Cameroon / Africa

  
Statements
A supporter of President Paul Biya waits outside a Manhattan hotel during the UN General Assembly in September. Cameroonian authorities detained a columnist in Douala on December 6 for allegedly offending the president. (Reuters/Darren Ornitz)

Cameroon detains U.S.-Cameroonian writer over critical commentary

Lomé, Togo, December 8, 2017–Cameroonian authorities detained Patrice Nganang, a Cameroonian-American academic and columnist, as he attempted to fly to Zimbabwe from Douala on December 6, according to his lawyer and media reports. The lawyer, Emmanuel Simh, told CPJ that Nganang is being held in Yaoundé on accusations of offending the president in a Facebook…

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Alerts
President Paul Biya of Cameroon addresses the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters on September 22, 2017. A trial judge on October 9 charged three journalists with criminal defamation for their

Three Cameroonian journalists charged with criminal defamation

Cotonou, October 12, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Cameroonian authorities to immediately halt the prosecution of three journalists after a judge on October 9 changed the charges against them mid-trial.

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Reports

Journalists Not Terrorists

Video: Ahmed Abba’s sister appeals for his release

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Reports

Journalists Not Terrorists

Video: Cameroon’s journalists face suppression

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Reports
AFP

Journalists Not Terrorists: In Cameroon, anti-terror legislation is used to silence critics and suppress dissent

In 2014, Cameroon enacted a broad anti-terror law as part of its effort to counter the extremist group Boko Haram, but authorities are using it to arrest and threaten local journalists who report on the militants or unrest in the country’s English-speaking regions. A presidential decree in August 2017 ended legal proceedings against at least…

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Reports
AFP

Journalists Not Terrorists

About This Report This report was written and researched by CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal. Jonathan Rozen, CPJ’s Africa Research Associate contributed research.

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Reports
AFP

Journalists Not Terrorists

In Cameroon, anti-terror legislation is used to silence critics and suppress dissent A light breakfast of an omelet and a cup of black coffee eaten on the trot: Little did Radio France Internationale correspondent Ahmed Abba know it would be his last meal as a free man. Abba had a 10 a.m. assignment on July…

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Reports
AFP

Journalists Not Terrorists

Recommendations The Committee to Protect Journalists offers the following recommendations:

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Case

Cameroon publisher detained for more than eight months

Police arrested Mofor Ndong, the Bamenda-based publisher of the independent bi-monthly newspaper, Voice of the Voiceless, on February 9, 2017 in Buea, the capital of Cameroon’s English-speaking Southwest region, according to media reports.

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Statements
Cameroonian journalists, from left, Atia Tilarious Azohnwi, Tim Finnian, and Hans Achomba are released from prison. (Family handouts)

Cameroon releases three journalists jailed under anti-terror law

New York, September 1, 2017–The office of President Paul Biya announced August 30 that Cameroon is ending criminal proceedings against those detained during unrest in the country’s two English-speaking regions. Atia Tilarious Azohnwi, political editor of The Sun, Tim Finnian, editor of Life Time magazine, and Hans Achomba, a freelance documentary filmmaker, are among those…

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