Cameroonian journalist Samuel Wazizi, arrested in August 2019 for criticizing Yaoundé's management of the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon, died in detention, said Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which calls on the authorities to shed light on the circumstances. of his death.
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" Journalist Samuel Wazizi died during his detention, " RSF confirmed in a statement on Wednesday evening after Tuesday's announcement of his death by a private Cameroonian television channel, then by the National Union of Cameroonian Journalists (SNCJ). Neither the government nor the army has yet confirmed the journalist's death or reacted to requests from RSF, SNCJ and several human rights organizations, according to them. Contacted directly by AFP, the authorities had not yet responded Thursday morning.
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Presenter of the regional television channel Chillen Media Television, Samuel Wazizi, was arrested on August 2, 2019 in Buea, capital of the English-speaking region of the South West, according to RSF. He was accused " of having made critical remarks on his channel towards the authorities on their management of the crisis in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, " added RSF in its press release. For nearly three years, separatist groups and the army have clashed in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon, where most of the English-speaking minority who feel marginalized live. Some of them have taken up arms against Yaoundé and are claiming the independence of this territory.
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The fighting, but also the atrocities and murders committed against civilians by the two camps, left more than 3,000 dead and forced more than 700,000 people to flee their homes. Five days after his arrest in August, the journalist had been " recovered " by soldiers, claims RSF. He was never brought before the courts, his lawyer Me Lyonga Ewule told AFP, and was " detained incommunicado " outside " all legal procedures ", according to RSF.
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The journalist was " sick " and is " died during his transfer to Yaoundé on an unknown date ", according to a " senior military official very close to the case " quoted by RSF. His lawyer and the SNCJ claim that he was tortured during his detention. His body arrived at the morgue on Monday " under strong escort ", according to a source at the Yaoundé military hospital also cited by RSF. " We ask the authorities to break the intolerable silence surrounding this affair (...) and to conduct a serious and independent investigation to establish (...) the circumstances which led to this tragic event ", said Arnaud Froger, responsible of the RSF Africa office.
