What changed

B100235/2025

B100230/2025

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the prosecutionProsecution 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 its previous resolutions on Cameroon,

– having regard to RuleRules 150(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas press freedom 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 Cameroon’s counter-terrorism law is broad and open to abuse and often used to arrest, intimidate and sentence journalists in military courts notably for covering protests in English-speaking regions of the North-West and South-West (NW/SW regions) ;

whereas Cameroon uses lengthy pre-trial and arbitrary detention, where journalists have been held incommunicado, and convictions are handed down by military courts, among other serious violations of fair trial and due process rights;

Whereas both security forces and separatist groups have committed serious abuses against civilians; whereas security forces bear particular responsibility for excessive use of force and voluntarily delaying accountability, notably in the village of Ngarbuh;

Strongly condemns repeated attacks on journalists, including killings, physical violence and arbitrary detentions, continued pressure on critical media outlets and reporting bans;

Whereas the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that the detention of English-speaking journalist Thomas Awah Junior was a violation of international law;

Strongly condemns the continued detention of journalists Amadou Vamoulké since 2016, Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka since 2020, Mancho Bibixy since 2017, Thomas Awah Junior since 2017 and Tsi Conrad since 2016, all sentenced to long prison sentence in trials that failed to meet due process standards;

Whereas UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged Cameroon to ensure an independent, effective, and impartial investigation into the murder of journalist Jean-Jacques Ola Bébé, who was killed while investigating the torture and murder of his former colleague, Martinez Zogo;

Deplores the widespread use of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, as well as torture and ill-treatment in Cameroon’s official and unofficial detention facilities, including against political opponents, journalists, and political activists and is deeply concerned by attacks on civil society and political groups;

Whereas in the case of journalist Samuel Wazizi, the Cameroonian authorities had to admit his sudden death in the Yaoundé military hospital following revelations in the national press;

Deeply regrets the absence of effective investigations and accountability in past cases of killing of journalists, including in the cases of Martinez Zogo, Jean-Jacques Ola Bebe and Anye Nde Nsoh in 2023 as well as of Samuel Wazizi who died while forcibly disappeared in 2019;

Calls for the immediate and unconditionally release of all arbitrarily detained individuals, including journalists, opposition members, and activists; urges Cameroon to ensure fair trials in line with international standards;

Urges Cameroonian authorities to release all journalists, media professionals, activists and lawyers arbitrarily detained for exercising their human rights, ensure their right to a fair trial, and provide full accountability for the killings of journalists and attacks on civilians;

Reiterates its serious concerns over the arbitrary arrest and harassment of journalists ;

Urges Cameroonian authorities to end the practice of trying civilians in military courts and stop abusively invoking terrorism, anti-state and “false news” charges in cases against journalists;

Recalls that military tribunals cannot try civilians under international law;

Urges the Commission and the EEAS to actively respond to restrictions against journalists, including ensuring comprehensive trial observation, visiting journalists in detention, and maintaining active contact with marginalised or at-risk journalists, as well as their families and colleagues;

Calls on Cameroonian authorities to guarantee the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly for all;

Urges the Council to consider sanctions against individuals who have led, or been complicit in human rights violations against members of the press in Cameroon, including abductions, torture, killings and arbitrary detentions;

Strongly recommends a comprehensive reform of the deeply flawed anti-terrorism law ;

Urges the EU and its Member States to raise individual cases, press for the release of detained journalists and call for accountability in cases of attacks on journalists and civilians, and to tie their cooperation with Cameroon to genuine progress and reform on human rights and freedom of expression;

Calls on Cameroon to ratify the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Cameroon committed to do during the previous Universal Periodic Review;

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 African Union, and the authorities of Cameroon.

Reiterates its call to Member States to support a UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission to Cameroon to determine the extent to which international human rights law and international humanitarian law have been violated and by whom since the last decade, in particular in light of the conflict in the NW/SW regions;

Further stresses that the culture of impunity has severe consequences, fuels systemic corruption, undermines Human Rights as well as encourages violence and social unrest;

Reaffirms its strong and unequivocal opposition to the use of the death penalty under all circumstances; calls on Cameroon to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

Calls on the international community to question the characterisation of the conflict in the NW/SW regions as a full-blown "non-international armed conflict" (NIAC); underlines international humanitarian law applies only if a situation is recognised as a NIAC;

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