What changed

B100232/2025

B100231/2025

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on Prosecutionthe prosecution of journalists in Cameroon, notably the cases of Amadou Vamoulké, Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka, Mancho Bibixy, Thomas Awah Junior and Tsi Conrad

(2025/2627(RSP))

– having regard to itsRule previous150 resolutions(5) onof Cameroon,its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas Amadou Vamoulké, former director of the national broadcaster Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV), was condemned to 12 years in prison in 2022 for corruption, and 20 years for embezzlement of public funds in 2024; whereas Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka, freelance reporter, was sentenced in 2024 to ten years in prison with a charge of “secession and complicity with armed groups”; whereas Mancho Bibixy, journalist, was sentenced in 2017 to 15 years in prison on charges of “terrorism” and “secession”; whereas Thomas Awah Junior, journalist, was sentenced in 2018 to 11 years in prison on charge of “terrorism”; whereas Tsi Conrad was sentenced in 2018 to 15 years in prison for “terrorism” and “secession”;

whereas press freedom and journalist safety in Cameroon has been in decline for more than a decade; whereas journalists are routinely detained, attacked, censored, and imprisoned on anti-state, criminal defamation, false news, and/or retaliatory charges; whereas journalists are regularly sentenced to decades in prison without a fair trial or appeals processes; whereas several journalists have died in government custody under suspicious circumstances in recent years;

B. whereas in January 2023, Cameroonian journalist Martinez Zogo was abducted, tortured and murdered; whereas Zogo was known as an outspoken critic of corruption in Cameroon’s government; whereas 17 suspected individuals are on trial;

whereas journalists in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon are particularly targeted, with legal charges including anti-terror, anti-state, “false news” and their cases prosecuted by military tribunals as opposed to civilian courts;

C. whereas since 2017 Cameroon faces an internal armed separatist rebellion in its Anglophone regions, causing internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of people;

whereas Tsi Conrad, Mancho Bibixy, Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka, and Thomas Awah Junior are journalists who reported on the situation in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, including abuses perpetrated during the armed conflict and ongoing civil unrest; whereas Amadou Vamoulké, a journalist in poor health, was sentenced to a total of 32 years in prison because of his independent management of the state broadcaster;

D. whereas Cameroon faces an ongoing threat from the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram in its Far North region; whereas on 25 March 2025 Boko Haram killed more than 10 Cameroonian soldiers;

whereas the EU is Cameroon’s leading trade partner, with Cameroon's exports towards the European market estimated at nearly half of the country’s total exports;

F. whereas for decades the EU has been funding democracy and governance projects in Cameroon, continuing this policy under the Multi-Annual Indicative Programme 2021-2027;

Condemns the structural violations of the human rights of journalists by the Cameroonian authorities, including all attacks, retaliatory charges, arbitrary detention, and unfair trials; urges the government of Cameroon to respect freedom of expression and freedom of the press, in line with its international obligations including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

1. Is concerned about the plight of the Cameroonian journalists; encourages the Cameroonian authorities to give the prisoners access to medical care;

Calls for the immediate and unconditional release and effective rehabilitation of Amadou Vamoulké, Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka, Mancho Bibixy, Thomas Awah Junior, Tsi Conrad, and all other jailed journalists in Cameroon;

2. Calls on the Cameroonian authorities to ensure that the murder case of Martinez Zogo is

Calls on the EU Delegation to Cameroon and Member States’ diplomatic missions to respond to restrictions against journalists, including ensuring comprehensive trial observation, visiting journalists in detention, and maintaining active contact with at-risk journalists, their families and colleagues; calls on them to also press the authorities for independent and transparent investigations into the suspicious deaths of journalists in recent years, including in government custody;

handled transparently and independently and to ensure that those responsible for this

Calls on Member States to recognise the dire situation for journalists in Cameroon and facilitate applications for humanitarian visa for Cameroonian journalists at risk of persecution;

crime are brought to justice;

Calls on the EU and Member States to make better use of the their economic and diplomatic presence in Cameroon to urge the authorities to release jailed journalists and abide by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international human rights standards;

3. Notes that the violent conflict in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon has created a very

Calls on the Commission to consider sanctions against individuals who have committed or are complicit in human rights violations against members of the press in Cameroon, including abductions, torture, killings and arbitrary detention;

hostile environment for journalists;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the VP/HR, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, and the authorities of Cameroon.

4. Strongly condemns the terrorist actions by Boko Haram in Cameroon; strongly supports the Cameroon authorities in combating this Islamist terrorist organisation;

5. Highlights the fact that despite being at war, Cameroon is considered a “safe haven”

for refugees, fleeing violence in Nigeria and the Central African Republic; appreciates the efforts of Cameroon in the field of regional protection;

6 Is of the opinion that the limited effect of the EU’s democratisation assistance to Cameroon relates to the fact that it does not take into account the local socioeconomic and political context; emphasises that the EU’s democratisation assistance programmes are based on a Eurocentric, one-size-fits-all paradigm, taking the wrong view that elections are the great catalyst for institutional change;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, and the President, government and parliament of Cameroon.