CHRDA Commemorates International Day Against Racial Discrimination

By A Correspondent

CHRDA, On 21, 2021 joins the rest of the world in commemoration of the International Day Against Racial Discrimination.

The day is celebrated this year on the theme “YOUTH STANDING UP AGAINST RACISM.” It engages the public through #FightRacism, which aims to foster a global culture of tolerance, equality and anti-discrimination and calls on each and every one of us to stand up against racial prejudice and intolerant attitudes.

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on the day the police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid "pass laws" in 1960.

In 1979, the General Assembly adopted a programme of activities to be undertaken during the second half of the Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination. On that occasion, the General Assembly decided that a week of solidarity with the peoples struggling against racism and racial discrimination, beginning on 21 March, would be organized annually in all States.

Since then, the apartheid system in South Africa has been dismantled. Racist laws and practices have been abolished in many countries, and we have built an international framework for fighting racism, guided by the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 

The Convention is now nearing universal ratification, yet still, in all regions, too many individuals, communities and societies suffer from the injustice and stigma that racism brings.

The idea of non-discrimination is founded on the Principle of equality which means therefore that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and have the potential to contribute constructively to the development and well-being of their societies.

THE CONTEXT OF CAMEROON

Cameroon is a sovereign nation united in its diversity.  The People of Cameroon are made of diverse groups with religious, linguistic, ethnic, gender, social and cultural backgrounds. These groups could be aligned under two major groups; the Anglophones or English-speaking minority and Francophones or French-speaking majority, considering the historical origins of the country.

The People of English Cameroons are a minority group composed of 20% of the total population estimated at over 25 million. This population is inhabited within 10 Administrative Regions of Cameroon. 

The People of English Cameroon are sub-divided into different tribal groups, enjoying English Language as a major language of communication, an educational system carved out of the Anglo-Saxon culture, and a unique judicial system based on the English Common Law, different from the French language used in the other 8 Regions as a major language of communication, French Civil Law applied in courts of the 8 other Regions, and an educational system based on the French system of education.

Since October 2016, Cameroon has been facing a violent crisis in its Northwest and Southwest Regions. This crisis is a resurgence of a repeated and long-standing struggle between the government and the country’s linguistic minority.

In 2016, anglophone lawyers and teachers went on strike to protest against what they called the “franconization” of the judicial and the education system, a systematic attempt by the central government to erode English common law and the Anglo-Saxon culture in Anglophone parts of the country. This crisis with historical ramification and undertone has degenerated into armed confrontations with important civilian losses. 

Since October 1^st, 2017, when the government violently repressed massive and popular demonstrations organized by the civil society, the social movements that had lasted almost a year, escalated and slipped into a protracted human rights crisis marred by daily deadly clashes. 

This was after the use of real bullets and excessive use of tear gas, by government forces which caused the death of innocent civilians by asphyxiation. Since then, armed separatist activist attempted to proclaim the birth of a new State called: The”Federal Republic of Ambazonia.”

The “Anglophone issue” has been part of the political life in Cameroon since independence from British and French rule. One of the key issues has always been the question of the right to self-determination of the people of southern Cameroons. 

This issue has always created high tension on the October 1st of every year, which corresponds to the day when the two Anglophone regions gained independence from the British, 58 years ago. 

The grievances rose by the Anglophones, range from « discriminatory state policies, to uneven development and attempts to erase their distinctive identity as Anglophones in favor of forced French assimilation».

This situation has further been made worse in Cameroon by the use of hate speech on and offline against people of different origins, even political parties in the country are founded on basis of ethnic lines and these often results in gross discrimination in terms of appointments in government.

Hate speech on and offline has contributed to much of the divide and fighting in Cameroon. Discrimination and intolerance on basis of ethnic origin, linguistic, religious as well as political affiliations has been on the forefront of the divide in Cameroon that has resulted in gross human rights abuses and a serious humanitarian crisis.

CHRDA therefore uses this occasion of the International Day Against Racial Discrimination which aims to foster a global culture of tolerance, equality and anti-discrimination and calls on each and every Cameroonian to stand up against all manner of prejudice and intolerant attitudes. 

We also call on each and every one of us to defy hate and embrace the principles of love, equality, peace and justice so as to make Cameroon a better place for all.