The letter of the Ambazonia Governing Council to the general secretary of the United Nations
CAMEROUN :: POLITIQUE

Cameroun :: The Letter Of The Ambazonia Governing Council To The General Secretary Of The United Nations :: Cameroon

To: H.E. Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General United Nations Headquarters New York, New York 10017.

Dear Mr. Secretary-General:

The Ambazonia Governing Council welcome a statement by the United Nations Organization condemning serious human rights violations and abuses in the ongoing conflict between Ambazonia and Cameroun.

The statement adds that ‘we reiterate the readiness of the UN to work with all stakeholders towards a political solution to the crisis … ‘. While we recognize this as a step in the right direction, it should be pointed out that while one life lost is one too many, the situation of violence in the ongoing war declared by President Paul Biya of Cameroun is not new considering that Ambazonia is not a vacuum in the global order of this world.

On February 14, 2020, the world witnessed the brutal killing in Ngarbuh of 23 innocent Ambazonian civilians including 15 children. While the world and international institutions were outraged and made public statements, nothing substantial has been done till date. UN officials who decried such a gruesome act included Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, Special Representative on Violence against Children, Najat Maalla M’jid, and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng.

The implication of voices of UN officials reacting to global issues cannot be over emphasized because that is the preamble upon which the UN was set up in the first place. That is, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights: in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.

The Ambazonia Governing Council wants to remind the UN that Ambazonians as a people and geographic expression falls under international and local responsibilities. In its Comm. 266/2003 ruling on the case SCAPO/SCNC against the state of Cameroun, the African Court of Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) ruled that Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) is a distinct people.

The ruling stated inter alia that “the people of Southern Cameroons can legitimately claim to be a people…” The ACHPR further noted that “the people of Southern Cameroons” qualify to be referred to as a “people” because they manifest numerous characteristics and affinities, which include a common history, linguistic tradition,
territorial connection, and political outlook. More importantly Ambazonians identify themselves as a people with a separate and distinct identity. Identity is an innate characteristic within a people. It is up to other external people to recognize such existence, but not to deny it.”

For close to six decades the Ambazonian people have sought for all possible solutions to this conflict locally and internationally to no avail. Since 2016, when a peaceful protest was met with brutal repression and a subsequent declaration of war by Mr. Biya of Cameroun on Ambazonia on November 30, 2017, the Ambazonian people have cried out more to a silent international community and system.

The Ambazonia Governing Council has time and again called the invocation of the UN instrument of the Responsibility to Protect given the atrocities being committed by Cameroun on the Ambazonian people.

It is the responsibility of the UN and its affiliates and the international community to protect the Ambazonian people from the brutality of La Republic du Cameroun army and proxy forces operating in Ambazonia.

It is the responsibility of the occupation regime and forces including all their proxy forces to respect international laws and protocols governing the rules of wars. The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and subsequent protocols of 1977 are clear on the rules governing armed conflicts. The Ambazonian Governing Council and the Ambazonian Defence Forces is not a signatory to all such protocols and treaties yet the only party in respect of all of such treaties and protocols.

Signatories to international treaties and protocols are all in violation of the very treaties and protocols they signed. It is a shame that the Ambazonian Governing Council and the Ambazonian Defence Forces even under such gruesome brutality should be the one to remind and lead the occupiers, and international institutions and bodies to their responsibilities under international law.

Proxy forces loyal to the Yaoundé regime have been carrying out a reign of terror in Ambazonian territory.

This is not without the full blessing of their instructors in Yaoundé, Cameroun. The international system is equipped with the relevant technology and intelligence to support this fact.

It is irresponsible and abdication of responsibility for the UN and the occupation regime to expect the Ambazonian Governing Council and its Defence Forces to control, and worst still accept responsibility for the atrocities of the occupation forces and their proxy militias in Ambazonia.

The Ambazonia Governing Council remains ready for the international stakeholders to recognize that the ongoing conflict between Cameroun and Ambazonia is an international issue that requires international action. We have reiterated our readiness and willingness for a political solution to the current situation.

The Ambazonia Governing Council reaffirms its commitment to a negotiated settlement overseen by a credible neutral party on a neutral ground with a guarantor to oversee the implementation of the outcome.

We have repeatedly declared our openness to a credible multilateral negotiation process under the auspices of the United Nations that should lead to the respect of the inalienable right of the people of Ambazonia to total freedom, sovereignty and respect for our territorial integrity as provided in UN

Resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1961. This is the diplomatic path that can achieve a satisfactory response to your call in Ambazonia, and lead to permanent peace.

Unfortunately, the purported Swiss-led process has been marred with continuous deception by the Swiss mediators. Consequently, the Ambazonian people have no trust in the Swiss to lead a credible process that would have taken advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic global devastation to achieve a satisfactory
response to your appeal.

A credible multilateral negotiation process led by a neutral country other than Switzerland, under the auspices of the United Nations is imperative to achieve a ceasefire and peace diplomatically. I call on your high office to support this alternative process, which is a unified position of the dominant Ambazonia movements.

It is imperative that amidst the ongoing genocide, the United Nations invoke the responsibility to protect the Ambazonian people.

In the absence of this invocation, the Ambazonia Defence Forces have the responsibility to intensify the self-defences of Ambazonian women, children, and civilians at large from oppression, torture, rape and massacres of the people of Ambazonia.

The Ngahbur massacre perpetuated by Cameroun soldiers that received laudable condemnation from your office is a recent case that would have been prevented if we had fully exercised this right to self-defence.

The determination of the people of Ambazonia to free themselves from Cameroun’s tyranny is unwavering.

The Ambazonian Independence cause is not a matter within Cameroon’s domestic jurisdiction. It has its roots in the faulty decolonization process that significantly involved violation of UN Resolutions provisions.

As it were with East Timor and other self-determination causes involving foreign intervention, and to give further credibility to the Swiss-led Process, what work has Switzerland done to obtain a UN General Assembly Resolution on “The Cameroon-Ambazonia Conflict” that further endorses and empowers the conflict resolution process?

To proceed with the process, the Ambazonia Governing Council therefore calls on the UN to translate its words into action by:

1) Requiring Cameroun to commit to a negotiated settlement under the auspicious of a third party guaranteed by the UN;

2) Requesting the Secretary General to appoint a UN Special Envoy to the conflict resolution process;

3) Requiring Cameroun to respect International Human Rights Law in the conflict with Ambazonia;

4) Ask the UNSC to refer Cameroun to the ICC for investigations on its crimes in Ambazonia;

5) Declaring the Ambazonian People as “Endangered” in consideration of the loss of Ambazonian lives and destruction of property;

6) Invoke the Responsibility to Protect and call on the government of Cameroon and the international community to take actions immediately in this regard.

Please, accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Dr Larry Ayamba
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Ambazonia Governing Council

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