Editorial: Gendarme brutality, one too many.

After last week's United Nations Human Rights Report on Torture dumping Cameroon in an inglorious basket of the first 10 countries in the world with the worst ranking, the country is once more on the news for another bad reason.

A shocking video has gone viral on the social media, showing Douala-based lawyer, Tamfu Richard, being brutalized allegedly by gendarmes.



A swift statement from the President of the Cameroon Bar Association, Barrister Mbah Eric Mbah, pointed out that they got a distress call from Barrister Tamfu, followed by videos and images of him being assaulted and brutalized in the back of a vehicle belonging to the gendarmerie.

Those who watched the horrifying video said it showed "a gendarme kicking Richard Tamfu as onlookers shout in protest".

Tamfu has refrained from publicly saying what happened. But some of his colleagues said he was performing his professional duties and opposed the arrest of his client.

The reason for the opposition to the arrest of the man whose interests he was defending was that "a summons is not an arrest warrant" but he was brutalized. 

He later was reportedly hospitalized following the assault. The video has sparked widespread outrage and drawn condemnation from politicians and public personalities.

Former Batonnier Akere Muna, said: “I am deeply concerned and outraged by the recent events involving Mr. Tamfu, a respected lawyer of the Cameroon Bar residing in Douala. While courageously defending his client against an unlawful arrest, Maître Tamfu was brutally assaulted by gendarmes. The brazen and arrogant manner in which these officers attacked him, undeterred by the presence of cameras, is alarming and unacceptable”.

Prof Maurice Kamto, constitutional expert and leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, MRC, criticized the systemic issues behind such incidents. 

“This act speaks volumes about the training of law enforcement and judicial police officers in our country, as well as the inability or unwillingness of magistrates to effectively oversee their work,” he said. 

Another opposition politician, Joshua Osih, Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, described the incident as "inhumane and unacceptable".

Like Akere Muna, he called for swift and exemplary sanctions, stating on Facebook: “The senior leadership of the National Gendarmerie must act immediately against the perpetrators of this medieval savagery”.

Commendable indeed, the gendarmerie authorities acted, with the Secretary of State for Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie, Galax Etoga, ordering a judicial investigation into the scandal.

The instruction was explained in a memo issued by Colonel Pierre Aimé Bikele, Commander of the Littoral Gendarmerie Legion. It tasked the commander to investigate the incident which is graphically illustrated in the video and submit the findings within 72 hours.

That, however, is not prejudicial to the action of the Bar Association which in its November 27 statement noted that: “While awaiting a meeting of the Bar Council in the coming hours, the Bar President has instructed the Human Rights Commission and the Bar representatives in the Littoral Region to gather all relevant facts about this excessive incident, so the Bar Council can decide on the appropriate actions”.

He added with consternation that the incident in Douala comes barely a month after other violent assaults of two lawyers in Bafia and Yaounde.

“The assault on lawyers in police and gendarmerie units is gradually becoming the norm, and the case of Barrister Tamfu Ngarka Tristel Richard only adds to this troubling trend," he stated.

The Guardian Post does not know what actions the Bar may want to take. But the fact that the Gendarmerie bosses have acted expeditiously and given a 24-hour deadline to finish the investigation deserves reverence.

The sanctions of those found guilty which should include compensation and restitution by the assailants should be severe to deter others given that this is not the first time lawyers have complained about such barbarism.

If lawyers can face such inhuman treatment in the eyes of the public, it should be anyone's guess what could be happening to innocent members of the public in detention cells that are not within the view of peering social media videos.

The UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, in Havana, Cuba, in 1990 stipulates that: " Governments shall ensure that lawyers are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference....and  shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics".

The various human rights reports do not indicate that Cameroon adheres to those global principals. That may explain why SED recently relaunched its campaign to ensure its elements respect human rights.

But like all other professions, there are always bad eggs that smear and sully the reputation of the institution and when found guilty should be given the maximum penalty to deter others as Cameroonians and the world await justice for Barrister Tamfu, Longue Longue, Martinez Zogo and others not yet on the media search light.

 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3308 of Monday December 02, 2024

 

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