United States President Donald Trump (L) and Cameroon President Paul Biya. |
Washington DC, USA
Cameroon has lost privileged access to the US
market offered under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
Last week, the Trump administration announced
it intends to cut trade benefits for Cameroon by January 1, 2020,
citing persistent human rights violations in the country.
AGOA allows sub-Saharan African countries to export
to the US without a customs duty, provided the country’s government has
established or is making progress toward establishing, rule of law, political
pluralism, fair trial and due process standards, and equal protection under the
law.
In his message to Congress, President Trump said
Cameroon has failed to address concerns regarding government forces’ persistent
human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary and
unlawful detention, and torture.
Human Rights Watch has documented serious human
rights abuses committed by the Cameroonian security forces both in the Far North
region and in the Anglophone
regions since 2017. These include killing of
civilians, burning of hundreds of homes, and the systematic use
of torture and
incommunicado detention.
This is the second time in a year the US has taken
action on Cameroon. In February, Washington scaled back its military assistance to Cameroon, also
citing allegations of human rights abuses.
Trump’s recent announcement comes after Cameroon
adopted a special status for the two Anglophone regions and
released hundreds of
political prisoners, including prominent opposition party leader
Maurice Kamto.
While these are positive steps, the government’s crackdown on
political space and serious violations in their counter response to separatist
violence continue.
Last week, authorities banned three meetings
planned by Kamto’s party, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC).
Defying the
meeting ban, hundreds of MRC supporters gathered in the capital, Yaoundé, on
November 2 before anti-riot police violently dispersed them. Witnesses reported
police severely beat and injured at least ten demonstrators. Thirty-three MRC
members and supporters were arrested but released the same day.
The US termination of the designation of Cameroon
as a beneficiary country under AGOA should be a wake-up call to the Cameroon
government and should stir action from other international partners to Cameroon
to publicly address serious human rights concerns in the country.
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