At least 17 people have been killed by security forces during protests in support of Cameroon’s restive anglophone regions seeking independence, Amnesty International said on Monday.
“The use of excessive force to silence protests in the west and south-west regions of Cameroon is not the solution,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty’s Lake Chad researcher.
The NGO also repeated its call for an investigation into all deaths related to protests on Sunday across Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions, which symbolically declared their “independence” from the rest of the predominantly Francophone country.
Violence by security forces and the blocking of communication platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp are an “extremely worrying” escalation in the government’s crackdown on dissidents, it added.
“In order to avoid further bloodshed, the security forces must cease unnecessary and excessive use of force, and protesters should be peaceful if they want to make their voices heard,” said Allegrozzi in a statement.
English speakers have long complained that they are treated like second-class citizens in the West African nation and that the government makes less money available to them.
On Sunday, the secessionist movement declared independence – although the move has no basis in law.
Protesters tore down Cameroonian flags and raised the banner of their would-be state, called Ambazonia.
There was a heavy police presence in the region as the government looked to stem the demonstrations.
Three inmates of a prison in the town of Kumbo in Cameroon’s Anglophone north-western region were shot dead by police as they tried to flee after protesters attacked the jail and a fire broke out, state media channel CRTV reported.
Other reports put the number of casualties over the weekend higher.
Cameroon was a German colony until World War I, when it was split between Britain and France. The two sides were reunited in 1961.
About one-fifth of Cameroon’s population of 23 million lives in the English-speaking area. (