntyover the
SouthernCameroons,Republiquedu Camerounpresumedto alter the juridical
equalityof the two peoplesandterritories.

the legal'equalityof all peoples'.It placesan absolutebanon

171.Article 19declares
the dominationof a peopleby another.In view of the principle of equality of all
peoplesunder the Charter,all rights recognizedto the people of Republiquedu
Cameroun necessarilyhave to be recognizedto the people of the Southern
Cameroons,both of them having remainedequal until Republiquedu Cameroun
forcibly arurexed
andassumeda colonialsovereigntyoverthe SouthernCameroons.

172. The presentimposedde facto political inequality betweenthe people of the

SouthernCameroonsand the people of Republiquedu Camerounis the result of
dominationof the former by the latter.Republiquedu Camerouncannotthen set up
the effectsof its colonial dominationof the SouthernCameroonsas the basisfor the
conclusioneither that the SouthernCameroonsis part of its territory or that the
SouthemCameroonsdoesnot exist as a political unit or otherwise.The maxim of the
law is ex turpi cousonon oritur actio.

173.The dominationby the peopleof Republiquedu Cameroonviolatesthe collective

right of the peopleof the SouthernCameroonsto govemthem selves,asthey seefit,
to run their own affairs,to enjoythe samerespectas any otherpeople,andto control
their own destiny.It violatestheir collectiveand individual rights to maintainand
develop their distinct identity and characteristic,including the right to identify
themselves asa sovereignpeople.
174. By placing an absoluteban on the domination of a people by another, Article 19
emphatically declares that *Nothing shall justifu the domination of a people by
'nothing whatsoever'; not even a so-called
another." The term 'nothing' means
brotherhood,not even a period of sharedcolonial past, not even territorial contiguity,
not even a declaredintention to associate,not even consent.

175. A people cannot consentto being dominated by anotherpeople becausethere can

be nothing to gain in exchange. Any purported consent to such an inferior and
detrimental status would be ineffectual. The prohibition against domination is meant
to prevent inter-people slavery. In law a person or a people cannot consentto slavery.
Hence, in contemplation of the Charter, the domination of a people by another is not
justifiable at all.

176. That is why it is not competent for the people of Republique du Cameroun to
seekto justifu their domination of the people of the Southern Cameroonsby pleading
mistake or a gift of territory by the UN and Britain; by pleading consent or
acquiescence by the latter people;by pleading somepolitical grounds;or by pleading
'colonialism by consent' or
effluxion of time. That is why it is farcical to talk of
'slavery by consent'.There is no suchthing in law.

177. The Charter declaresthat all peoples struggling against foreign domination (be it
political, economic or cultural) have the right to the assistanceof the Statesparties to
the Charter (art. 20(3). It also proclaims that "colonized or oppressedpeoples [have]
the right to free themselvesfrom the bonds of domination by resorting to any means
recognizedby the international community" (art. 20(2)).

178, The international community recognizes two methods of achieving self-

determination. Self-determinationcan legitimately be achievedby force through a wzr
of national liberation in exerciseof the etemal law of self-defense.Self-determination
can also be achievedby peaceful means such as through consensualdecolonization or
through adjudication.

179. Without prejudice to an appeal to force, the people of the Southern Cameroons
have resorted to adjudication. They have done so to once more demonstratetheir
abiding faith in the rule of law and their conviction that an eminently just causesuch
as theirs is, always eventually prevails.

180. They have done so to demonstrate their belief that African continental
institutions, such as the African Commission, are intellectually and morally well
equipped and can be trusted to right great historical injustice committed on this long-
suffering continent, such as the great injustice that is the object of this
communication.

181. The people of the SouthernCameroonsare under the domination of the people of
Republique du Cameroun by the fact that they are under the colonial rule of that
country. The people of the Southern Cameroons,their territory, economy, resources,
education, law, language, and the administration of the territory are all under the
effective and total control and authority of Republique du Cameroun.
182. Moreover,that country has made and continuesto make heroic attemptsto
procurethe extinguishmentof the peopleof the SouthemCameroonsas a people,
their separateand distinct identity as a peoplewith their distinctiveworld-view and
state-culture
inheritedfrom the British, andtheir territory asan independentcountry.

183. It has plotted to fuse into contiguousregionsof Republiquedu Camerounthe

territoriesof the SouthemCameroonsit has dismembered. It has also contemplated
populationtransferfrom Republiquedu Camerounto the SouthemCameroonsso as
to overwhelmthe lattdr'spopulation.It hasinitiatedand encouraged land grabbingin
the SouthernCameroons by citizensof Republiquedu Cameroun.

184. Thesedesignsare aimed at making the peopleof the SouthemCameroonsa

linguisticor culturalminority within Republiquedu Camerounso as to providesome
substanceto the remarkablefalsehoodbeing peddledby Republiquedu Cameroun
that the SouthemCameroonsissue is a domesticproblem of a minority within
Republiquedu Camerounseekingto secede.

185.The unremittingandtotal dominationby the peopleof Republiquedu Cameroun

partakesof political and cultural genocide.It is one thing for a peopleto dominate
another.It is quite anotherthing altogethernot only to dominatethembut alsoto seek
to ensuretheir completeextinguishment asa people.

186. Today the SouthemCameroonslies in ruins, fragmented,underdeveloped, and

under the complete political, economic and military control of Republiquedu
Cameroun.Its people are physically and psychologicallybruised,traumatizedand
bannedfrom holding any meetingto discussmattersthat affect them as a people.
Abduction,torture, disappearance, arbitrarydetentionsand extrajudicialkillings are
their daily lot merelyfor complaining.

187. Republiquedu Camerounhas imposed in the SouthernCameroonsforeign

administrators,a foreign administrativesystem,an alien language,and an alien legal
system.Since 1972the SouthernCameroonshas no govemment,no parliamentand
notjudiciary. All meansof expressionhavebeenconfiscatedfrom the peopleandthey
arenot permittedto meetasa peopleandexpressthemselvesassuch.

188.This colonialconditionis the SouthemCameroons

realitv.

2. The colonizationof the peopleof the SouthernCameroonsby Republiquedu

Camerounin violation of the right of the peopleof the SouthernCameroonsto
existenceas a peopleand of their right to selfdetermination(Article 20

(l))

189. Peoples'rights are a condition sine quo non for the realizationof individual
human rights and freedoms.In the words of the preambleto the Charter,the reality
and respectof peoples' rights should necessarilyguaranteehuman rights. Self-
determinationis thusto a peoplewhat freedomis to the individual.

190.The self-determination
of dependentpeoplesis a pre-conditionfor the respectof
humanrights.Therecanbe no questionof individualhumanrightswhenit comesto a
people under subjugation, domination and exploitation. Colonialism, be it White or
Black, atteststo this.

191. Article 20 (1) guaranteesto all peoples: (i) the right to existenceas a people, (ii)
the unquestionable and inalienable right to self-determination, and (iii) the right
freely to determine their political status and pursue their economic and social
developmentaccording to the policy they have freely chosen.

192. The right to existencerefers not only to physical existenceas a people, but also
to legal, political, cultural and territorial existence as a people. Republique du
Cameroun as a matter of policy periodically indulges in an orgy of killing and
maiming in the SouthernCameroons.Since September1961 the occupation forces of
Republique du Cameroun have continued to kill citizens of the Southem Cameroons
with impunity. The fact that the killers are never arrested and prosecuted is the
clearest of evidence that the killings are sanctioned by Republique du Cameroun
political authorities as a matter of policy. Theseroutinized killings violate the right of
the people to physical existence.

193. Furtherrnore, Republique du Cameroun, acting without any color of right

whatsoever,forcibly endedthe SouthernCameroonsas a legal and political entity and
impaired its tenitorial integrity by Balkanizing it.It has imposed an alien language,
legal system, law and educational system on the people. That violates the right of the
people of the SouthernCameroonsto existenceas a people.

194. The people of the Southern Cameroons are a people within the meaning of
intemational and human rights law. They therefore have the unquestionable and
inalienable right to self-determination and independence.They further have the right
freely to determine their political status and to pursue their economic and social
development. The variant of self-determination that the people of the Southern
Cameroons seek is the restoration of their independence and statehood forcibly
suppressedby Republique du Cameroun.

195. At all times prior to the colonization of the Southern Cameroonsby Republique
du Cameroun the former was never subordinateto the latter; nor had there been any
ties of sovereignty or otherwise between the two. There have been, and there are, no
valid legal ties of any kind that could affect the principle of self-determination
contained in Article 20 of the African Charter or in UN Resolution 1514 (XV) in
respectof the SouthernCameroons.

196. At no time prior to I October 1961 were there in existence any political ties,
legal ties, cultural or economic ties, or ties of territorial sovereignty between the
SouthernCameroonsand Republique du Cameroun.

197. The Southern Cameroonsand Republique du Cameroun have always been two
separatecountries with firmly establishedinternational boundaries.Each has always
had a separate State culture (law, language, education, administrative system); a
separatecolonial history (except for the 20-odd years of a common German colonial
experience); a separate Mandate/TrusteeshipAgreement; a separate independence
day; a separatepeople with no substantialethnic connection; a separatepeople with a
separatevision; a separatepeople with a separateway of life; a separatepeople with
no common or similar cultural heritage; and a separatepeople with a separate
aspiration.

198.The SouthemCameroonsis legally not a part of Republiquedu Cameroun.That

countrydid not attain independence with the SouthernCameroonscomprisedwithin
its territories. Nor did the two countries become conjoint and then achieve
independence as a singleState.The intemationaltutelageagreements
did not require
the two countriesto be joined. And Republiquedu Camerounwas not granted
independence on conditionthat it colonizedthe SouthernCameroons.

199.The avermentby Republiquedu Camerounthat the SouthernCameroonsis part

of its territory is no more than a figment of its very fertile imaginationand a futile
attemptto profit from its own wrongdoing.The maxim of the law is that no one may
takeadvantageof his own baseconduct.The restorationof the unlawfully suppressed
self-determinationof the Southern Cameroonsimpinges on no legal right of
Republiquedu Cameroun

200. The Southern Cameroonsis currently under the colonial sovereignty of

Republiquedu Cameroun.The assumptionof thatjurisdiction is impermissibleunder
internationallaw. There is not one single instrumentof internationallaw or valid
instrumentof its own municipal law that Republiquedu Camerouncan plead in
justification of its colonizationand dominationof the SouthernCameroons.Thereis
absolutelyno counton which Republiquedu Camerouncanshowwhy it hasassumed
colonial sovereigntyover the SouthernCameroonsand is forcibly preventingthe
peopleof the territory from exercisingsovereigntyovertheir God-givenland.

201, h would be pathetic and absurdto suggestthat the people of the Southern
Cameroonssurrenderedtheir self-determination to Republiquedu Cameroun.First,
self-determinationis inalienable.Secondly,sinceto surrenderself-determinationis in
effect to ceaseto exist, no advantagecould possiblybe enjoyedby ceasingto exist!
Thereis nothing in exchangefor which a people,acting as a people,can decideto
ceaseto exist, that is to say,to lose their self-determination.
Self-determination
is a
continuousexerciseof power.

202.lt is thus contradictoryto arguethat a peoplecan self-determinethemselvesout

of self determination.Yet this is preciselythe absurdityRepubliquedu Camerounis
trying to sustain.The issuebeforethe Commissionis thereforeone of decolonization
of the SouthemCameroonsfrom the foreign and colonial dominationof Republique
du Cameroun.

203. The facts narratedin Part I show that the SouthernCameroonswas under
intemationaltutelageand, like the FrenchCameroun,a classB Trust Tenitory. By
1960 it was fully self-governing,exceptfor mattersof defenseand foreign affairs
which still restedwith the British Govemment.It had a nationalconstitutionand state
political and economic institutions. It was called by the sovereign name of
Governmentof the SouthernCameroons.It voted to achieve independenceand,
subsidiary,to form with Republiquedu Camerouna federal union of two states,
legally equalin status,operatingwithin the frameworkof a mutually agreedfederal
constitution.
204. But the Southem Cameroonssoon fell prey to Republiquedu Cameroun
expansionistambitionsand is today a dependentterritory underthe forcible colonial
sovereigntyof Republiquedu Cameroun.

205. The SouthernCameroonsis now within a structure.which technically and

juridicallyis colonialism.

206. The restorationof the forcibly suppressed independence and statehoodof the
Southem Cameroons'therefore has nothing to do with the secessionrhetoric of
misinformedor biasedcommentators,or commentatorsaccustomedto the easeof
resortingto sweepinggeneralizations ratherthanto the challengingtaskof thoughtful
analysis.

207.|t is germaneto examinein this connectiontwo competingthesis,one holding

that the SouthernCameroons did not achieveindependence, the othermaintainingthat
it did. It shouldbe said from the outsetthat given the currentstatusof the Southern
Cameroonsas a territory underthe colonial sovereigntyof Republiquedu Cameroun
the right of the people of the territory to self-determinationis unaffectedby the
questionwhetheror not the territory achievedindependence from Britain. This does
not howevermeanthat an inquiry,albeitbrief, into the two thesesis unimportant.

208.Thestartingpoint is theUN-supervised plebisciteheldon 11February1961.The

UN-framed plebiscite question was: do you wish "to achieve independenceby
joining" Nigeria or Republique du Cameroon?The people voted o'to achieve
independence"by 'joining' Republiquedu Camerounin the senseof forming a
federal union with that country. UN Resolution1608 of April 1961 endorsedthe
resultsof the plebisciteanddecidedthat the Trusteeshipoverthe SouthemCameroons
shallbe terminated,in accordance with Article 76b of the UN Charter,on I October
196I,' upon'(notby)joiningRepublique du Cameroun.

209. Either the terminationof the trusteeshipsignified that independence had been
achievedor that it had not. In eithercasethe unwarranted jurisdiction sinceassumed
overthe peopleandterritoryof the SouthemCameroons by Republiquedu Cameroun
amountsto a nullification of the plebiscitevote for independence and to an unlawful
suppressionof self-determination. This is a violation of the inalienableright of the
peopleof the SouthernCameroons to self-determination.
Thethesisthat theSouthernCameroonsneverachievedindependence

210. Thereis someevidencethat the SouthemCameroons, despitethe overwhelming

UN vote in favourof its independence, may not actuallyhaveachievedindependence.
First, the UN failed to ensurethat the processof the decolonizationof the Southern
Cameroons wasbroughtto a successful completion.Resolution1608requiredBritain,
the Governmentof the SouthernCameroons andRepubliquedu Camerounto finalize,
before 1 October1961,the terms of the agreedfederalunion betweenthe Southem
Cameroonsand Republiquedu Cameroun.The Unorderedfinalization never took
place.

211. On 1 September196l while the SouthernCameroonswas yet a UN Trust

Territory underUK administration,Republiquedu Camerounpresumedto exercise
jurisdiction over the SouthernCameroonsby assumingconstituentpowersover the
216. Yanderlinden (in L'Etat Moderne Horizon 2000, 1985) maintains that the
federation was merely a smokes-screen('un pis-aller) "designed to enable the
Southern Cameroonsto swallow the bitter pill of its annexation by Republique du
Cameroun, as in the case of Eritrea annexed by Ethiopia." Professor J Crawford
('State Practice and International Law in Relation to Unilateral Secession' 1997) cites
the Southern Cameroonsas an example of a former colonial territory 'integrated in a
state'. Benjamin (Les Camerounais Occidentaux, 1972) canvassesthe thesis of a
creepingannexation.Pierre Messmer (Les Blancs s'en vont,2000), the last colonial
governor of French Cbmerounis in no doubt that Republique du Cameroundid annex
the SouthemCameroonsin 1961.

217. Sindjoun (Z'Etat Ailleurs, 2002), a national of Republique du Cameroun,

honestly observesthat the federation was a mere make-belief policy ('la politique du
faire croire') designed to hoodwink the tIN and the Southern Cameroons. In his
words, the federation was "un federalismed'absorption du SouthernCameroonspar la
Republique du Cameroun " and "une strategie d'extension de la Republique du
Cameroun", "une strategie de phagocytose." He then charucterizesthe relation
betweenthe two political units as one of guardian and ward: the SouthernCameroons
is "le Cameroun eleve, le Cameroun disciple" while Republique du Cameroun is "le
Camerounmaitre, Le Camerounmodele."

218. Mr. Ahidjo, President of Republique du Cameroun, addressing his country's

National Assembly on 10 August 1961 statedthat'oconformementa la resolutionde
I'ONU, le Cameroun reunifie n'apparait pas en droit intemational comme un nouvel
Etat souverain" and that 'Juridiquement, la reunification n'est analyseeque comme
une modification de frontiere." ('oln conformity with the UN resolution [1608],
reunited Cameroondoes not appearto be a new stateunder international law. Legally,
the reunification is analytically a mere modification of the border.").

219. Ahidjo may have been alluding to the customary rule of international law that no
territorial changescan affect the identity and continuity of a state.Assuming this rule
is applicable to the case at hand, it would mean the de facto situation on I October
1961 representeda simple expansionof the territorial sphereof validity of Republique
du Cameroun, and the de focto federation was no more than a continuation of
Republique du Camerounon an enlargedterritory and under a new ntrme.

220.Yet, such an expansioncould not have been anything but expansionby clear-cut
annexation given the obfuscation of the plebiscitary formula 'independence by
joining' and the arguable view that the Southem Cameroons was not a subject of
intemational law. The plebiscite question was not 'Do you want to form a part of
Republique du Cameroun?' The 'federal constitution' solely drafted and enactedinto
'law' by Republique
du Camerounpartook of an incorporation law.

221. Republique du Cameroun's obsession with the term 'reunification' was

indicative of that country's imperialistic ambitions regarding the Southern
Cameroons.If the Southem Cameroonswas annexed,arguably with the complicity of
the UN, then the territory was never decolonized; it remains a non-self-governing
territory, but now under the colonial sovereignty of Republique du Cameroun. The
Southern Cameroons situation is therefore a straightforward case of decolonization
and the principle of self-determinationapply.
222. Fifthly, the LJN itself appearsto have adoptedthe attitude that Republiquedu
Camerounsimply continuednotwithstandingthe terminationof the Trusteeshipover
the SouthemCameroonsand the de facto Cameroonfederation.If Republiquedu
Camerounsimply continuedit meansthat the de facto situationthat obtainedon 1
October1961amountedto the absorptionof the SouthernCameroonsby Republique
du Cameroun.

223. Andif the absorptiontheoryis acceptedthe inescapablelegalinferencewould be

that the UN neverin fact decolonizedthe SouthernCameroonsbut merelyfacilitated
its transferfrom a predecessor colonialistin violation of its
colonialistto a successor
own Charterand its 1960Declarationon the Grantingof Independence to Colonial
Countriesand Peoples(Resolution1514(XV)). The UN would thenhaveactedas an
agency perpetuatingrather than eliminating colonialism. The plebiscite in the
SouthemCameroonsmandatedand supervisedby the World Body would then have
beenan exercisein internationalfraud.

224. The internationaltrusteeshipsystem was establishednot to facilitate the

perpetuationof colonialismbut to ensureits progressiveelimination.The obligation
of the UK Governmentwas to lead the SouthernCameroonsto self-govemmentor
independence and not to transferit to a successorcolonialist.Self-determination
is
aimedat removingcolonialpowers,not at creatingnew ones.

225.The UN hasalsomaintaineda conspiratorialsilenceon the SouthernCameroons

situation,unable or unwilling to statethe political statusinto which the Southern
Cameroonsemergedupon 'joining' Republiquedu Cameroun.In the official UN
publication, Basic Facts About the United Nations, 'Cameroonsunder British
Administration' is listed as one of nine "dependentterritories that have become
integratedor associatedwith independentstates since the adoption of the 1960
Declaration."In respectof eightof the nine listeddependent territoriesthereis a clear
indicationas to which of the following five political statuscategorieseachemerged
into: 'free association','returned', 'joined to form a federation','nationallyunited',
or 'integrated'.But in the caseof the SouthernCameroons,there is no indication
whatsoeveras to the political statusinto which it emergedupon 'joining' Republique
du Cameroun.

226. The SouthernCameroonsalsoappearson the list of 'Trust Territoriesthat have

achievedself-determination'. But onceagain,andunlike in the caseof the otherTrust
Territories on the list, the UN is non-committal,saying only that the Southem
Cameroons'Joined theRepublicof Cameroon."
227.But wasthereevera'joining'? The UN appearsto suggesttherewas.Yet it has
beenunwilling or unableto saythe modalitiesand natureof that 'joining' and what
valid legalinstrumentthereis that affeststo the Joining'.

228. Even if there was a joining (the point is not being conceded),such a joining
couldnot havebeena dead-end;but rathera moratoriumon the ultimatepolitical goal
of the SouthernCameroons.The British Govemmentin fact spokeof Republiquedu
Camerounacting 'foster parent' to the SouthemCameroonsand commentators from
Republiquedu Camerounsometimesrefer to the SouthemCameroonsas a ward or
pupil of Republiquedu Cameroun.
229.From that perspectivethe act of self-determinationof 11 February 196l by the
Southern Cameroonswas not a once and for all irrevocable act. Resolution 1608 was
not res judicata and could be revisited by the UN General Assembly. The
international community cannot divest itself permanently of the right to concern itself
with the status of a territory under international tutelage so long as that territory has
not achieved full independenceas declared by the 1960 Declaration on Colonial
Countries and Peoples.In the instant caseof the SouthernCameroonsthe UN retained
such a right until achievementof full independenceby the territory.

230. Be that as itmay, as a successorcolonialist in armed occupation of the Southern

Cameroons,Republique du Cameroun is in violation of the right of the people of the
SouthernCameroonsto self-determinationunder Article 20 (I) of the African Charter.
It is also in violation of the UN Charter, I-INGA Resolution l5l4 of 12 December
1960,and UNGA Resolution2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970.

231. Republique du Cameroun is a Member of the LrN. It is under an international

obligation flowing from the UN Charter to refrain from impeding the Southem
Cameroonsfrom assertingits independence.On the contrary it must take affirmative
steps to immediately transfer all authority and sovereignty to the people of the
Southern Cameroonswithout conditions or reseryationsin order that they may enjoy
absolutefreedom and independence.

232. Republique du Cameroun is also under international obligation flowing from

Article 1 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights "to recognize the
rights, duties and freedoms enshrinedin [the] Charter." By becoming a Stateparty to
that treaty Republique du Cameroun undertook to adopt legislative and other
measuresto give effect to the rights and freedomsin the Charter.

The thesis that the Southern Cameroonsachieved independence

233. The international trusteeship system was built on the principles of justice and
peaceconsistentlywith Article 1 of the UN Charter. The UK Government assumedan
obligation, as a 'sacred trust', under Articles 73 and 76 of the UN Charter and Article
7 of the Trusteeship Agreement for the British Cameroons, to lead the Southem
Cameroonsto self-government or independence,depending on the circumstancesof
the Territory.

234. As a self-governing Territory between 1954 and 1961 with a solid foundation for
statehoodand steepedin the democratictradition, the SouthernCameroonswas a state
in statu nascendi.

235. lt follows that the circumstancesof the Southern Cameroonsin 1961 dictated
only independenceas the political statusinto which the territory was to emergeupon
termination of the trusteeship. The British had themselves stated in 1958 that the
Southern Cameroonswould be ripe for independencein 1960 after six years of self-
government.

236. The plebiscite was an international matter, not an intemal affair of Republique
du Cameroun. The plebiscite question itself promised independenceas the end-result
of trusteeship. The people of the Southem Cameroons therefore achieved
independenceand did achieveindependence by that vote. Resolution1608endorsed
the independencevote and set I October as the effective date of independence
consequentuponthe terminationof the trusteeshipon that samedate.

237. Given the plebiscitary formula 'to achieve independenceby joining', the
plebiscitevote decidedtwo mattersat the sametime, the 'independence'of the
SouthernCameroonsand Joining' Republiquedu Cameroun.However,the issueof
Joining' was subsidiaryand conditional; for, in terms of Resolution 1608 the
trusteeshipagreementwas to be terminatedwith respectto the SouthernCameroons
upon, and not by, it joining the Republic of Cameroun.Moreover,the plebiscite
questionas frameddid not suggestthat independence andjoining had to take place
simultaneously.

238. A defacto federationdid comeinto existencein October1961,the component

statesof which were the SouthernCameroonsand Republiquedu Cameroun.The
federationis itself evidencethat the SouthemCameroonsdid achieveindependence
sincelegally a dependentterritory and an independentstatecannotform a federation
given that a federationis foundeduponthe principle of juridical equalityin statusas
betweenthe componentstates.

239. Moreover,althoughthe Cameroonfederationwas a meredefaclo situation,that

factualsituationnevertheless producedcertainlegal effects:the emergenceof a new
state and subject of internationallaw; the existenceof a basic nonn, a new
constitution (different in form, nature and content) that was neither the 1960
Constitutionof the SouthemCameroonsnor the 1960Constitutionof Republiquedu
Cameroun;the creationof new state institutions;the extinction of Republiquedu
Camerounas a subjectof internationallaw; the simultaneousbirth and extinctionof
the SouthernCameroonsasa full internationalperson;the adoptionof a new namefor
the SouthemCameroonsas 'West Cameroon'and for Republiquedu Camerounas
'EastCameroun'.

240. Significantly,following the coming into existenceof the de facto federation,

diplomaticmissionsin Yaound6were re-accreditedto the new State.Republiquedu
Camerounhad alreadybeencollectivelyrecognizedby its admissionto membership
of the UN. If the defacto federationwas merely the continuationof Republiquedu
Cameroun,enlargedand under a new n€lme,there would have been no reason
whatsoeverfor a renewedrecognitionof that stateon the part of the intemational
community.The idea of that statebeing unnecessarilyrecognizeda secondtime in
lessthantwo yearsis completelyunconvincing.

241. Nor is it convincingto arguethat it was not the federal State,but territorial
changesin Republique du Cameroun or the changesin the internal political
organizationof Republiquedu Cameroun,which were recognized.The argumentis
unconvincingbecausesuchchangesleavethe personalityofthe stateunaffected,and
so do not call for recognition.Even if specific political conditionsrenderedsuch
recognitionnecessary,the recognitionwould be accordedto the new government
emergingout of an internaltransformation,
andnot to a new State.
242. The intention and conviction of the SouthernCameroonsand Republiquedu
Camerounto createa new state is clearly attestedby the publishedpre-plebiscite
documentssignedby the two sides,the Note Verbaleby Republiquedu Cameroun
confirmingthe same,the 'constitution'of the defacto federation,andrepresentations
madeat the LIN. It would be indeeda veritabletour deforce to interpretall these
documentsas speakingmerelyof fusingthe SouthemCameroonsinto Republiquedu
Cameroun.

243. The SouthernCameroonswas not a non-descriptterritory whether legally,

geographically,historicallyor politically. Therewasno extensionof the legalorderof
Republiquedu Camerounto the SouthernCameroons. Thetwo statesmaintainedtheir
respectivelegal orders,subject,of courseto an overarchingfederallegal order. A
federalsocietyinvolvesa dovetailingratherthana supercessionoflegal orders.

244. The defacto federation,describedas a bilingual bi-jural State,was a defocto

new State,which was not identicalwith eitherof the two componentstatesthereof.
All the informationavailablegoesto showthat the SouthernCameroons would never
havealloweditself to be annexedandthat it contemplated nothingshortof a union of
legal equality.The federation,albeit defacto, was thereforeremotefrom annexation,
although that is what Republiquedu Camerounwanted and hoped to achieve.
Annexationby Republiquedu Camerouncamein 1972througha Germano-Austrian-
type Anschluss.

245. If thenthe SouthernCameroons did achieveindependence that independence has

sincebeenunlawfully suppressed by Republiquedu Camerounin violationof the two
principles of self-determinationand of the equality of all peoples.Independence
entails at the minimum self-govemment.Even the 'independence'within ola
communaute francaise'offeredby Francein 1958/59to its Africancolonialterritories
entailedat leasta modicumof self-government. Thereis todaynot evena vestigeof
the self-government enjoyedby the SouthernCameroons from 1954-
196I andnothingthat evidencesthe independence the SouthemCameroonsachieved
on I October1961.

246. Moreover,the territorial integrity of the SouthernCameroonsas a political unit

has been impaired. ln 1972 the SouthernCameroonswas offrcially annexedby
Republique du Cameroun. Its independenceand statehoodhave been totally
suppressed.It is today under the forcible colonial sovereigntyof Republiquedu
Camerounand the two parts into which it has been cut up are administeredas
dependentprovincesof that country.

247. The SouthernCameroons hasthus sufferedretrogression

in political status;from
a self-governingand independentcountryto a non-self-governingtenitory. It enjoys
not evena modicumof local self-government.

248. The situationthat obtains in the SouthemCameroonsis indubitably one of

colonizationandthe struggleof the peopleof the SouthemCameroonsis patentlyan
anti-colonialstruggle.

249. It follows from the abovethat in whateverway one choosesto look at the
SouthernCameroonssituationthe unyieldingconclusionis that the inalienableright
 of the peopleof the SouthernCameroonshas beenviolatedby
to self-determination
Republiquedu Camerouneitheron the sufficientgroundthat it is exercisingcolonial
sovereigntyover the SouthernCameroonsas successor colonialistor on the sufficient
groundthat it hasunlawfully suppressed the self determinationand independence of
the SouthemCameroons.

250. Republiquedu Camerounhas always been a foreign land in relation to the

SouthernCameroons. The fact that it exercisescolonialsovereigntyover the Southem
Cameroonschangesnothing in this respect.Being a country under the forcible
colonial sovereigntyof Republiquedu Camerounand thereforeipsofacto a colonial
territory, the SouthernCameroonshas a separateand distinct territory and identity
from that of the Stateunderthe colonial yoke of which it is languishing.For, under
contemporaryinternationallaw the tenitory of a colonizing state is distinct and
differentfrom that of the colonizedtenitory. The peopleof the SouthemCameroons
thus have'theright to the assistance of Statespartiesto the African Charterin their
liberation struggle against foreign domination,the dominationby Republiquedu
Cameroun(Art. 20 (3).

251. Too cleverby half, Republiquedu Camerounhasthoughtup a coupleof rusefor

deflectinginternationalscrutinyof its colonizationofthe SouthemCameroons.

252. First, it alwaysusesoCameroun' in a polysemoussenseso as to obfuscatethe

identity of the separatetenitory of ex-British SouthernCameroonsand thus to give
the uninformedobserverthe impressionof a unitary territory known as 'Cameroun'
translatableas 'Cameroon'and variouslystyled'Republiquedu Cameroun'or 'l'Etat
du Cameroun'; and, moreover, suggestingthat the SouthernCameroonsis the
southernpart of Republiquedu Cameroun.

253. In ordernot to allow a perpetuationof this fraud andthe continuingdeceptionof

the world, thereshallbe adoptedin the comingmonthsa new namefor the tenitory of
the SouthernCameroons.Therewill be full consultationamongall the anti-colonial
forces in the SouthemCameroonsand the new name will be adoptedwith the
concurrence of the peopleof the SouthernCameroons.

254. Secondly,Republiquedu Camerounhabituallyconjuresthe secessionbogy. It

doesso in a hopelesseffort to demonizea meta-juridicalphenomenon,awareof the
misinformed view in some quarters that international law prohibits secession.
Wheneverit conjuresthe secession bogy Republiquedu Camerounis in fact trying to
psychologicallyprey on the reader'smind. In that way, the cursoryinquireris put off
from ascertaining
whatthe true stateof affairsis in this matter.

255. The informed inquirer knows that contemporaryintemational law neither

concedesnor denies a right to secession.Secessionis a mere meta-juridical
phenomenon, which eventuallyinternationallaw and States,includingAfrican States,
merelyacknowledgeasa matterof realism.
Historically,stateformationand transformationhave occurred,and will continueto
occur,througha processof fusion or fission. Intemationallaw is thereforenot that
silly asto positthat secession
is absolutelyimpermissible.
256. The secessionrhetoric of Republic du Cameroun proceeds from its fraudulent
misrepresentationof the plebiscite in the Southern Cameroons as 'un plebiscite de
rattschement',that is to say, a plebiscite that sanctionedthe incorporation or fusion of
the Southern Cameroonsinto Republique du Cameroun. 'Incorporation' is of course
mere camouflagefor the colonial statusof the SouthernCameroons.

257. Republique du Cameroun would want the world to believe that at the plebiscite
the people of the Southem Cameroons voted, after seven years of full self-
government,not to achieve independencebut to commit mass suicide by becoming a
captive or slave people under the colonial yoke of Republique du Cameroun.History
doesnot provide a single instanceofsuch a case.

258. If the plebiscite vote was a vote for fusion into Republique du Camerounand the
consequentextinguishment of the Southern Cameroonsthere would be no credible
explanation for the federation (albeit de facto) and its subsequentoverthrow followed
by the proclamation of a 'republique unie du Cameroun' and the later reversion to
'Republiquedu Cameroun'.

259.lf the 'plebiscite de rattachement' rhetoric were to be believed it would mean

Republique du Cameroun is not only a two-faced Janus, capable of being identical
and non-identical at the sametime, but also a phoenix, capableof a number of births
and deaths.The rhetoric borders on absurdity.

260. The truth of the matter is that the people of the Southem Cameroonsnever voted
for incorporation into Republique du Cameroun. They could not have since the
plebiscite question was not, "Do you wish to be a part of Republique du Cameroun?"
And, unlike the pre-plebiscite undertaking given by Nigeria that a vote to 'join'
Nigeria would mean integration into Nigeria, the undertaking given by Republique du
Cameroun stipulated that a vote to 'join' Republique du Cameroun would mean that
the Southern Cameroons and Republique du Cameroun would federate to form a
United Federal CameroonRepublic of two states,legally equal.

261. Given thesetwo different undertakings,Resolution 1608 took care to specify that
the British Northern Cameroons voted to achieve independence "as a separate
province of the Northern Region of Nigeria". In the case of the Southern Cameroons
and mindful of the pre-plebiscite undertaking given by Republique du Cameroun,
Resolution 1608 did not say and could not have said that the Southern Cameroons
voted to achieve independence as part of Republique du Cameroun. Quite the
contrary, it ordered the finalization of the declared policy to form a federal union,
which finalization never of coursetook place.

262. The plebiscite vote was primarily a vote on independenceand secondarily a vote
on joining. By common agreement in writing, the two sides understood the word
'join' to mean 'federate' and
also stipulated federalism as the condition sine qua non
of the future union. Incorporation may have been what Republique du Camerounhad
wished.But wishesare not horses.

263. The Southern Cameroonstherefore never fused into Republique du Cameroun.

The so called Joining' notwithstanding, the Southem Cameroons' legal personality
as a qualified subject of intemational law and as a juridical person under municipal
law, as well as its identity as a self-governingpolitical, legal,cultural,historical,and
unitaryterritory,all remainedintact.

264.\Nhatis more,the frontierline betweenthe SouthemCameroons andRepublique

du Camerounhas always been a de jure internationalboundary:Since there was
merely a de facto federationthe inherited colonial boundary between the two
federatedstateswas a meredefacto intemal boundary.
''Federal
265. Further, since Republic of Cameroon' and 'United Republic of
Cameroon'were not bonafide and enduringconstitutionalstatestructuresenjoying,
as distinct from Republiquedu Cameroun,internationalpersonality,but merely
contraptionsdesignedto whitewashthe colonizationof the SouthernCameroons, the
intemationalboundarybetweenthe two countriesnever legally acquiredan internal
character.The revival in 1984of 'Republiquedu Cameroun'ipsojure confirmedas
an internationalfrontier the hithertodefacto internalboundarybetweenthe Southern
Cameroons andRepubliquedu Cameroun.

266. The confirmationof the intemationalcharacterof that boundaryline is further

evidencedby the maintenanceof the pre-independence military, police and customs
barriersalongthe frontierline.

267. Furthernore,by voting againstUN Resolution1608 approvingthe plebiscite

resultsand terminatingthe trusteeshipover the SouthernCameroons,Republiquedu
Camerountherebycontinuedthe internationalboundarybetweenthe two countriesas
unchangedin character.

268. The SouthernCameroonshasthus neverbeenpart of Republiquedu Cameroun,

historically or legally, and whetherbefore or after I October 1961. The Southem
Cameroons is not legally apart of Republiquedu Camerounjust aslegally Eritreawas
not a part of Ethiopia,Algeria not a part of France,Portugal'sAfrican territoriesnot
parts of Portugal,East Timor was not a part of Indonesia,and Mauritaniaand the
Westem Saharanot parts of Morocco. Colonial rule does not changethe legal
position.

269. The exerciseof the right to self-determination entailingthe restorationof the

suppressed statehoodand independence of the SouthemCameroonsoperateswithin
the inheritedcolonialboundariesof the SouthemCameroons asthey stoodon the date
of its achievement on I October1961,consistentlywith the principle
of independence
uti possidetisjuris.

270. Independenceof the SouthernCameroonsfrom the colonial domination of

Republiquedu Cameroundoesnot impingeon any properinterest,legal or political,
of the latter.The inheritedcolonially definedfrontiersof that State,as they stoodon
the dateof its independence on I January1960are in no way affected.The tenitorial
integrity of that country, consistentlywith the principle uti possidetisjuris and the
1964OAU Resolutionon BorderDisputes,is in no way infringed.

27l.Therc is no claim by the SouthernCameroons to anyof the peopleswho makeup

the tribal mix of Republiquedu Cameroun.There is no claim to an inch of the
territory of that countryor to a singleone of its citizens.The spatialconfigurationof
that State remains exactly as it was on the date of its attainment of national
independence. The independence of the Southern Cameroons entails no loss or
dismemberment of territory, impairment of national unity or territorial integrity, or
loss of population or diminution of territory in respect of Republique du Cameroun.
There is thus no secessionof territory from Republique du Cameroun.

272. Prcviously under British rule, the people of the Southern Cameroons obtained
independence (however that term is construed) in exercise of the right to self-
determination. Republique du Cameroun cannot therefore assert the principle of
territorial integrity in answerto that exerciseof self-determinationand independence.
It could not, in 1961,obtain sovereigntyover the SouthemCameroonsby cession.It
could not, in 1972, obtain sovereigntyby conquest.

273. Without any color of right, without any valid instrument or authorizing act,
Republique du Cameroun has assumedan unwarrantedjurisdiction over the people
and territory of the Southern Cameroons, exacting obedience. The people yield
obedience,for the time being, becauseof the forcible occupation of the land and the
maintenance therein of an administration of paramount force, which compels
obedience as a matter of necessity. The people have the inherent right, under
intemational and human rights law, to free themselvesfrom the foreign and colonial
domination of Republique du Cameroun.

274. It is now well-settled that self-determination is a right in intemational law, a

norm ofjzs cogens.It is no longer just a process of decolonization but also a human
right, a right of peoples, and is thus a continuing right exercisableeven within post-
colonial independent states. To interpret self-determination as applying only within
the context of 'salt water' colonialism will make nonsense of Article 20 of the
Charter. It will amount to a significant let down to the promise of the preamble of the
Charter, which does not even allude to territorial integrity. It will belie what is in truth
a solemn commitment by the international community proscribing for all time
colonialism and inter-people slavery.

275. Republique du Cameroun's colonial sovereignty over the Southem Cameroonsis

absolutely impermissible under international law.

276. As has been shown from Part I, the SouthernCameroonssituation is the caseof a
captive people struggling, like slaves fighting to be manumitted. They are struggling
to conquer relentless oppression and repression, domination and colonization by
Republique du Camerounin order to gather God's harvest of freedom, dignity, justice
and peace.The struggle is distinguishableboth on the facts and in law, from the case
of a sub-nationalunit seekingto break away.

277. Of course, since Republique du Cameroun exercises colonial sovereignty over

the Southem Cameroons,the latter is part of its tenitory only as a colonial territory.
But in contemporary international law a colonial territory has a separateand distinct
status from that of the colonizing State and is entitled to independencewithout any
conditions or reservations.All dependentterritories achieved statehoodby 'seceding'
from their respectivecolonizing States.
278. Apartfrom the fact that the SouthemCameroonsis underthe colonial bondage
of Republiquedu Cameroun,the exceptionalsituationof the territory (as eloquently
borne out by the facts in Part I) makesreasonsfor its independence particularly
compelling.

procedurein the tenitory not only misfiredbut

279.First, the UN self-determination
also was unlawfully suppressedby Republiquedu Cameroun.That resultedin a
seriousmiscarriageof justice and the commissionof a great historical injustice
againstthe peopleof the SouthernCameroons.

280. Secondly,the peopleof the SouthernCameroonsare legitimatelyclaimingtheir

territory,which hasbeenannexedby Republiquedu Cameroun.
Thirdly, there is in the SouthernCameroons,since October 1961, extreme and
unremittingpersecutionby Republiquedu Camerounwith no reasonable prospectsfor
peacefulchange.Thereis continuingsystematicoppressionanddominationaswell as
a seriesof grossandconsistentviolationsof humanrightsby that State.

281. Fourthly, the federation,albeit a de facto one, was unilaterally ended by

Republiquedu Cameroun.Fifthly, internal self-determinationis absolutelybeyond
reach for the people of the SouthernCameroonsas they are powerlessto freely
determinetheir internalpolitical status.

282. Sixth, the independenceof the people of the Southem Cameroonswas

unlawfully suppressedby Republiquedu Cameroun.Seven, the people of the
Southern Cameroonscame under the colonial domination of Republique du
Camerounby way of an unjustifiablehistoricalevent,to wit, annexation.Eight, the
assumptionof sovereigntyoverthe SouthernCameroonsby Republiquedu Cameroun
is, to saythe least,legallysuspect.

283. Nine, even if there was a 'marriage' betweenthe SouthernCameroonsand

Republiquedu Cameroun,it was a shotgun 'marriage' in which the Southem
Cameroonshas continuedto be raped and thoroughly abusedin other ways. The
'marriage'is a putativemarriageandthereforenull andvoid ab initio.

284. Ten, individual humanrights abusescommittedby Republiquedu Camerounin

the territory of the Southern Cameroons are gross, massive, extensive and
unremitting.This is reliably affestedby victims; the press;local humanrightsNGOs;
reputableinternationalhumanrights NGOs such as Amnesty Intemational,Human
RightsWatchand Article XIX; US StateDepartmentreports,and Documentationof
the UN Commissionon HumanRights,especiallyReportsof the SpecialRapporteur
on Torture, Reports of the Working Group on Enforced of Involuntary
Disappearances, andReportsof the SpecialRapporteuron SummaryExecutions.

285. As a matterof statepolicy Republiquedu Camerounpractices,encourages

and
condoneskillings andtortureandothergrossviolationsof humanrights.
3. Violation by Republique du Cameroun of the right of the people of the
Southern Cameroons to freely disposeof their wealth and natural resources(Art
21 (1))

286. Article 2l (l) vests in the people (not in the state)the right freely to disposeof
their wealth and natural resources,and ordains that the right shall be exercisedin the
exclusive interest of the people. This right is inherent in a people and is
inextinguishable.Consequently,in no circumstancemay a people be deprived of it. In
the caseof spoliation the dispossessedpeople have the right to the lawful recovery of
its property as well as to an adequatecompensation(art. 2l (2)).

287. The right guaranteedunder Article 2l (I) representsthe economic dimension of

the political right to self-determination. Political self-determination is meaningless
without economic, social and cultural self-determination.

288. Article 21 (1) speaks of 'all peoples'. It thus refers to both dependentand
independentpeoples. The right guaranteedunder that provision vests in independent
as well as in dependentpeoples.

289. An independentpeople are a sovereign people. Normally they would exercise

that right through their democratically elected government and in their exclusive
interest. Practically, this means that while the right is held by the sovereign people it
is the state that exercises it on account of the fact that the state has exclusive
competencewithin its territory.

290. The right to free disposal of wealth and natural resourcesalso vests in dependent
peoples. However, given their status as a colonized people the exercise of that right
will necessarilybe by the controlling State. But the colonizing State cannot deprive
the colonized people of that right.
Moreover, in exercising the said right the colonial authority must do so in the
exclusiveinterestof the colonizedpeople.

291. The people of the Southern Cameroonshave been dispossessedof their wealth
and natural resources. They do not freely dispose of their wealth and natural
resources.As stated in Part I, Southern Cameroons archival material and museum
pieces have either been vandalized or looted by Republique du Cameroun. Further,
natural resourcesfrom the Southern Cameroonssuch as oil, gas, rubber, tea, oil palm
etc are exploited by Republique du Cameroun for its exclusive benefit, without any
significant benefit accruing to the SouthernCameroonsor its people.

292. As the state that has assumed a colonial sovereignty over the Southern
Cameroons,Republique du Cameroun is duty bound to exercisethe right guaranteed
by Article 2I (l) in the exclusive interestof the people of the Southem Cameroons.
But the right is not so exercised.

293. A telling example of the violation of Article 2l (l) by Republique du Cameroun

is the fact that the Southern Cameroons does not even have basic road and other
infrastructure and hardly any industry. The oil refinery in Victoria is staffed almost
exclusively by citizens of Republique du Cameroun ensconcedin an exclusive area
built purposelyfor them, completewith schoolsfor their childrenand teachersfrom
France.

294. The debilitatingpoverty and underdevelopment in the SouthernCameroonsis

such that it is as if the territory stood still when it was officially annexedby
Republiquedu Camerounin1972.

4. Violation of the right of the peopleof the SouthernCameroonsto economic,

socialand cultural development(Article 22 (l))

295.Therearemanywaysin which Republiquedu Camerounhasviolatedthe right of

the peopleof the SouthernCameroonsto economic,socialand cultural development
guaranteedby Article 22 (l) of the Charter.Republiquedu Camerounhasunlawfully
suppressedthe self-determination and independence of the people of the Southern
Cameroons. It hasassumeda colonialsovereigntyover the SouthemCameroons. The
peoplearethusdeprivedof their self-worth,pride andidentity.

296. Moreover,the colonialdominationof the peopleof the SouthemCameroonsnot

only violatestheir right to existenceas a peoplebut alsounderminesthe enjoymentof
other rights such as the right to dignity inherent in a human being, the right to
freedomof associationand the right to freedomof expression.For, the peopleof the
SouthemCameroons arenot allowedto meetasa peopleor to expressthemselvesasa
people.They are deniedany meansby and throughwhich to meaningfullyexpress
anddeveloptheir socialandculturalidentityanddistinctiveness.

297. The peopleof the SouthernCameroonsare under the colonial oppressionand

dominationof Republiquedu Cameroun.They sufferdiscriminationby that very fact
becauseinherentin colonial dominationis the assumptionthat the peopledominated
are not on the samefooting of legal equalitywith the peopledominating.The factual
subordinatestatusimposedon the peopleof the SouthernCameroonsas a dependent
peopledeprivesthemof their self-worthandof their ability to improveuponand give
expressionto their talents.Accessto basicresourcessuch as food, health,housing,
employmentandgoodeducationis dangerously compromised.

298. The systematicplunder of the resourcesof the Southem Cameroons,the

destructionof its economic and social infrastructure,the abolition of its state
institutions,the bastardization
of its laws and legal system,andthe adulterationof its
educationalsystemareotherwaysin which Republiquedu Camerounhasviolatedthe
right of the people of the SouthemCameroonsto economic,social and cultural
development.

299. Thesevariousactionstakenby Republiquedu Camerounagainstthe peopleof

the SouthernCameroonsare inimical to the exerciseof the right to their economic,
socialand cultural developmentwith due regardto their freedomand identity and in
the equalenjoymentof the commonheritageof mankind.

300. AdditionallyRepubliquedu Camerounis in violation of Article 22 (I) becauseit

has failed oto ensurethe exercise' of the right of the people of the Southem
Cameroons to economic,socialand culturaldevelopment.Having assumeda colonial
sovereigntyover the SouthernCameroonsand thereby subjectedit to the inferior
status of a non-self-governing territory, Republique de Cameroun is in intemational
law under an obligation to promote to the utmost the well-being of the people of the
Southern Cameroons. Republique du Cameroun has failed to do so and is thus in
breachof its international obligation.

301.'Any activity or measure by the Republique du Cameroun that impedes the

exercise by the people of the Southern Cameroons of the right to their economic,
social and cultural development constitutes a violation of Article 22 (l). Becauseof
the colonial rule imposed on them by Republique du Cameroun the people of the
Southern Cameroons cannot, like people everywhere, make authoritative decisions
over their own lives; enjoy a reasonablelevel of economic, social, cultural, physical
and health security; have reasonableand effective accessto educational opportunities
and enjoy respectand self-esteem.

5. Violation of the right of the people of the Southern Cameroons to peace and
security violated (Article 23 (1))

302. The unremitting repressionin the Southem Cameroonsfor over forty years, the
routinized and wide scale arbitrary arrests and detentions, and the daily violence
inflicted on the people by the armed forces of Republique du Cameroun violate the
right of the people of the Southern Cameroonsto peace and security. Colonization is
itself violence and amountsto a violation of the right to peaceand security.

6. Violation of the right of the people of the Southern Cameroons to a general

satisfactory environment favourable to their developmentviolated (Article 24)

303. Article 24 is concernedwith freedom from pollution and the correspondingright

to pure air and clean water. States must therefore refrain from activities that are
harmful to the environment and must adopt measuresto promote conservation and
improvement of the environment.

304. A polluted environment infringes upon the enjoyment of human rights such as
the right to life and the right to enjoyment of physical and mental health. The
deliberate refusal by Republique du Cameroun to tar the streets in the Southern
Cameroonshas led to a situation where the level of dust in the towns has become a
serious health hazard. The air is polluted, making breathing very difficult. Food and
drinking water are contaminated,increasingthe risk of disease.There is an unusually
high level of respiratory track diseasesand meningitis among urban dwellers in the
Southem Cameroons and the condition of asthmatic patients is made worse by the
very high level of dust in the air.

305. Republique du Cameroun has created a moon-like landscape in Bamenda by

felling all the eucalyptus and cypress trees and taking them to Bafoussam in that
country for use as electricity polls. In Victoria the oil refinery, run and controlled
entirely by Republique du Cameroun regularly dischargesoil sleek directly unto the
territorial seakilling aquatic life, compromising the livelihood of local fishermen, and
rendering the beachesunusablefor recreationalpurposes.
306. Republiquedu Camerounhas thus violated the right of the people of the
Southern Cameroonsto a general satisfactoryenvironment favorable to their
development.

B. War Inevitable!

TheFailure of theForce of Argumentand Our Right to DefendOurselves

The people of the SouthernCameroonshave shown considerablerestrainin their

dealingwith La Republiquedu Cameroun,even in the face of overwhelmingforce,
shearoppressionand affogance.We havedemonstrated beyondreasonable doubtour
commitmentto democraticalteration of power and to constitutionalprocessof
change.During the 50s, our people showedAfrica and the world the first African
exampleof peacefultransferof power when an incumbentprime minister handed
power peacefullyafter losing to a free and fair electionsto his oppositionrival. The
periodof transitionwas equallypeacefuland demonstrated democraticmaturitynew
to the continent.Even after the democraticprocesswas abortedby the British
betrayal,our peoplecontinuedin their peacefulandnon-violentquestfor change.The
result of this peacefulmeansof changewas the destructionof our institutions,
assassination of our leaderswho refusedto play by the rules of the occupier,the
institutionof fear to bendthe othersand a slow processof the destruction,pillaging
and complete annexationof our land. The world has been made to know that
"Cameroonis a peacefulcountry". This peacehasbeenso, simply becauseonly one
sidein the conflict is armed.Only one sidecanpull the trigger,imposeits will by the
use of force. We were educatedto be peacefuland respectothersnot baseon their
origin but the contentof their character.We were educatedto respectthe will of the
people.This educationhas made any instructionto changeour approachdifferent
Almost five decadesafter our betrayaland subjugation,our peopledescendedones
more on the streetin a peacefulattemptto force the return to legality. Despitethe
'dogs of war' that were amassedin our territory, our peoplewere peacefulin their
demandfor change.They preferredthe ballot ratherthan the bullet. We groundedthe
territory in almostone year of peacefulcivil disobedience, boycott, demonstrations
and all forms of peacefulresistance.Nothing changes.Oncethe regimerealizedthe
threat of force in the defenseof our people and their right was off the table, it
multiplied its brutality.It doubledthe payroll of the military, recruitedand promoted
moreannedmenfrom its areaanddisarmedanddisplacedour peoplein the military.

Il'e havepetitionedbut our petitionshavenot beenrespondedto. Wehavebeggedbut

we havesimplybeenshunned.Wehaveappealedin vain!
Our betrayaland subsequent subjugationis like a cancerthat must be extricated.It's
rotted us all. We cover in cornerslike pitiful crooks.We have pretendedits over,
someof us wantedit that way, we haveclosedour eyesandminds,shunnedit- but it
will neverbeenover. We have hidden away but now we feel pain and frustration,
evenrage.We area woundedpeople!

Theforce of Argumerttis very compellingwhenit has the opportunityto explainitself

to theright quarters.

Evil and lies dominatesonly after subjugatingtruth and the force of argument,and
will neverlistento theseexceptwhenforcedto. Thosewith the forceof argumentand
truth on their sidewill neverhavetheir day in a court of law by matchingtheir ideals
to the methodsof their oppressors. Theycanonly prevailwhenthey matchmethodfor
method and ideal for ideal. It is worth noting, that even in constitutionalfederal
democratic systems,the laws offer a democratic solution to the question of
sovereigntyand self-determination. This is why the federal systemin the United
Stateshassucceeded, Britain surrendered
to the inevitablein devolutionof powers.

SomenaiVesectionof the internationalCommunityhaveadvicethat we keepbegging

the occupier,that our freedomwill be offeredto us on a platterof gold and so nobody
shoulddisturbthe statusquo; that*weshouldallow the machineof oppressionto take
its timb, chuming up death'ffid destruction in our territory. That ones, the
Intemationalcommunity,the United Nationsand the treacherousand RacistUnited
Kingdom will realizetheir blunderand plight of our people.But the UnitedNations
and Internationalcommunityhave shownus clearly what that platter of Gold will
entail. We should go down in history as more than a footnote. Luck governs
everything,evenin war anddiplomacy.The rewardsusuallydo not fall on the strong
but ratherto the lucky and thosewho move swiftly and without unduecautionmake
their own luck.

We are no aggressors!We seek nothing but our freedom from occupationand

brutality.We are not conquerors!But, it is our right to defendthe peoplewe want to
free.It is the duty of any nation,leadershipto defendits peoplefrom aggression.The
SCYL believesin the arm resistanceof a violent occupation.The SCYL believesit is
not only a right but alsoa duty for it to call on our peopleto arm themselvesagainst
the barbaric brutality of the French tele-guidedsystem.The SCYL will pursue
diplomacyandthe armsstruggleuntil our peopleandlandis freefrom occupation.
 OUR VISION

The SCYL seeksto establish a sovereign,independentand viable State that will lend
itself the primary objective of securing for its people a functional democratic system
grounded on the will of the people, the rule of law, the respect of human rights with
the people at the centre of every developmentaleffort of the human capacity.

Second,The SCYL seeksto harnessand exploit equitably the God given resourcesof
The Southem Cameroonsprincipally for the benefit of its citizenry.

Third, it seeksto make morality a cornerstoneof cohabitation

Fourth, becausewe believe the destiny of our people to be tied to the destiny of the
continent of Africa, a viable Southern Cameroons State will formulate and execute
policies that have at its core the reawakening of the Pan African spirit which many
fought and died for. A new Pan-Africanism that will seek to build bridges acrossthe
continent, re-orientatethe African psyche and elevatethe continent as a global player.

Sources:
e Anyangwe,Carlson(2004).
Professor
Humanandpeople'sRight

Sir NigelRodley(1999).Reportof thespecialRapporteur

on Torture

Countryby CountryReportson "Cameroon"

VariousAmnestyInternational

(A weeklypublication)
The PostNewspaper

The SCYLwebsite,hftp://www.scyffortreedom.org

TheSCYLHumanRightsReport(1999)

You MustFight(ADVDDocumentary on The SouthernCameroons)

by German
Freelance
Journalist,
UlrikeKorbach

Pictures on Victoria Seasideon http ://www. tr avelp od.com/n avel -

photo/modernnomad

o The MedicalFoundationfor the Careof Victims of Torture(MFCVT).

 Queries

SCYL Headquarters:

:
Pressand Communications

Website: www.scylforfreedom.org
WwW,scvuine. Wordpress.
corn
www. intecno*ion"usLc.e{"1.
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