Ongoing judicial harassment against Mr. Musa Usman Ndamba

New information

CMR 002 /0613 / OBS 049.1

Judicialharassment

Cameroon
March 15, 2018

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, has received new information and requestsyour urgent intervention in the following situation in Cameroon.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources of the ongoing judicial harassment against Mr. Musa Usman Ndamba, National Vice President of the Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association (MBOSCUDA)[1].

According to the information received, on February 23, 2018, the trial against Mr. Musa Usman Ndamba was resumed for the 57th time since its opening in May 2013. The plaintiff Mr. Baba Ahmadou Danpullo, a billionaire businessman, cattle rancher, tea plantation owner and a member of the Central Committee of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party, was not present at the hearing and was represented by Mr. Sama Francis Asanga, a senior official of the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDF), close family member of the party leader Mr John Fru Ndi and former President of the Cameroon Bar Association. On March 2, 2018, the Bamenda Court of First Instance presided by Magistrate Babila Tibet adjourned the next hearing to March 16, 2018.

Mr. Ndamba has been accused of, “being a party in a judicial proceeding on oath and making false declarations”, “making a false report against Baba Ahmadou Danpullo liable to lead to his prosecution” and “injuring the reputation of Baba Ahmadou Danpullo by imputation of unprovable facts” under Section 305(1) of the Penal Code. These offenses are punishable by up to three years of prison and a fine.

Mr. Ndamba’slawyers have reported several irregularities in the proceedings. In particular,the defender was never officially served with a summons. Moreover, the allegeddefamatory statements contained in the affidavit are not signed by the defenderbut by another individual named Mr. Musa Adamu. According to the plaintiff, Mr.Ndamba is the author of these statements, and he intentionally changed his namein order to escape prosecution. However, Mr. Ndamba was able to provideevidence that he had never changed his name, in the form of an expired identitycard dated July 20, 2000. In addition, the lawyer who wrote the affidavit forMr. Musa Adamu told the prosecutors that he had never met Mr. Musa Usman Ndambaand he was not the one who signed the affidavit.

TheObservatory fears that the ongoing judicial harassment against Mr. Ndamba comesin as a retaliation to his human rights activities, in particular as MBOSCUDA’sNational Vice President. Moreover, these acts of harassment are not isolated, asthe Observatory reported several cases of judicial harassment against leadersof civil society organisations denouncing the government’s corruption andopposing land grabbing in Cameroon. Many of these acts are linked to cases ofland acquisition by Mr. Baba AhmadouDanpullo.[2]

The Observatory expresses its deepest concerns aboutthose acts of harassment, and fears that they have increased after MBOSCUDA andits members submitted in early May 2013 a report in the framework of the UnitedNations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Cameroon inGeneva, outlining the various obstacles faced by the Mbororo community[3].

TheObservatory strongly condemns these acts, and urges Cameroonian authorities to stopall forms of judicial harassment against Mr. Ndamba and other human rightsdefenders in Cameroon.

TheObservatory further urges the Cameroon authorities to ensure that, until all chargesare dropped, all judicial proceedings are carried out in full compliance with hisright to a fair trial, as protected under international law. Background information:

On May 10, 2013, Mr. Musa Usman Ndamba was summoned to appear before the Court of FirstInstance in Bamenda, North Western Cameroon, following a complaint brought byMr. Baba Ahmadou Danpullo for “propagating false information liable to injurepublic authorities”, “being a party in a judicial proceeding on oath and makingfalse declarations”, “making a false report against Baba Ahmadou Danpulloliable to lead to his prosecution” and “injuring the reputation of Baba AhmadouDanpullo by imputation of unprovable facts”.

At the hearing, Mr. Ndamba refuted all the allegationsand pleaded not guilty. Mr. Ndamba was bailed, pending another hearingscheduled for May 27, 2013. On that day, as the landowner failed to appear incourt, the matter was adjourned to June 28, 2013, and the judge warned that hewould award costs against the landowner should he fail again to attend court.Subsequently, in May 2014 the court dismissed the charges against Mr. Ndambafor lack of a diligent prosecution.

On July 29, 2016, Mr. Baba AhmadouDanpullo accused M. Ndamba of“propagation of false information, false oath, false report and defamation ofcharacter” based on the same affidavit and evidence as the case in 2013. Subsequently,the trial was adjourned several times in absence of the plaintiff.

On December 18, 2017, the trial of Mr. Ndamba wasadjourned for the fifty-fifth time.

Actions requested:

Please writeto the authorities of Cameroon asking them to:

i. Guarantee inall circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr.Musa Usman Ndamba, as well as of all MBOSCUDA membersand all human rights defenders inCameroon;

ii. Put an endto all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against of Mr.Musa Usman Ndamba, as well as of all MBOSCUDA membersand all human rights defenders inCameroon;

iii. Until all charges are dropped,ensure that all judicial proceedings against Mr. Musa Usman Ndamba are carriedout in full compliance with his right to a fair trial, as protected underinternational law;

iv. Fullyimplement the recommendation of the Inter-Ministerial Commission ofInvestigation (The Jani Commission) on the abuses by the landowner mentionedabove, ordered by the President of Cameroon and submitted to the Office of thePrime Minister since 2004, for action[4];

v. Conform inany circumstances with the provisions of the Declaration on Human RightsDefenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly,in particular its Articles 1 and 12.2. ;

vi. Ensure in all circumstances respect for humanrights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rightsinstruments ratified by Cameroon and article 45 of the Constitution of theRepublic of Cameroon, whereby “duly approved or ratified treaties and internationalagreements shall, following their publication, override national laws, providedthe other party implements the said treaty or agreement”.

Addresses:

• His Excellency Mr. Paul Biya, President of the Republic, Presidency of the Republic, Palais de l’Unité, 1000 Yaoundé, Cameroon, Fax +237 22 22 08 70
• H.E. Mr. Philémon Yang, Prime Minister and Chief Head of Government, Primature du Cameroun, 1000 Yaoundé‚ Cameroon. Fax: +237 22 23 57 65. Email: spm@spm.gov.cm
• Mr. Laurent Esso, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, 1000 Yaoundé‚ Cameroon, Fax: + 237 22 23 00 05
• Mr. René Emmanuel Sadi, Minister of Territorial Administration, Fax: + 237 22 22 37 35
• Dr. Chemuta Divine Banda, Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, Fax: +237 22 22 60 82, E-mail: cndhl@iccnet.cm / cdbanda26@yahoo.fr
• H.E. Mr. Anatole Fabien Marie Nkou, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cameroon to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Avenue de France 23, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: + 41 22 736 21 65, Email: mission.cameroun@bluewin.ch
• H.E. Mr. Daniel Evina Abe’e, Ambassador of Cameroon to Belgium & the European Union, Embassy of the Republic of Cameroon in Brussels, 131 av. Brugmann, 1190 (Forest), Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 344 57 35; Email: ambassade.cameroun@skynet.be; embassy@cameroon.be

Please also write to diplomatic representations ofCameroon in your respective countries.

***

Geneva-Paris,March 1, 2018

Kindlyinform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in yourreply.

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) wascreated in 1997 by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the FIDH.The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situationsof repression against human rights defenders. OMCT and FIDH are both membersof ProtectDefenders.eu,the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

To contactthe Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

[1] The Mbororo Social and CulturalDevelopment Association (MBOSCUDA) defendsthe rights of indigenous Mbororo pastoralists in North-Western Cameroon since1992. It has been active in monitoring the sale of public land to privatelandowners, denouncing corruption and defending indigenous people’s landrights.

[2] Seethe Observatory’s Urgent Appeals CMR001 / 0716 / OBS 056.3 published on May 11, 2017 and CMR001 / 0317 / OBS 033.1 published on June 19, 2017.

[3]See the report on http://www.upr-info.org/IMG/pdf/js1_upr_cmr_s16_2013_jointsubmission1_e.pdf

[4] Thecommission was created by the Minister of Justice through Ministerial DecisionNo. 164 on July 2, 2003, modified by Decision No. 230 on August 13, 2003, toinvestigate human rights abuses by Mr. Danpulo against the Mbororo communityincluding arbitrary arrests, trumped charges, imprisonment, torture,expropriation of lands, interference with Mbororo community leadership, etc.Recommendations of the Commission include that the authorities retrace andwhere necessary re-demarcate the legal boundaries of ELBA Ranch in accordancewith Land Certificate No. 140/Menchum of December 1, 1989, with a surface areaof 4,726 hectares; that the authorities retrace and where necessaryre-demarcate the legal boundaries of the Land Grant measuring 1,335 hectaresallocated to Baba Ahmadou Danpullo for transhumance; that Baba Ahmadou Danpulloliberates illegally occupied lands; that Baba Ahmadou Danpulo pays compensationto those who were displaced by ELBA Ranch; that the authorities identify thevarious Mbororo communities in the North-West capable of being led bytraditional rulers designated in conformity with the law; that the authoritiestake measures with regards to the illegal and irregular functioning of NdawaraAlkali Court. For more information, please see: http://justice-dignity.net/wp-content/themes/green-stimulus/Jani_Commission_Report.pdf