Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination considers report of Cameroon

19 August 2014

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination today completed its consideration of the combined nineteenth to twenty-first periodic report of Cameroon on its implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Committee also heard a statement from its Chairperson to mark World Humanitarian Day and held a minute of applause in tribute to United Nations humanitarian workers who had lost their lives doing their jobs.

Presenting the report, Paul Batibonak, Chargé d’affairs of the Permanent Mission of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said Cameroon was a mosaic of peoples and religions, with 250 ethnic groups distinguished by their dialects. It was a country with a strong tradition of hospitality of which it was particularly proud. National consensus was that under international law, the Pygmies were indigenous communities of Cameroon, and a study to categorically identify and support Cameroonian indigenous communities was now in its second phase. Mr. Batibonak spoke about the various ways the Government supported the Pygmy populations, from accessing public services and citizenship to land rights and access to education and teaching in their mother tongue.

During the discussion, Committee Experts commended the State party for its work to identify and support Cameroon’s indigenous communities, as well as its generous hosting of hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighbouring countries. The lack of legislation prohibiting racial discrimination was raised, as was a current study on the identification of indigenous and tribal peoples. Experts asked how Cameroon was tackling the threat from the terrorist group Boko Haram, and working to integrate refugees into its communities, as well as the use of customary law, discrimination in the justice system, access to legal aid, and overcrowding in prisons.

In concluding remarks, Fatimata-Binta Dah, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur for the report of Cameroon, thanked the delegation for the useful and original dialogue. She said the Committee was very cautious on the subject of racial discrimination, but believed that no country was free of it. Since the Durban Conference the Committee had been responsible for ensuring implementation of its conclusions; it saw racial discrimination take many new forms today, known as contemporary forms of discrimination.

Anatole Fabien Nkou, Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Geneva, in concluding remarks said Cameroon was not a paradise, it was a State, with a history; it was still building itself. The Committee’s advice was humbly and respectfully received, but he said everything regarding human rights had a cost, and Cameroon was a poor, developing country. Resources were lacking to defend the people’s human rights, but despite that it was doing all it could to improve people’s quality of life.

The delegation of Cameroon included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Permanent Mission of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The next public meeting of the Committee will take place at 3 p.m. this afternoon when it will begin its review of the combined fifteenth to twenty-first periodic report of Iraq CERD/C/IRQ/15-21.

Report

The Committee reviewed the combined nineteenth to twenty-first periodic report of Cameroon: CERD/C/CMR/19-21.

Presentation of the Report

PAUL BATIBONAK, Chargé d’affairs of the Permanent Mission of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Geneva, began by informing the Committee that the report had been prepared following consultations with civil society partners as well as the national human rights institution. The report set out the progress made by Cameroon in implementing the Convention and the recommendations of the Committee from the previous review of 2010. On legislative reform, Mr. Batibonak said that following the 1996 constitutional revision to establish a Senate and a Constitutional Council, the Senate held its first session on 14 May 2013 following elections held a month earlier. Cameroon had 250 ethnic groups distinguished by their dialects. The Senate was composed of 100 senators from the 10 regions of the country, so of the 10 Senators chosen from each region, seven were elected and three appointed by the President. Twenty per cent were women, making a total of 31 per cent of representatives in the Parliament being women.

The indigenous issue in Cameroon was special because of the national concept of “indigenous” according to which all Cameroonians were indigenous in their region of origin, which watered down the notion of indigenous people as defined in international law. Nevertheless, national consensus was that under international law, the Pygmies were indigenous communities, and by extension, sometimes the Mborors were included in that group. A study to categorically identify Cameroonian indigenous communities, locate them and specify their human, social, economic and political characteristics began in 2011 and was still underway. Cameroon celebrated the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples every year, highlighting not “marginal population groups” but “vulnerable indigenous populations”, noted Mr. Batibonak, as the term “vulnerable” was added to distinguish them from other ethnic groups that also considered themselves to be indigenous.

Pygmies were a nomadic population who lived by hunting and gathering in makeshift dwellings which did not allow them to claim the spaces they occupied. In order to provide better access of indigenous populations to housing and land ownership, the State was considering the reform of land and forestry laws, in consultation with the Pygmy community leaders. The Government sought to foster peaceful cohabitation between the Pygmies and the Bantu population. Access to citizenship was a basic right and often the door to access other public services, said Mr. Batibonak, and previously an overwhelming proportion of the Pygmy population did not have civil registration documents. Now, thanks to a campaign launched in 2010, some 16,000 birth certificates had been distributed, while a new support system to provide birth certificates and national identity cards – since 2013 free of charge – for the Pygmy populations had been launched.

Other actions taken to foster the indigenous Pygmies included better access to education and justice, actions to improve school infrastructure, and policies to tackle the high school-drop-out rate among Pygmy children, such as incentives to attend school and positive discrimination, which had had a positive effect. The culture and language of Pygmies had been integrated into the curriculum of all primary schools and some secondary schools and efforts were being made to recruit teachers in the local language in a pilot project run by the non-governmental organization Plan International. The Government was also seeking to promote bilingualism, which was a source of pride to all Cameroonians, as many families spoke jointly English and French. Incitement to racial hatred was forbidden.

Since the crisis began in Central Africa in 2006, as well as the security crisis in the north of Nigeria, waves of refugees had been arriving in Cameroon, which currently hosted around 200,000 refugees, in keeping with its traditional reputation for hospitality. In support with the United Nations Refugees Agency, Cameroon was providing shelter and an institutional framework for the refugees, including 300 sites in two regions where shelter, education, food and water were provided. A cholera outbreak recently had led the Government to prioritize health in the camps. An inter-ministerial ad hoc committee, entrusted with the management of emergency refugee situations, was established in March 2014. The rights of refugees, including non-refoulemenet, freedom of religion, freedom of association and movement, education, health and the right to work were all recognized and upheld by the Government.

Cameroon was a mosaic of peoples and religions. Cameroon was a country endowed with a strong tradition of hospitality of which it was particularly proud. Faced with such diversities and complexities, the State sought to constantly fight all forms of discrimination and promote equality and social harmony for all. The delegation looked forward to a fruitful dialogue with the Committee that would help it on the path to fully implement the Convention for the benefit of all peoples of Cameroon.

Questions by the Experts

FATIMATA-BINTA DAH, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur for the report of Cameroon, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for the well-crafted report. She regretted that the national human rights institution was not present today. The Committee had a special place in the chamber for representatives, and took their opinions on board when drafting its concluding recommendations – had sufficient means been made available for the institution to attend the review in Geneva?

The Committee was aware that Cameroon was undergoing a situation of change compounded by the situation in Chad and the instability in Nigeria, said Ms. Dah. Cameroon, with its 250 ethnic groups and total population of 20 million, faced several challenges, not least due to its geographical diversity and the porous borders of the country, as well as the geographical distribution of the population and colonial history.

Ms. Dah asked the delegation about legislative provisions defining and condemning racial discrimination, which were apparently lacking, as well as the criminalization of discrimination. She noted that the State party did identify those populations as vulnerable, and the constitution cited the protection of all minorities, and the rights of indigenous peoples and populations.

Regarding data, Ms. Dah said there was a wide difference between official estimates and other figures on the number of ethnic minorities. Only accurate knowledge of the number of beneficiaries of programmes made it possible to view their impact. She commended the State party for adopting United Nations General Assembly Resolution 61/294 on Indigenous Peoples, and asked about the findings of the national survey of indigenous peoples in Cameroon and progress on the adoption of a law on the rights of indigenous peoples.

Concerning indigenous peoples, especially the Pygmies, Ms. Dah asked the delegation for more information on what the Government was doing to protect them from discrimination and marginalization, to ensure that all indigenous persons were registered, specific measures to adapt the school system to indigenous culture, and the effective participation of indigenous communities in political and public life.

Events in Central Africa continued to cause refugee flows, primarily into Cameroon, said Ms. Dah. Although Cameroon’s reputation for hospitality was well known, the influx of refugees was a huge strain on its resources. The Committee would like to know more about how Cameroon integrated refugees into the population, keeping refugee camps as an exception not the norm. Did it still abide by that principle? Did the State party have any data on the integration and non-discrimination in the treatment of foreign nationals, including migrants and refugees, and their enjoyment of social and economic rights, including access to employment?

Another Expert expressed concern about Boko Haram’s activities in Cameroon, and said he was glad the State party was taking steps to check it, but thought more strength was needed to eradicate the threat. He asked about the State party’s vulnerability to that group.

The Pygmies were the indigenous population – the first people within the territory of Cameroon – said an Expert. However, they were targeted and discriminated against, and the Committee commended the State party for the measures it was taking to protect and support that vulnerable population.

Did the State party intend to start using the term “indigenous peoples” as per International Labour Organization Convention 169 on the identification of indigenous and tribal peoples, and did it intend to ratify that treaty? How did the State party view customary law, and what did that cover?

The Expert also noted that the Committee did not use the term “positive discrimination” as it did not want to give the impression that discrimination could ever be something deemed to be positive. Instead it used the term “special measures”.

Public attitude towards Albino persons was not mentioned in the report, but in many African countries Albino persons were targeted by discriminatory practices which could be extremely inhumane, said an Expert. Was there any monitoring of the attitude towards Albino persons in Cameroon?

The absence of disaggregated statistics on the ethnicity, language and so on of the population was a problem. The State party said it did not carry out such data collection as a matter of principle, but for the Committee, without such detail it was unable to determine whether there was or was not discrimination in some of the communities. The Expert also asked whether the State party would recognize the competence of the Committee to receive individual communications.

Reports said that some companies paid different salaries depending upon the ethnic origin of the workers, an Expert said. Could the delegation please comment upon that? What did the Trade Union Association say about it?

An Expert commended Cameroon on its major social housing programme, which increased the infrastructure and was aimed at impoverished families and also persons with disabilities.

The death penalty was raised by an Expert, who said although it had not been applied for the last decade, the international community would very much like to see the practice abolished, and asked what the current thinking was about capital punishment.

In an increasingly fragmented world, where communities were slipping backwards towards the Middle Ages to a frightening extent, rejecting and blaming immigrants for their problems, it was commendable to see that Cameroon sought to incorporate and celebrate diversity, and the Committee praised the State party for that.

People less than five feet high had complained that they were not allowed to join the army, as there was a minimum height, and other forms of discrimination. As that rule mainly affected certain sectors of the population, had the Government considered allowing people less than five feet tall to join the army and take up other roles, perhaps non-combatant?

Response by the Delegation

On Boko Haram and its activities in the northern parts of Cameroon, the Head of the Delegation said Boko Haram was a terrorist organization, and he was sure the Committee was familiar with its modus operandi. It caused massacres, trauma, it was extremely sad for the affected populations. The Government had taken initial steps for a graduated response and the measures were being bolstered. Last week the Head of State took a decision to reorganize Cameroon’s peacekeeping force in that part of the country, primarily to set up a military command post in the capital of the extreme part of the northern region, to better coordinate action on the ground. Cameroon was also participating in a multinational force to monitor the sub-region around Lake Chad to ensure coordinated information and more targeted and effective action on the ground.

The Head of the Delegation said he had visited all the regions where Pygmies lived in Cameroon, and met the communities in the field. It should be understood that what was frequently called “Baka” were Pygmies of the Congo – the Pygmies of Cameroon did not all live in the same forest but were located in different regions, in the centre, in the south and in the east.

On the reform of land titles, the delegate said applying the reality of other countries to Cameroon was not always effective. The pygmies had their way of life, the majority living the traditional lifestyle in the forest, but a minority of them lived in the cities, and some worked in the civil service. The State worked with non-governmental organizations, churches and the neighbouring Bantu population to support the pygmies, but there was no one solution – the State was tailoring its reaction for the communities.

Statement by the Chairperson of the Committee to mark World Humanitarian Day

JOSE FRANCISCO CALI TZAY, Chairperson of the Committee, took the floor to say that 11 years ago today, 22 people were murdered following a bomb explosion at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, an office of the United Nations in Iraq. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sérgio Vieira de Mello, from Brazil, was among the dead. Consequently, 19 August was designated as International Humanitarian Day.

The Chairperson said on this day they rendered tribute to all who had worked with the United Nations and died at their post in the cause of furthering human rights and engaging in humanitarian work. He invited everybody in the room to pay tribute to them, and said in a departure from usual protocol he would ask everybody to celebrate the commitment and memory of those people, and indeed of all United Nations personnel. They would always remember those people as tireless human rights defenders.

The Committee, United Nations staff and all observers then held a minute of applause.

Response of the Delegation

The Head of the Delegation sought to explain how race – and racial discrimination – was thought of in Cameroon, where he said the term ‘race’ was not widely used, but as it was the term used by the Committee, it was what they used in the report.

There was only one race in the world, and that was the human race, he said. That was Cameroon’s philosophy. Cameroon was a mix, it had black and white people, different tribes, people from different ethnic groups, but race was not referred to. For example no passport or identity document identified race or tribe, because Cameroonians wanted to live as a united nation.

The Head of the Delegation was asked by an Expert to which ethnic group he belonged, and he responded by saying that “although I am Black, in my home village I am considered a white man", adding that it was the same for the other members of his delegation. Answering a follow-up question about why he was considered such, he replied that if a person had a standard of living comparable to that of an American, a Saudi or a French person, then he or she was considered to be “white” – a person who had a good life, who could be depended upon even through difficult times. It was a matter of basic solidarity, and applied to the concept of "African family", he added. The Chairperson of the Committee in response said it was a concern that people felt that way.

Muslims in Cameroon did not face any discrimination whatsoever, said the Head of the Delegation. In Cameroon all of the great religions lived together in harmony. Islamic holidays were national holidays, as were Christian holidays.

The Boko Haram situation was a source of great sorrow to all – it was a sect that had no respect for anything, not even children, little girls. Boko Haram was taking root in Cameroon, said the delegate, but the Head of State had recently taken additional measures in the area where that sect was active; troops had been stationed there, the army presence had been stepped up. However, Cameroon could not solve the problem alone, it had limited resources, but it was working together with Nigeria, Chad, Niger, along with support from France and the United States to tackle it.

The entire population, Christians, Muslims and those with other beliefs, were mobilized against Boko Haram, speaking with one voice to express their horror at the acts of Boko Haram. The media, the churches were also working to inform the population, especially regarding security measures, added a delegate.

A delegate updated the Committee on the progress of the study which started in 2012 with the objective of identifying populations which could be considered indigenous under international law and establishing that concept in Cameroon. Even the 2007 Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples did not define them exactly, so Cameroon had taken a set of six cumulative criteria for the study. The Government then had to consider how to cover the dominant population of Cameroon which also wished to be considered indigenous. In any case, both population sectors tended to have the same needs – access to land, to healthcare, to education. The study was now in phase two, on the ground, in which all populations would be identified to see if they satisfied the six criteria and thus could be considered indigenous. Statisticians were involved in the study in order to gather disaggregated data, as per the Committee’s recommendations, it was noted.

Regarding the absence of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms of Cameroon at today’s review, a delegate said the Commission had been active in drafting the report and it had coordinated with civil society on it, and it was also independent. The Commission sent its annual work plan and annual report to the Ministry of Justice, although the latter did not give it instructions – it was rather a cooperative partnership. The Commission worked especially closely with the Ministry of Justice, which was responsible for following up on the Commission’s activities, via a judge focal point. The Commission was mandated by law to receive human rights complaints, and in 2013 it received 608 complaints, of which 526 were processed. The Commission could also carry out mediation.

Prison overcrowding was a problem, particularly in the large prisons in Yaoundé, said a delegate. To tackle the problem the State was reducing preventative detention, with the application of the criminal procedures code, judges’ attention was being drawn to the need to avoid slow procedures, and to use the bail mechanism to make pre-trial detention the exception not the norm.

Concerning the questions about customary law, a delegate said there was no codified customary law in Cameroon – the customs varied depending upon regions and ethnic groups. There were traditional jurisdictions who could apply customary law as long as they were not contrary to public order.

A delegate also spoke about the anti-discrimination properties of Cameroon’s legislation, which included sanctions for racist propaganda, as did the electoral code of Cameroon. The preamble of the constitution of 1996 expressly embodied the protection of indigenous communities, she added. That constitution guaranteed equality for all in terms of rights and duties, freedom and security, and the principle of non-discrimination that enabled all citizens to enjoy the same rights.

There was no racial discrimination before the law in Cameroon, all Cameroonians were equal before the law, whatever tribe they came from, said a delegate. If an individual committed an offence, then he or she was punished. Nobody was discriminated against for being from a single ethnic group or tribe, he emphasized. The 2009 law on legal aid listed the categories of individuals who could request or receive legal aid, including persons who were subject to hawking. The effort of internalizing conventions was designed to lead to legislation designed to punish for specific offences, so with regard to this Convention, race was understood in Cameroon according to the meaning set out in the Convention.

Follow-Up Questions from the Experts

Responding to assertions from the delegation that there were no different races, only the human race, and no racial discrimination in Cameroon, an Expert replied "even if there were certainly no races, racism still exists". However, the Expert said he had the impression that Cameroon had a balanced policy on the whole, citing the promotion of Pygmies in the public service.

Regarding terminology, an Expert said ‘Pygmy’ was not the correct word and he understood that those people did not self-identify as ‘Pygmies’, but he appreciated the fact that the State party was very careful in eliminating discrimination against them, and would continue to use the same term that they did.

On the subject, several experts gave their comments on semantics and terminology regarding the best way to refer to indigenous peoples, as well as race, races and racial identity. The use of the term ‘positive discrimination’ was also discussed – the Committee preferred to use the term in the Convention ‘special measures’ as it did not want to ever give the impression that discrimination could be a positive thing. A consideration of who were the true indigenous inhabitants of countries around the world also took place.

In follow-up questions an Expert asked about pre-trial detention, and the delays in administrating justice. He asked whether computerized systems were used, and whether modernizing the systems could help speed up the processes.

An Expert said the Committee generally did not accept statements from countries that they had no racial discrimination, as there were differences in treatment everywhere – some were justified and some were not. The Committee did not have many examples of it in Cameroon at this stage, however.

The Committee was not asking the State party to adopt a new law for every Convention it ratified, but rather advocating for a general provision – a single sentence – which prohibited discrimination in all fields, which would cover the recommendations of all Committees, said an Expert. Cameroon only had those provisions in its Criminal Code and in its Electoral Code; a general provision was needed that included the elements found in Article 1 of the Convention. Many other States had such provisions, such as South Africa.

The crisis in the Central African Republic had had huge effects on regional countries, said an Expert, asking for the delegation’s view of its impact on Cameroon.

Response from the Delegation

The Head of the Delegation said what the Expert proposed, regarding a general provision prohibiting discrimination, sounded easy but in fact was complex and would be difficult to carry out, and could even be counter-productive. It would be a huge commitment. The delegation however took note and would review. He asked which other States in the world had that provision?

A delegate agreed that the flow of the work in the courts needed to improve, and it would submit the Committee’s recommendations to that end to the Government.

Returning to the issue of refugees, a delegate spoke about the instability that arose in the Central African Republic, a neighbouring country, and its impact on Cameroon. He said that Cameroon had taken every possible measure to take care of an enormous number of refugees from that country, as well as to repatriate the large Cameroonian population that was in Central African Republic – that was now complete, but Central African Republic refugees were still being received. The large influx of people was lodged, given food, access to hospitals and almost 80 per cent of refugee children were sent to school.

The effect of the Central African Republic crisis placed a new burden for Cameroon, which was a developing country that suddenly had to find resources for the new population. Cameroon had appealed to the international community, and it had to be said that the international community had not to date provided assistance to ensure stability in the Central African Republic. Cameroon had troops in the Central African Republic, the leader of the African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA) was himself from Cameroon. Today the situation in the Central African Republic seemed to be stabilizing, thanks to African solidarity, and it was hoped that the very difficult phase would soon be over.

Concluding Remarks

FATIMATA-BINTA DAH, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur for the report of Cameroon, thanked the delegation for the useful and original dialogue. She said in its concluding observations and recommendations the Committee would draw the State party’s attention to its shortcomings, as well as recognize progress made since its last report of February 2010. Ms. Dah noted that the Committee’s role was not to judge and punish the States parties, but a more modest duty, to assess. It did that within the context of the Convention and in that of its general recommendations, and based on its almost 50 years of experience.

The Committee was very cautious on the subject of racial discrimination, said Ms. Dah, and believed that no country was entirely free of racial discrimination. Since the Durban Conference the Committee had been responsible for ensuring implementation of its conclusions, and saw racial discrimination take many forms, new forms today dubbed ‘contemporary forms of discrimination’. The Committee also had a duty to share with States parties how they could promote the implementation of the Convention in the context of their own realities.

ANATOLE FABIEN NKOU, Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said in light of his decade of experience in Geneva he had frequently headed national delegations in hearings with various bodies, and said the experience of today and yesterday had been striking in the spirit of comprehension. He was most grateful for the quality of statements and comments, and most of all for the Committee’s desire to help Cameroon improve.

Cameroon was not a paradise, it was a State, with a history; it was still building itself, said the Permanent Representative. The Committee’s advice was humbly and respectfully received. However, everything regarding human rights had a cost, and Cameroon was a poor, developing country. Resources were lacking to defend the people’s human rights. Cameroon was a multi-confessional country, with many different religions, and a tradition of Islam. Cameroon co-existed between races, ethnic groups – there were white indigenous peoples in Cameroon – and everybody co-existed. Cameroon was doing all it could to improve people’s quality of life.

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