PEN INTERNATIONAL, WRITERS IN PRISON COMMITTEE

DAY OF THE IMPRISONED WRITER

15 NOVEMBER 2010
CAMEROON
Robert Mit!", Ne#$%"%er E&itor
T'e Writer$ i Pri$o Co((ittee )WiPC* o+ PEN Iter"tio",
i$ $erio-$,! .o.ere& "bo-t t'e 'e",t' o+ Robert Mit!",
e&itor o+ t'e e#$%"%er Le Devoir, #'o '"$ bee i(%ri$oe&
%e&i/ tri", +or ",,e/e& +or/er! $i.e Febr-"r! 20100 Mit!"
#"$ brie+,! 'o$%it",i$e& i ,"te A-/-$t "+ter bei/ "tt".1e&
b! "ot'er %ri$oer "& o 22 Se%te(ber #"$ tr"$+erre& to
" %$!.'i"tri. 'o$%it",0 I+ .o3i.te&, 'e "& 'i$ .o4&e+e&"t
#i,, +".e -% to 20 !e"r$ i %ri$o0
Robert Mintya was arrested and briefly detained in early February 2010, along with
editors Germain Bibi Ngota Ngota Cameroun Express! and "erge "abouang La
Nation!, and #ournalist "imon $er%& N'o(o Bebela!) *he #ournalists had been
in%estigating alleged +orru,tion in%ol%ing -aurent .sso, "e+retary General of the
/resident(s 0ffi+e, and the state1run oil +om,any, National $ydro+arbons 2om,any
"N$!, of whi+h .sso is also board +hairman) N'o(o, who was re,ortedly tortured while
in +ustody, went into hiding following his release)
Mintya, "abouang and Ngota were re1arrested on 23 February and +harged with forging
.sso(s signature in a do+ument and using it in an attem,t to dis+redit him) 4ll three were
transferred to 5ondengui ,rison in the +a,ital 6aound& on 10 Mar+h)
Ngota(s health deteriorated in +ustody and on 22
4,ril he died due to a la+' of medi+al attention,
a++ording to his death +ertifi+ate) *he 2ameroonian
go%ernment has denied this and allegations that
Ngota had been tortured, stating that he had tested
,ositi%e for $78 while in ,rison and had died of
infe+tions arising from this +ondition) $is wife
refutes this)
0n 9 4ugust, Mintya was re,ortedly beaten around the head by another ,rison inmate,
+ausing him to lose +ons+iousness) $e was admitted to the ,rison infirmary and on 2:
4ugust was transferred to 6aound& +entral hos,ital) $owe%er, he was re,ortedly gi%en
only limited a++ess to medi+al +are and was returned to his ,rison +ell a few days later)
7t is thought that the atta+' on Mintya may ha%e been a re,risal for his im,li+ation of
other ,eo,le in the forgery +ase) Mintya was re,ortedly told that he would be freed if he
signed a statement saying that he had been led astray and wrote a number of letters to
.sso a,ologising for the forgery, some of whi+h were ,ublished in LAnecdote, a
news,a,er that su,,orts .sso) ;hen he failed to se+ure his release, Mintya re,ortedly
wrote more letters a++using other leading 2ameroonian ,ersonalities of being behind the
forgery)
0n 29 "e,tember Mintya was re,ortedly transferred to a ,sy+hiatri+ hos,ital) $is
deteriorating state of health and la+' of ade<uate medi+al treatment are e=tremely
alarming, es,e+ially +onsidering Ngota(s death in +ustody)
Mintya and "abouang re,ortedly fa+e u, to 20 years in ,rison if +on%i+ted)
B".1/ro-&
4nother 2ameroonian #ournalist re+ently denied medi+al +are in ,rison is La Dtente
Libre ,ublisher -ewis Med#o, who was released from ,rison in May after ser%ing 20
months in ,rison for allegedly ,ublishing false news about /resident Biya) Med#o
suffered serious health ,roblems while in #ail whi+h went largely untreated, +ausing him
to lose hearing in one ear) $e has re,ortedly suffered ongoing threats and harassment
sin+e his release)
"inger1songwriter -a,iro de Mbanga a'a /ierre Roger -ambo "and#o! > one of the
+ases highlighted for last year(s ?ay of the 7m,risoned ;riter > remains behind bars)
Mbanga(s final a,,eal and re<uest for ,arole ha%e still not been +onsidered by the
"u,reme 2ourt des,ite ha%ing ser%ed two and a half years of a three1year ,rison
senten+e for allegedly ta'ing ,art in anti1go%ernment riots in 2009)
T'e WiPC %rote$t$ t'e %re4tri", &etetio $i.e Febr-"r! 2010 o+ e&itor$ Robert
Mit!" "& Ser/e S"bo-"/0 It .",,$ +or t'eir i((e&i"te "& -.o&itio", re,e"$e,
"$ #e,, "$ t'"t o+ $i/er4$o/#riter L"%iro &e Mb"/", ",, &et"ie& i 3io,"tio o+
t'eir ri/'t to +ree&o( o+ e5%re$$io0 Noti/ t'e 22 A%ri, &e"t' i .-$to&! o+
6er("i 7Bibi8 N/ot" N/ot", "ttrib-te& to ,".1 o+ (e&i.", "ttetio, t'e WiPC ",$o
.",,$ o t'e C"(erooi" "-t'oritie$ to e$-re t'"t Mit!" re.ei3e$ "&e9-"te
'e",t'."re #'i,e 'e re("i$ i &etetio0
W'"t !o- ." &o:
Write ,etter$ o+ "%%e", to Pre$i&et P"-, Bi!" +o,,o#i/ t'e /-i&e,ie$ "bo3e "&
$e& t'e( to !o-r e"re$t &i%,o("ti. re%re$et"ti3e +or C"(eroo0 Det"i,$ o+
$o(e C"(erooi" e(b"$$ie$ ." be $ee 'ere:
'tt%:;;###0e(b"$$ie$"bro"&0.o(;e(b"$$ie$4i;C"(eroo
Yo- ("! ",$o $e& "%%e",$ &ire.t,! to:
/resident /aul Biya
Fa=@ A2BC 22 22 09 C0
.mail@ +ell+omD,r+)+m
Messages may also be sent %ia the /residen+y(s website@
htt,@EEwww),r+)+mEinde=Fen),h,Glin'HmessengerEwriteF,r
(Please note that these contact details are correct but problems using them have been
reported hence it is pre!erable to send appeals via "our nearest embass"#$
P,e"$e $e& .o%ie$ o+ "! re%,ie$ !o- ("! re.ei3e +ro( t'e "-t'oritie$ to T"($i
Mit.'e,, "t PEN Iter"tio", i Lo&o0
For +-rt'er i+or("tio %,e"$e .ot".t T"($i Mit.'e,, "t PEN Iter"tio",
Writer$ i Pri$o Co((ittee, Bro#,o# Ho-$e, 50;51 Hi/' Ho,bor, Lo&o WC1V
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