Cameroon’s government should publish the findings of an investigation into the massacre of 21 civilians, including 13 children and a pregnant woman, on February 14, 2020, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch research points to the attack being a reprisal against villagers accused of supporting and harboring armed separatists. While the participation of the head of the National Human Rights Commission is an encouraging sign, the appointment of the defense minister to lead the inquiry raises concerns about its independence, Human Rights Watch said. The attack in Ngarbuh was not an isolated case, but part of a larger pattern of serious human rights abuses by the Cameroonian security forces in the Anglophone regions, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch has documented multiple abusive counterinsurgency operations by the security forces in the North-West and South-West regions since 2017.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 16, 2020 04:18 UTC