COVID-19 Ceasefire Challenge to Cameroon Government and Non-State Armed Groups
June 22, 2020
(Toronto, London) A group of world leaders is calling on Cameroon’s warring parties to lower their weapons to let health workers tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Nobel Peace Prize laureates, former heads of state, and others are asking the government of Cameroon and the Anglophone militias fighting for independence to declare a humanitarian ceasefire, echoing the UN’s global ceasefire call. The conflict in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions began in 2016 and has claimed thousands of lives and forced more than half a million people to flee their homes. Cameroon has one of Africa’s highest rates of COVID-19 infection, and civilians are caught between conflict and coronavirus.
The Global Campaign for Peace & Justice in Cameroon today issues a COVID-19 ceasefire challenge to the Cameroon government and the non-state armed group leaders in the Anglophone conflict. They also challenge select international bodies to use all tools at their disposal to encourage a ceasefire. They are joined by 15 respected leaders in the international community as follows:
Doctor Denis Mukwege
Nobel Peace Prize 2018
Panzi Hospital and Foundation, Democratic Republic of the Congo and United States of America
ProfessorMuhammad Yunus
Nobel Peace Prize 2006
Founder of the Grameen Bank, People’s Republic of Bangladesh
The Honourable José Ramos-Horta
Nobel Peace Prize 1996
Former President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
The Honourable FW de Klerk
Nobel Peace Prize 1993
Former President of the Republic of South Africa
The Honourable Oscar Arias Sánchez
Nobel Peace Prize 1987
Former President of the Republic of Costa Rica
The Right Honourable Joe Clark
Former Prime Minister of Canada
Former Foreign Minister and Minister of Constitutional Affairs of Canada
The Honourable Ricardo Lagos
Former President of Chile
International Council of Nurses
Swiss Confederation
The Right Honourable Harriet Baldwin,Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
Former United Kingdom Joint Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development
The Right Honourable Andrew Mitchell, Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
Former United Kingdom Secretary of State for International Development
US Ambassador (ret.) R. Niels Marquardt
Former United States of America Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon
US Ambassador (ret.) John Yates
Former United States of America Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon
US Ambassador (ret.) Harriet Isom
Former United States of America Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon
Doctor Simon Adams
Executive Director of The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, United States of America
Ms. Ewelina U. Ochab
Co-Founder of the Coalition for Genocide Response, United Kingdom
Cameroonian names are intentionally withheld
Together we:
Applaud UN Secretary-General Guterres’s call for a global ceasefire to mitigate COVID-19 in conflict zones, including in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions;
Echo this ceasefire call, and emphasize that COVID-19 cases cannot be reduced while infrastructure is being attacked, populations are harmed and displaced, and medical and humanitarian aid cannot reach all parts of the North-West and South-West regions; and note that the rate of coronavirus infection in Cameroon is among the highest in Africa;
Implore all parties to put the people’s immediate health, lives and livelihoods ahead of military objectives;
Challenge the warring parties in Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict to bravely and publicly declare a humanitarian ceasefire, as follows:
1 - We challenge the government and military of the Republic of Cameroon to call a ceasefire in the two Anglophone regions.
The government of the Republic of Cameroon holds a special responsibility to protect its citizens under international law. Citizens cannot be protected from COVID-19 and other catastrophic health threats in an active war zone. There should be a ceasefire to:
protect human life, health workers, patients, health facilities, and ambulances
allow unfettered access of humanitarian aid to the North-West and South-West regions
2 -We challenge all non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in the two Anglophone regions to call a ceasefire.
Thank you to APLM-SOCADEF for already declaring and renewing a temporary ceasefire. All other non-state armed groups are challenged to declare a ceasefire as well, to protect citizens from COVID-19 and other catastrophic health threats in an active war zone, and:
protect human life, health workers, patients, health facilities, and ambulances
allow unfettered access of humanitarian aid to the North-West and South-West regions
3 -We challenge the UN Security Council and UN Secretary-General, the African Union and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Commonwealth, and La Francophonie to:
use all instruments of power at their disposal to urge the Republic of Cameroon to call a COVID-19 ceasefire
ensure that Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict is on the agenda of the forthcoming UN Security Council meeting and all UNOCA sessions before the UNSC
The Global Campaign for Peace & Justice in Cameroon is an informal group of academics, activists, journalists, lawyers, and other concerned citizens around the world who believe in the urgent need for a peaceful resolution of Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict. For further information: www.cameroonpeacejustice.ca
1. Transcript of video: DURING COVID-19, LET’S GO FROM VIOLENCE TO GUN SILENCE
Right now, we are facing a global emergency – the coronavirus. But in conflict zones around the world, it’s impossible for medical workers to do their jobs. That’s why, two months ago, the UN Secretary-General called for a ceasefire in places like Cameroon’s Anglophone regions.
This is a challenge to the Republic of Cameroon, and all the armed groups, to lower their weapons so that the deadly effects of the virus can be mitigated.
It takes bravery to call a ceasefire, of course, but that’s what it means to put people’s health first. We challenge everyone involved in the fighting to respect human life, and protect health workers, patients, and health facilities.
We challenge all the people carrying weapons to lower their guns and machetes, and allow humanitarian aid into the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon. Thank you to APLM-SOCADEF for being the only party so far to declare a ceasefire.
This is also a challenge to the international community - that means the UN Security Council and UN Secretary-General, the African Union, the Africa CDC, the Commonwealth, and La Francophonie. They all have a role to play in urging the parties involved in violence in Cameroon to announce a ceasefire, to let medical workers take action against COVID-19.
All we are saying is give the COVID-19 ceasefire a chance.
Switch from violence to gun silence, but do it now. Before it’s too late.
This message is from The Global Campaign for Peace & Justice in Cameroon, and all those who agree.
