Amnesty report reveals war crimes- torturing, starving Boko Haram detainees in jail
Amnesty report reveals war crimes- torturing, starving Boko Haram detainees in jail
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A report by the London-based, non-governmental humanitarian organization Amnesty International reports that the suspects, including women and children, are beaten, waterboarded and forced into stress positions.

Arrests by Cameroon police, sometimes targeting entire villages, have increased the prison population, the report said. In one instance, 32 men were arrested on accusations the village was supplying Boko Haram with food, and though most of the men were eventually released, one died in custody.

"In seeking to protect its population from the brutality of Boko Haram, Cameroon is pursuing the right objective; but in arbitrarily arresting, torturing and subjecting people to enforced disappearances the authorities are using the wrong means," said Alioune Tine, an Amnesty International director.

"With hundreds of people arrested without reasonable suspicion that they have committed any crime, and people dying on a weekly basis in its overcrowded prisons, Cameroon's government should take urgent action to keep its promise to respect human rights while fighting Boko Haram."

The cases allegedly happened between 2013 and 2017, and dozens of detainees died as a result, it added. Most defendants were charged under an anti-terrorism law passed in 2014, which is ambiguous and vague, Amnesty said.

Amnesty International wrote to the Cameroonian authorities in April 2017 to share the report’s findings, but no response was provided and all subsequent requests for meetings were refused.

 
 
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