Repression is worsening in Cameroon amid an uprising over language
The president shows little interest in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis
Excerpt:
“THE parade featured singing schoolchildren and goose-stepping soldiers. A giant presidential portrait was wheeled along the boulevard. To some observers it must have looked like a comic sketch about an event staged by an African dictator. But no one dared snigger. The celebration of Cameroon’s national day on May 20th was lorded over by President Paul Biya, who at 85 is Africa’s oldest head of state.
He hoped the parade would show national unity. But it hinted at a deep fissure dividing Cameroon. In the country’s two English-speaking regions a simmering uprising has been met by brutal repression.”
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“Peter Henry Barlerin, America’s ambassador to Cameroon, says April proved the bloodiest month. He accuses the government of authorising “targeted killings” and the “burning and looting of villages”. Thousands of people have fled, many of them across the border into Nigeria.”