UPR Intervention for Cameroon,
16th Session May 1, 2013
As delivered by Ambassador Eileen C. Donahoe
We warmly welcome Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo and the Cameroon delegation.
We applaud efforts to hold accountable security forces and public officials who commit human rights violations and look forward to further efforts to strengthen rule of law and end impunity.
We are concerned that pre-trial detainees make up a significant portion of the prison population, particularly because of prison conditions and severe over-crowding. Article 221 of the Penal Code places limits on the duration of pre-trial detention, but is frequently ignored in practice.
We are concerned by limits to the freedoms of assembly, association and expression. The government continues to forcibly disrupt meetings and rallies, and harass civil society, trade unionists, and members of the opposition.
We continue to monitor the treatment of LGBT persons in Cameroon, including the case of a man who was imprisoned for three years for a text he wrote to another.
We recommend:
1. Refrain from arbitrary arrest and detention, and enforce existing Criminal Procedure Code provisions to limit pre-trial detention, in compliance with ICCPR obligations;
2. Respect provisions of existing laws governing freedoms of association, assembly and expression, and eliminate abuse of provisions to limit political gatherings, union activity and criticism of the government;
3. Respect Article 12 of the constitution which protects privacy, and eliminate abuses of this article that lead to arbitrary arrests and prosecutions on charges related to consensual same sex sexual relations.