CAMEROON: ARBITRARY DETENTION OF JOURNALIST AND ACTIVIST THOMAS AWAH JUNIOR

The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of Cameroon to take all the necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 01/2023 concerning Thomas Awah Junior asking Cameroon to immediately release Mr. Awah and to accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.

Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning Thomas Awah Junior (Cameroon): Opinion 1/2023.

ARBITRARILY ARRESTED AND DETAINED FOR EXERCISING HIS LEGITIMATE FREEDOMS

Mr. Awah is a national of Cameroon, born on 3 January 1969. He is a journalist and activist involved in various organisations and unions of journalists and supporters of the Anglophone movement in Cameroon. He participated in several demonstrations of this said movement, as an activist and as a journalist reporting on the demonstrations. Mr. Awah had already been arrested in 2015 and 2016 for allegedly insulting a member of the Government and participating in several demonstrations.

On 2 January 2017, Mr. Awah was arrested by a colonel and other gendarmerie officers, while he was walking alone in Bamenda and looking to interview residents about the protests. Mr. Awah was arrested without an arrest warrant, and was not informed of the reasons until more than a year after his arrest, during his hearing, in violation of articles 3 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 9 of the Covenant, rendering his detention arbitrary under category I.

Furthermore, Mr. Awah was allegedly arrested as a result of his support for the Anglophone movement, through his participation in protests, meetings, statements, and participation in diverse organisations and unions supporting this movement as well. There is no evidence that any restrictions of Mr. Awah's legitimate freedoms were applicable in this case, and no link between Mr. Awah's activities and any form of violence. Considering the above, the Working Group found that Mr. Awah's detention resulted from the legitimate exercise of his freedom of opinion, expression and assembly, which is in violation of articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 19 and 22 of the Covenant, rendering his detention arbitrary under category II.

BLATANT VIOLATIONS OF HIS RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL

Mr. Awah was not informed of the charges against him until the start of his trial, which for a year prevented him to both prepare his defence and benefit from the effective assistance of a lawyer and to be tried within a a reasonable time, respectively guaranteed under under article 14(3)(b) and (d) of the Covenant and articles 9(3) and 14(3)(c) of the Covenant.

Eventually, Mr. Awah's trial and appeal were conducted by military courts, despite him being a civilian. The Working Group recalled its repeated concerns about the use of such courts for civilians, and thus found a violation of Mr. Awah's right to a fair trial, under article 14 of the Covenant and article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Consequently, the Working Group found that the violations of Mr. Awah's right to a fair trial were of such gravity that it rendered his detention arbitrary under category III.

CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION

In light of the foregoing, the UN Working Group Against Arbitrary Detention considered that the detention of Mr. Awah was arbitrary and fell under categories I, II, and III because his deprivation of liberty was in contravention of articles 3, 8, 9, 10, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 2, 9, 14, 19 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Working Group emphazised its concerns about the conditions of detention of Mr. Awah, and acknowledged the impact these conditions have on his health. The Working Group requested the Government to remedy the situation of Mr. Awah without delay, to investigate the circumstances of the violations of his rights and take appropriate measures against those responsible for them. The Working Group considered that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Awah immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.