East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (“DefendDefenders”)
Cases- Case status
- Unresolved
- Location of case in SG report
- 2021-016-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2021
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 7.36972199999999
Longitude: 12.354722
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Cameroon
- From Region
- Type of record
- Named organization
- Gender
- Gender unclear
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
Defending human rights defenders
- Type of rights defended
- Civil/political rights
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
Statement at the UN HRC
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Human Rights Council: UN Human Rights Council - General
- Dates of engagement
- 15 March 2021
- Type of attempted engagement
- Participation in meeting on UN premises
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- 15 March 2021
- Location of mentioned reprisals
- UN Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland
- Reprisal information
On 15 March 2021, during the Human Rights Council, ECOSOC-accredited human rights NGO East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (“DefendDefenders”) delivered a pre-recorded video statement raising concerns about the human rights and humanitarian situation in Cameroon. DefendDefenders, the only NGO to raise the situation of Cameroon during the general debate under item 4, stressed that the Government as a member of the Council should not be shielded from scrutiny and urged actions by Member and Observer States should Cameroon fail to take concrete steps to improve its human rights situation. Following this statement, the Permanent Representative of Cameroon exercised the right of reply and accused DefendDefenders of “financing” and “advocating” terrorism and being responsible for “several assassinations, kidnappings, attacks and destruction of property in Cameroon.” According to the Permanent Representative, DefendDefenders did not “deserve to address [the] Council” and stated that the latter “must stop giving status to this kind of NGO without audience.”
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Defamation / Defamation campaign
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Government response dates
- 2 August 2021
- Government response content
On 2 August 2021, the Government responded to the note verbale sent in connection to the present report refuting the allegations therein and stressing that intimidation and reprisals “have never been the approaches or working methods of Cameroonian diplomacy.” While recognizing the importance of the role of NGOs and civil society in general, the Government stated that “these actors must ensure that declarations made within the framework of UN mechanisms or other instances are based on credible and verifiable sources.”
- Was the case raised by a State at the UN?
- No
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 0