Human rights group, Amnesty International on Friday said that over 500 people from Cameroon’s Anglophone regions have been arrested by the government for protesting.
The protests held on October 1, 2017 turned violent when security forces attempted to crackdown on protesters resulting in over 20 deaths.
Amnesty said in a statement that hundreds of people were detained in Buea, the capital of Southwest region while walking from church as part of the crackdown.
The state has charged some of those arrested with secession, possessing identity papers, destruction of public property or failing to respect a directive banning protests and other public activities.
Amnesty’s Lake Chad region researcher, Ilaria Allegrozzi said “This mass arrest of protesters, most of whom were acting peacefully, is not only a violation of human rights, but is also likely to be counter-productive,”
Those living in the English speaking areas in Cameroon have accused the Francophone majority of discrimination.
Their concerns ranges from not getting jobs opportunities and having legal systems in French language imposed on them.
Those claims have been rejected by the government. There has been a crackdown on such dissents as well in the past months.
Cameroon was colonised by Germany but was split into British and French areas after World War One.
Source: Africafeeds.com
