Southern Cameroons detainees in the Kondengui Central prison in Yaoundé will begin a hunger strike on Friday the 26th of May 2017, Cameroon Intelligence Report has learnt from a reliable source in Yaoundé. Our source maintained that a majority of the Anglophones taken prisoner by security agents from La Republique du Cameroun do not even have an understanding of the Southern Cameroons uprising and quest for an independent state and will launch a hunger strike to press for basic rights and shed light on the difficult humanitarian conditions inside French Cameroun prisons.
We gathered that the detainees are demoralized after more than five months in detention with an average of five court appearances and no charges brought against them in a political trial that has been rocked by constant adjournment as though the judges are waiting for instructions from the 84 year old dictator, President Biya. They have core demands and will continue to fast until they achieve them. The prisoners see hunger striking as the only door they can knock on to attain their rights.
A senior Anglophone citizen loyal to the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé who spoke to us but sued for anonymity observed that the Southern Cameroonians detained in the many jails in French Cameroun were indirectly serving a long prison term without judgments. He added that living conditions in those Francophone detention facilities were very poor and ravaged by disease. “Even though it is one of the most dangerous and difficult decisions, they are only making this choice because conditions inside the prisons have reached a new low,” He added.
Many of those being held at the Kondengui prison in Yaoundé have complaint that they are under constant attacks by fellow Francophone inmates. Some of the Anglophones do not have any legal representation and it is difficult for their family members to visit them because of the distance and the Francophone procedures to meet any detainee which at times takes weeks.
Several of the Southern Cameroonians have lost their businesses and jobs and nothing is being mentioned about them by a divided Diaspora and a Southern Cameroon leadership caught between staying with the struggle and surrendering to La Republique’s dominance. Southern Cameroon rallies have also disappeared from the major cities in the West in solidarity with the plight of the Anglophone prisoners. It should be noted that the ages of those arrested since 2016 ranges from 19 to 67 yrs.
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai
Cameroon Intelligence Report
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Paul Ayah Abine Cries Out From Cell: “I Am Going Blind”
, May 23, 2017
Cameroon Journal, Yaoundé – Detained Supreme Court Advocate, Ayah Paul Abine, has in a social media post lamented that he risks going blind completely as his detention condition at the Yaounde Gendarmerie headquarters, SED, worsens.
On Friday May 19, Ayah Paul took to the social media confessing his innocence to his detention, stating that his hands are “clean” and that his detention at SED remains “illegal.”
The man who challenged Paul Biya during the 2011 presidential election before later appointed Supreme Court Advocate, reminded supporters in his Facebook post last Friday that “Saturday, May 20, 2017 marks exactly four months since I was abducted from my residence in Yaounde by agents of the Government, and my current illegal detention at SED, in complete ignorance of what I have done wrong.”
In the post that has since attracted hundreds of consolatory comments, Ayah Paul, who is also a former Member of Parliament under the ticket of Biya’s governing CPDM party, said his morale is exceedingly high.
“I am very serene for I know the good Lord; the ultimate and incorruptible judge himself fights for me. I have lived an exemplary life throughout my career in strict respect of the law and in all honesty and integrity. My hands are clean and so I fear not.”
However, while he keeps up an upbeat spirit, he harbours fears about his health. “My health on the contrary is not at its best as I have picked up a heart condition while my sight has seriously (especially my left eye) depreciated. In the face of the silence maintained by the authorities as to who gave orders for my abduction and what evidence they’ve got against me, I am abandoned to rumours all of which are laughable.” Ayah wrote.
“I can’t help but ask the following questions: Why am I not taken to court like all the others picked up on account of the Anglophone problem in order for me to defend myself against all that is being rumoured (in very high places) in open court before all Cameroonians? Why am I kept here in complete ignorance of what my crime is (if any exists in the first place)? And why are the authorities completely silent as to the reasons behind my being kept here; Not even has the national station, to whom I pay taxes, as much as mentioned my name?”
Justice Ayah, proclaiming his innocence, draws even greater consolation from the scriptures. “One thing is certain: Darkness can never prevail over divine light just as lies and falsehood can never reign eternally over truth. And so onward I match and shall so do till the end and within the law, with inspiration from the Holy Scriptures thus: ‘whosoever holds on till the end shall be saved.” He wrote.
“As I thank you all for every manner of support you have given me and family this far, I pray thee all to be at peace with yourselves and with each other as we keep trusting the most high God who reigns supreme above everything that exists,” he urged.
In the meantime, Ayah’s social media outing last week was the second in less than two weeks.
The week before last, Ayah took to the social media to confess that despite his incarceration, he remains steadfast, though still waiting to be told what his crimes are.
By Yusuf Issa, cameroonjournal.com
