What changed

B100236/2025

B100235/2025

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 Rule 150(5) of its Rulesprevious ofresolutions Procedure,on Cameroon,

whereas Amadou Vamoulké (Cameroon Radio and Television) has been detained since July 29, 2016 for alleged embezzlement and appeared in court more than 140 times before being sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2022 and an additional 20 years in 2024;

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

whereas Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka (Freelance) has been detained since May 15, 2020 and sentenced by a military tribunal to 10 years in jail on September 24, 2024, more than four years after his arrest and two years of awaiting trial, now convicted of secession and complicity in the activities of an armed group and ordered to pay 500,000 CFA francs ($823) in damages and 86,000 CFA ($142) in court costs;

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 Mancho Bibixy (Abakwa FM) has been detained since January 17, 2017 and sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2018 on multiple charges including secession, insurrection, and spreading false information. In 2019, Bibixy was sentenced to an additional two years, after protesting poor prison conditions;

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 Thomas Awah Junior Aghem Messenger (Afrik2 Radio) has been detained since January 2, 2017 and sentenced in 2018 to serve an 11-year sentence on multiple charges that include secession, insurrection, and spreading false information. In 2019, Awah was sentenced to an additional three years after protesting poor prison conditions;

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

whereas Tsi Conrad (Freelance) has been detained since December 8, 2016 and sentenced in 2018 to serve 15 years on multiple charges, including secession, hostility against the state, and spreading false news. In 2019, Conrad was sentenced to an additional 18 months, after protesting poor prison conditions;

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 the UN Committee against Torture, the US Department of State, Freedom House and the Committee to Protect Journalists, have recently reported that Cameroon's police, gendarmes and other government agents have arrested, detained, physically attacked, and intimidated journalists and that once detained, journalists are often being ill-treated, tortured and killed;

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 between January and May 2023, the journalist Martinez Zogo, Jean-Jacques Ola Bebe and Anye Nde Nsoh were killed and many questions remain unanswered;

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 on the Cameroonian authorities to ensure that journalists can report without intimidation, harassment or detention, particularly in the run-up to Cameroon’s 2025 presidential elections and urges the Cameroonian authorities to respect freedom of expression and media freedom, guarantee imprisoned journalists, in particular Amadou Vamoulké, Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka, Mancho Bibixy, Thomas Awah Junior, Tsi Conrad, a fair trial with all due process guarantees, secure their immediate provisional release;

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;

Calls for the EU and itsUrges MemberCameroonian Statesauthorities to raise with the Cameroonian authoritiesend the casespractice of detained journalists;trying callscivilians forin themilitary EUcourts toand usestop itsabusively leverageinvoking towardsterrorism, concreteanti-state improvementsand in“false thenews” humancharges rightsin situationcases inagainst Cameroon;journalists;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the Government and Parliament of Cameroon.

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;

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;

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;

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.