PRESS RELEASE N° 002/2020

NGARBUH 3 MASSACRE: LOOPHOLES ON THE GOVERNMENTAL

INVESTIGATION COMMISSION!
We, the Coalition of Civil Society-Human Rights organizations for Peace in the
Anglophone Regions and other affected Regions (The Coalition), created in December
2019 by 30 Cameroonian Human rights CSOs because of the ongoing Anglophone crisis,
wish to bring to:
THE ATTENTION OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY THE FOLLOWING FACTS:

1. The Coalition has taken note of the publication of the press release of April 21,
2020 from the Minister of State, Secretary General to the Presidency of the Republic
of Cameroon, Mr. Ferdinand NGOH NGOH, on the report of the Unilateral
Commission of Inquiry set up by the Cameroonian government following the tragic
events of Ngarbuh 3;

2. The said commission set up on February 17, 2020 was given 08 days to publish its
report but recorded 56 days delay to do so;

3. The conclusions of the investigators, made public this April 21 through a press
release from the presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, overwhelm the Battalion
Chief NYIANGONO ZE Charles Eric, Commander of the 52 Motorised Infantry nd

Battalions (MIB) of Nkambé, Sergeant BABA GUIDA, chief of the Mixed Group of
Ntumbaw, designated as the organizer of the drama, Constable SANDING
SANDING Cyrille and the first class soldier, HARANGA as well as ten (10) other
civilians, members of the vigilance committee who accompanied the soldiers in this
operation;
4. The Commission maintains "that after an exchange of fire during which five (05)
terrorists were killed and several weapons seized, the detachment discovered that
three (03) women and ten (10) children died as a result of his action ";

5. In the Coalition RELEASE N° 001/ 2020 on the massacres of Ngarbuh 3, made

public on February 18, 2020, the Coalition, had established that :

i) On Friday 14th of February 2020, at around 3 a.m., an attack was launched

in the village of Ngarbuh 3 from Fiiru by a joint military operation consisting
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 of six (06) soldiers, three armed men belonging to ex-combatants of the
restoration forces of the Virtual State of Ambazonia and numerous
herdsmen. The operation consisted, among other things, the burning and
shooting everywhere.

ii) According to eyewitnesses and survivors, the joint mission was headed by
the former combatant who led the armed group to Ngarbuh, a resident in
Ndu town, Nfor Marcel called “Bullet” alongside two others ex-combatants
around him. He ran away from the work (fight), more than a year and joined
the National Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration Committee
(NDDRC), created by Decree N° 2018/719 of 30 November 2018;

iii) Pregnant women and children who escaped gunfire and machete while
sheltering in a house were all burnt alive.

iv) The Manjo Seka family was wiped out entirely, a family of 9, Father,
mother, and children;

v) Some survivors attested that a total of 13 houses are now known to have
been burnt and many villagers burnt (many burnt beyond recognition),
and several missing ;

vi) Villagers continued to search for family members whom they have not heard
from since the attack.;

vii) Among the 35 copses discovered so far were three (3) pregnant women,
three (3) children including a family of about 9 persons and other men and
women;

viii) Among the victims, we recorded about 9 men, 6 women, and 14 children
of whom were three children below three years as there were some cases
in the hospital. Out of the 14 children, 11 were of primary school-going
ages, three were still breast feedings;

ix) Many people were burnt beyond recognition;

x) There was never any confrontation between the Cameroonian army and
armed opposition groups on the said date in Ngarbuh;
6. In its press release N ° 001/2020 of March 2, 2020, the day after the creation of
the government commission of inquiry, the Coalition had expressed serious reserves
as to its independence and had reiterated its demand for an Independent
Commission of Inquiry (ICI) in accordance with the Guidelines for International
Human Rights Inquiry Reports and Missions, including the Lund-London

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Guidelines concerning international standard of good practice in the conduct of fact-
finding visits and in the compilation of fact-finding reports;
7. The Coalition, had further demanded that this ICI be based on Principles of
human rights and international humanitarian law fact-finding and investigations: Do
no harm, Independence, Impartiality, Transparency, Objectivity, Confidentiality,
Credibility, Visibility, Integrity, Professionalism and Consistency;

8. The Coalition was not followed in its approach and was never consulted by the
government commission of inquiry during its work;

9. After reading the press release of the Secretary General at the Presidency of the
Republic of Cameroon, the Coalition notes that :

i) The Cameroonian government only yielded following national and

international opinion after having used all means, to try without success to
deny the evidence of a real massacre of the civilian populations;

ii) The "report" of the Governmental Commission of Inquiry to shed light on

the circumstances of the occurrence of the said event and establish the
responsibility of the various actors has not been made public ;

iii) The press release of April 21, 2020 thus appears, with regard to the
concealment of the report itself, as a simple manoeuver to conceal a good
part of the chain of command and whose identity of the real military and
political leaders of the massacres from Ngarbuh 3. It is common ground
that the MINDEF press release of February 17, 2020 constitutes proof of
the involvement of very high officials of MINDEF in this chain of command
that led to this massacre ;

iv) The coalition remains very hungry on a number of questions, in particular

the number of people massacred on February 14, 2020; the number of
houses burned; the fate of people arbitrarily arrested and tortured by the
security and defense forces on the spurious grounds that they allegedly
collaborated with human rights organizations that exposed the crimes and
the involvement of the army (For instance, the person who had been
arrested, tortured and accused of having sent the images of the massacres to
the organization Human Rights Watch); the source of funding of militia and
auxiliaries recruited by the Commando of Ngarbuh as well as their status;
the fate of survivors in terms of their livelihoods; the identity and measures
taken against all those who, in the army, in state institutions, in
administration, in civil society, have ordered, supervised, covered up and /
or attempted to manipulate national and international opinion; the
perpetrators of the serious religious and tribal tensions between the Fulani

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 populations and other communities in the area and the measures taken to
reconcile the Fulani and the other communities concerned ;
10.The Coalition notes that beyond these essential questions deliberately avoided in
the press release of April 21, 2020, the confession on the responsibility of the Army
in the Ngarbuh 3 massacres raises concern about other cases of massacred civilians
in the armed conflict that has ravaged the English-speaking regions of our country for
almost four years. It is worth remembering that such phenomena had already
occurred in Ballikumbat Ngoketunjia division, in Babanki Tungo, in Menka-Pinyin,
Mezam division, in the localities of Bangem, Ndoh, Muyenge, Ekata in the South
West Region, and so on, and no official investigation report has been published
despite the denunciations of the NGOs working in this field ;
11.These are serious violations of human rights within the meaning of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948, the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 1966, the African Charter on Human and People's
Rights (ACHPR) of 1981, of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) of 10 December 1984, all
ratified by the Republic of Cameroon;
12. These facts contained in the Cameroonian government press release constitute
serious crimes (Crimes against humanity, murders, torture, attacks against the civilian
population and in particular the looting and destruction of property, etc.);
13. The Coalition strongly believes that only an Independent International
Commission of Inquiry would have been able to clarify the circumstances and
establish the responsibility concerning the war crimes committed by both sides (Army
and armed groups).

IN VIEW OF ALL THE ABOVE, THE COALITION:

1. Welcomes, with relief, the will of the Cameroonian government to report
on human rights violations and its readiness expressed through the
Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon press
release to continue to cooperate with Non-Governmental Organizations, to
advance the cause of protection and the promotion of human rights in
Cameroon;

2. Notes, with satisfaction, the commitment of the Cameroonian government

to ensure, in particular, the protection of civilians and to ensure that the
allegations relating to possible abuses are systematically investigated and
appropriately sanctions in accordance with its international commitments ;

3. Expresses, with determination, serious doubts on the number of victims

contained in the Cameroonian government press release since no
exhumation of the bodies buried in mass graves has taken place;

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4. Firmly requests the Cameroon’s government to make the Commission of
Inquiry’s full report public;

5.Condemns, in unequivocal terms, the fact the Cameroonian government

maintains, militias called self-defense without legal status, and even armed
militias for the purpose of terrorizing the populations in the English-speaking
regions and requests it to put an immediate end to this criminal practice ;

6. Firmly condemns all serious human rights violations perpetrated by the

separatist movements in the field of hostilities.

7. Firmly requests the Cameroonian government to repair the damage

caused by these massacres in accordance with its international
commitments;

8. Strongly urges that all actors in the chain who contributed at any level to
the attack and massacre of the women and children of Ngarbuh 3 be brought
to justice promptly;

9. Clearly demands from the Cameroonian Government, the urgent

establishment of a witness and survivor protection system; these are
determinants of successful prosecutions in the criminal justice system;

10. Demands, with all firmness, the immediate resignation of government

officials, including the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Communication,
the Minister of Territorial Administration and the Director of Communication
of MINDEF, who have all surrendered guilty of manipulation of opinion and
of "state lie";

11. Firmly urges the establishment of an independent commission, with the

involvement of human rights organizations, responsible for identifying and
compensating victims and other collaterals instead the administrative
authority mentioned in the government press release;

12. Strongly recommends that the Government of Cameroon ensure that the
security forces comply with the standards of international law applicable
during their operations and that all allegations of violations and violations of
human rights are the subject of a prompt investigation and measures taken
to combat impunity and prevent it from happening again;

13. Firmly urges the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations
General Assembly, the United Nations Human Rights Council and human
rights organizations to effectively contribute to ending impunity for actors
of human rights violations;

14. Immediately requests the international community and the friendly

countries of Cameroon to act to persuade the Cameroonian government to
start a process of resolving the conflict through direct negotiations with the
leaders of armed opposition groups;

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 15.Strongly calls on the armed groups to stop their attacks on populations
and children;

16. Firmly reminds the parties to conflicts (government forces and separatist
armed groups) that they are bound by International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
and must respond to the massacres on the civilian population;

17.The Coalition finally undertakes to support the victims in the process of

structuring and defending their interests.

Done in Yaoundé on the 24th Day of April 2020

By the Coalition of Civil Society-Human Rights Association for

Peace in the Anglophone Regions and other affected Regions

For the Coalition

Have signed:
The National Coalition Coordinator
Mr. NFORMI Willam NGENGE, (Volunteers for the Consolidation of National Unity)

The Permanent Secretary of the Coalition

Ms. Cyrille Rolande BECHON (Nouveaux Droits de l’Homme Cameroun)

List of Signatory Members of the Coalition:

name of the organization representative's name

Volunteers for the Consolidation of National NFORMI William NGENGE (National Coalition Coordinator)
Unity (VOCONU)
Mandela Center International Jean Claude FOGNO (Vice National Coalition Coordinator)
Nouveaux Droits de l'Homme Mme Cyrille Rolande BECHON (Permanent Secretary)
Human is Right CHAMANGO Blaise Aimé (Vice Permanent Secretary)
Refugee Welfare Association Cameroon Mrs Rita ABIA (North West Regional Coordinator)
(REWAC)
Association des Amis du Droit POJUME Hugues (Regional Coordinator other regions affected)
(AAD)
African Conscience NGWEFUNI FRITZ NGHOPELIE
Footsteps for Women and Children-Cameroon YUVEN Juliana
(FOWEC-CAM)
Solutions Cameroun YIMGA Marie André

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Sustainable Action for Community CHEYEH Juluis Ngwan
Development Cameroun (SACOD)

Youth Development, Training and Protection Mrs MARAH Lizette Ache

Association (YDETPA)
Community Assistance in Development Mrs FAHBEI Mabel
(COMAID)

Community Human Right and Advocacy Center FOTOH Titus

(CHRAC)
African Conscience TARNTEH AMADU
Civil Society Platform for Democracy Dr. Hilaire KAMGA
Tomorrow Children RIENGOUON NJAYOU Mariama
South West Region of Human Right NDOMI Justin B.
Association
Integrated Devolpment Foundation (IDF) OUSSEMATOU Dameni (Assistant Regional Coordinator, NW)
Children Care and Right Organisation SOPGU KENNE Abraham
African Conscience NJIMEKEH CLEMENT
Center for Reseach Education and Resources ATABONG Felico ( Regional Secretary, SW)
Distribution (CEREDEUP-TIKO)
All Women Together WEGUEM Ideline
SOS Jeunesse Libre TOMMY Pascale Cynthia
Community Initiative for Justice Peace and Nkanghapere Smella Shangha
Development
Indepedent HRD AMBOH Gordon
Community Initiative for Justice Peace and Nkanghapere Smella Shangha
Development
African Conscience NGONG MAGNUS

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