U.N. Appeals for Access and Legal Reforms in Cameroon’s Conflict Zones

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights asked for enhanced access to Cameroon's separatist regions and called for revisions to an anti-terror law. The ongoing conflict between secessionist militias and government troops has resulted in thousands of deaths and displacement of 800,000 people since 2017.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights requested on Wednesday better access to Cameroon's restive separatist regions and called for revisions to an anti-terror law that rights groups say has been used to silence dissent. Factions of secessionist militias have been battling government troops in Cameroon's two English-speaking regions since 2017, resulting in thousands of deaths and displacing nearly 800,000 people.

'I have called on the government to facilitate humanitarian access to areas affected by conflict,' Volker Turk said following his two-day visit to the Central African country. 'I have also urged the government to revise the 2014 anti-terrorism law in this regard,' he added.

Amnesty International has described the 2014 law, which mandates the death penalty, as repressive and asserted that it curtails rights protected under Cameroon's constitution. A 2022 Amnesty report highlighted that most people jailed from Anglophone regions had been sentenced under this law.

Notably, in 2017, a journalist was sentenced to 10 years in prison on terrorism charges under the controversial legislation.

(With inputs from agencies.)