Cameroon: Activist missing for over one month: Franklin Mowha
Activist Franklin Mowha, the president of the NGO Frontline Fighters for Citizens Interests (FFCI) went missing on 6 August during a mission in the southwest region of Cameroon. His friends and family have not heard from him since. They fear he might have been caught up in one of the frequent raids that the military conducts in the region and may have been subjected to enforced disappearance.
UA: 168/18 Index: AFR 17/9077/2018 Cameroon Date: 13 September 2018
URGENT ACTION
ACTIVIST MISSING FOR OVER ONE MONTH
Activist Franklin Mowha, the president of the NGO Frontline Fighters for Citizens
Interests (FFCI) went missing on 6 August during a mission in the southwest region of
Cameroon. His friends and family have not heard from him since. They fear he might
have been caught up in one of the frequent raids that the military conducts in the region
and may have been subjected to enforced disappearance.
Franklin Mowha is a Cameroonian activist and president of the NGO Frontline Fighters for Citizen Interests (FFCI)
based in Bamenda (northwest region of Cameroon). On 6 August, he left Douala, the economic capital of the
country, to go on mission in Kumba, in the southwest region. He was working on documenting cases of internal
displacement and lack of access to justice for victims of human rights violations in Kumba as a result of the
ongoing fighting between the military and armed separatists.
His family and friends have not heard from him since the day he travelled to Kumba. They have searched for him
without being successful. On 4 September, the family filed a report with the Prosecutor of Kumba to declare him
missing. They are concerned that he may have been arrested amidst military operations in the area and subjected
to enforced disappearance.
Since late 2016, Cameroon’s Anglophone regions have endured turmoil and violence in what has become a human
rights crisis. The Cameroonian security forces have committed numerous human rights violations, including
unlawful killings, destruction of homes, arbitrary arrests and torture during military operations conducted in the
Anglophone regions. In addition, armed separatist groups calling for secession of Anglophone Cameroon regions
from the rest of Cameroon and embracing an armed struggle, have carried out violent attacks against the
Cameroonian security forces and state emblems, including schools, and as well as on ordinary people.
Please write immediately in French, English or your own language:
Calling on Cameroonian authorities to urgently conduct a thorough, transparent and effective investigation
into the fate and whereabouts of Franklin Mowha and report any findings immediately to his family;
Calling on the Cameroonian authorities to immediately end all secret detention and torture and respect
human rights in the Anglophone regions.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 25 OCTOBER 2018 TO:
President of the Republic
Paul Biya
Présidence de la République
Cabinet Civil
Cellule de Communication
Yaounde, Cameroon
Twitter: @PR_Paul_BIYA
Email: cellcom@prc.cm
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Justice
Laurent Esso
Ministry of Justice
BP 466
Yaounde, Cameroon
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
Minister of Defence
Joseph Beti Assomo
Minister of Defence
Email: contact@mindef-online.cm
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.
URGENT ACTION
ACTIVIST MISSING FOR OVER ONE MONTH
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Anglophone regions of the Cameroon – in the country’s South-West and North-West - make up approximately 20% of the
country’s population. Many of their grievances date back to the early 1960s, when these regions were included in the newly
established, majority French-speaking, Republic of Cameroon.
Violence and unrest escalated in late 2016 after a series of strikes and protests against what teachers, lawyers and students
viewed as further discrimination against the Anglophone regions. Between 22 September and 1 October 2017, large-scale
protests were organized across the Anglophone regions to symbolically proclaim the independence of a new state of
“Ambazonia.”
Cameroon’s military has responded to these protests with arbitrary arrests, torture, unlawful killings and destruction of homes. In
one striking incident, satellite images and other photographic evidence obtained by Amnesty International show the complete
destruction of the village of Kwakwa, which was burned to the ground by Cameroonian security forces during an operation
conducted in December 2017 in connection with the killing of two gendarmes by suspected armed separatists.
People have been arbitrarily arrested and tortured while detained in secret, illegal detention facilities by security forces in their
operations. For instance, at least 23 people, including minors, were arrested by the security forces in the village of Dadi on 13
December 2017 and spent three days in incommunicado detention. They told Amnesty International that during this time
security forces tortured them to extract “confessions”, to force them to admit to having supported the separatists. Victims
described being blindfolded and severely beaten with various objects including sticks, ropes, wires and guns, as well as being
electrocuted and burnt with hot water. Some were beaten until they lost consciousness.
In addition, Amnesty International has documented how teachers and students have been targeted by separatists for not
participating in a boycott of schools perceived by many as a symbol of how the English language and cultures in the
Anglophone regions have been marginalized by the authorities.
Name: Franklin Mowha
Gender m/f: M
UA: 168/18 Index: AFR 17/9077/2018 Issue Date: 13 September 2018