ProtectDefenders.eu has been informed about the 3-month suspension of the Network of Human Rights Defenders in Central Africa (REDHAC). The suspension was pronounced by the Minister of Territorial Administration of Cameroon on December 6, 2024.
REDHAC is a renowned civil society organization whose courageous and determined work contributes significantly to the fight against human rights violations, the protection of defenders and the promotion of justice in Central Africa.
Many of REDHAC’s members and directors have been victims of constant harassment and threats in the past decades. Since 2010, for instance, Mrs Ngo Mbe, the executive director, has been the subject of defamation campaigns, death threats and attempted attacks, extortion, bloom and intimidation by unidentified actors and intelligence services aimed at obstructing her work in defence of human rights.
This recent attack on REDHAC is also not isolated, since several other organisations have also been suspended or banned on the same day by the Minister of Territorial Administration.
Its suspension, based on the accusation of “illicit” or “unexplained” financing, without proof and without a transparent procedure, is a blatant attempt to delegitimize its work and justify arbitrary restrictions. Furthermore, it is considered a blatant attack to freedom of association and an alarming signal for civic space in Cameroon.
In September 2024, ProtectDefenders.eu had also received worrying information about the degrading situation of press freedom in the country. On 24 September, freelance journalist Kingsley Fumunyuy Njoka was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for «secession and complicity with armed gangs”. His sentencing is believed to be motivated by the authorisation to publish reports on the armed conflict in the northwest of the country.
Barely a month earlier, the former Director General of the Cameroonian public media outlet Radiotélévision publique camerounaise (CRTV), Amadou Vamoulké, was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment for «embezzlement of public funds»
Cameroon ranks 130th out of 180 countries in the RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
