By Walter Wilson Nana
The attention of the President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya, has been drawn to the incessant attacks Cameroonian journalists have been witnessing in recent months. This information is contained in an open letter written to Biya by Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ.
Joel Simon, CPJ’s Executive Director writes; “We express our alarm at a wave of arrests, harassment, criminal prosecutions and even abuse of at least a dozen journalists who raised sensitive questions about issues of public interest in Cameroon , such as the management of public finances, the progress of an anti-corruption drive dubbed Operation Sparrow hawk, and local government affairs. We call on you to take measures promoting the transparent conduct of public affairs, and the respect for fundamental rights, such as the enactment of a law guaranteeing access to information, and the transfer of defamation cases to civilian courts.”
While Biya is invited to hold members of the Cameroon administration accountable for using security forces and criminal laws to settle scores with the media, it is reported that since February 26, three journalists investigating the state-run National Hydrocarbons Company’s (SNH) purchase in 2008 of the offshore vessel Rio Del Rey are under arrest in the capital, Yaoundé. Editors Harrys Robert Mintya of the weekly Le Devoir, Bibi Ngota of Cameroon Express, and Serge Sabouang of the bimonthly La Nation were charged with “imitating the signature of a member of government,” a criminal offense carrying up to 15 years of imprisonment, according to defense lawyer Jean Marie Nouga.
The CPJ letter detailed that they are alarmed by the ongoing harassment of at least eight other journalists who have raised critical questions about Cameroon’s government conduct of Operation Sparrow hawk, an official investigation of former officials accused of mismanaging public funds.
The international press freedom body expressed outrage by some local reports that security agents used torture to force reporter, Simon Hervé Nko’o from the weekly Bebela to reveal his sources after he was held incommunicado for a week without charge.
Currently, two other journalists in Cameroon are on trial over an October 2009 story referencing the criminal case of Doh Gah Gwanyin III, a former traditional leader convicted of involvement in the murder of an opposition politician in 2006, according to the Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists, CAMASEJ. Editor-in-Chief, Charly Ndi Chia and Yaoundé Bureau Chief, Yerima Kini Nsom of the English-language biweekly The Post are free while battling charges of “libel, blackmail, and abuse,” defense lawyer Dinga Godlove told journalists.
According to CPJ, arbitrary arrests, criminal prosecutions, and even torture of journalists who raise critical questions about government affairs, are undermining the President Biya’s efforts to root out public corruption and confidence in the rule of law and democracy in Cameroon.
Access to information is enshrined as a fundamental human right by the United Nations, and upheld by the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. Therefore, it is to the interest of the government and people of Cameroon to create access to information legislation, and also to ensure that press offenses are referred to civil courts.