The Collective of Democratic and Patriotic Organizations of Cameroonians in the Diaspora (CODE), extremely concerned about the death of journalist Samuel Wazizi who was imprisoned and died in troubled circumstances on August 17, 2019.

Samuel Wazizi, 35, real name Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, English-speaking journalist with CHILLEN MUZIK AND TELEVISION (CMTV) in Buea, arrested on August 2, 2019 was detained at Muea police station before being extradited to an unknown destination. He died on August 17, 2019 (Date communicated by the Cameroonian authorities) during his detention in a secret prison in Yaoundé.

The Cameroonian defense ministry recently claimed that the journalist died on August 17 - 14 days after his arrest - from severe sepsis at the Yaoundé military hospital.

On August 17, 2020, one year after Wazizi's death, CODE continues to question the circumstances of his disappearance. Why did it have to take 10 months to reveal his death? Why did they let his lawyer appear fourteen times in court if Samuel Wazizi was already dead?

Reporters Without Borders had consulted several photos of the journalist taken in Yaoundé on August 13, 2019. “There he presents numerous injuries and inflammations in his foot, hand and shoulder which legitimately allow us to suspect acts of torture inflicted in the previous days ”.

The Cameroonian authorities were responsible for his life and safety while in detention and must provide a full account of the circumstances of his detention and death.

On June 5, the French ambassador to Cameroon told the media that President Paul Biya had assured him that an investigation would be opened into Wazizi's death.

For CODE, under national and international human rights law, Cameroonian authorities have an obligation to establish responsibilities for each death that occurs in detention.

As we said in one of our previous press releases on the same subject, for CODE, failure to investigate and prosecute those responsible would violate Cameroon's obligations to protect people from arbitrary detention and deprivation of life and provide an effective remedy

CODE urges the Cameroonian government to set up an independent and impartial commission of inquiry that includes credible civil society organizations.

CODE invites national and international organizations for the promotion of human rights to launch an international campaign for the safety and freedom of exercise of journalists in Cameroon and against the impunity of those responsible for the violations and intimidations recorded by several social organizations. Cameroonian civilians.

Done in Brussels on 08/17/2020
For the Operational Alert Unit
Ophilia Bih

http://lecode.canalblog.com 
comitedecoordinationcode@yahoo.fr 

Amplification:
- National and international press
- Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon
- Cameroonian political parties
- National and international organizations for the defense and promotion of human rights
- Journalists' rights organizations