According to the report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (Acled) on the crisis in the North-West and South-West regions, separatists caused 2,600 civilian casualties between 2017 and 2023.
This joint report highlights that separatist fighters have progressively intensified their attacks on civilians as the conflict has dragged on. “Over the course of the conflict, the separatists themselves have become increasingly violent towards civilians. In 2020, separatist militias targeted civilians at the same rate as state forces, and by 2021, they had become the most dangerous group for unarmed local populations,” the Global Initiative and Acled report.
Thus, after no civilians were killed in 2017, separatist groups claimed more than 300 civilian victims in 2023. This increase in the number of victims followed the radicalization of the movement, which imposed “ghost cities” on the inhabitants of the North-West and South-West regions. This approach by the militias aimed to replenish their coffers through kidnappings for ransom, and to execute those accused of collaborating with the central government.
“Overall, the rise in violence targeting civilians by Anglophone separatist groups shows that the security of local populations in the Anglophone region is increasingly less assured. The separatist groups’ governance strategy initially generated popular support — a favorable condition for insurgent activity — but this support has waned over time,” the report says. The document also states that small community groups are allegedly responsible for the deaths of several civilians in the North-West and South-West regions.
Government forces are also accused of causing civilian casualties in the war against separatist militias. The Defense and Security Forces (FDS) are said to have used disproportionate force in response to protests since the beginning of the crisis in 2017. “The targeting of civilians by state forces has resulted in the deaths of more than 1,600 civilians between 2017 and 2023,” the two organizations point out in this report published last September.
Often accused by NGOs such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) or the European Union, the Cameroonian army has regularly defended itself from targeting civilians. The Ministry of Defense has frequently highlighted the professionalism of the army in conducting operations against the separatists. Accuse separatist propaganda and certain foreign media of attributing abuses against civilians to the armed forces. However, the responsibility of the Cameroonian military has been established in certain cases of abuses, notably in the Ngarbuh affair, which occurred on February 14, 2020. Armed men attacked this village, causing the death of around twenty people, including children and a pregnant woman.
The commission of inquiry set up by the Cameroonian authorities concluded that the Cameroonian military was involved in this massacre. Three of them were charged with murder in December and have been on trial since 2020. The head of state had also ordered that all the beneficiaries of the deceased persons be identified in order to pay them appropriate compensation and indemnities.
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