As of 24 October, at least 70 civilians had had been arrested during a meeting ahead of been reportedly killed in at least 51 attacks. the September protests. On 8 January a female suicide bomber killed FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, at least 15 people in Mozogo. ASSOCIATION AND ASSEMBLY According to reports, at least 15 fishermen were abducted on 30 August in Blaram On 21 July the authorities banned a village, and on 10 November four villagers demonstration planned by the MRC for 25 were killed in a village of Mokolo commune in July in Yaoundé, on the grounds of “risk of an attack attributed to Boko Haram. serious disturbance to public order” and “risk DENIAL OF HUMANITARIAN ACCESS of the spread of Covid-19.” However, several Doctors Without Borders announced on 3 demonstrations in support of the ruling party August that it had been forced to withdraw were authorized the same month. teams from the Northwest region, after the On 26 August, the Ministry of Territorial authorities suspended its activities in Administration gave “promoters and December 2020, accusing it of supporting representatives of foreign associations” local armed groups. working in Cameroon one month to send ARBITRARY DETENTION them information relating to their headquarters and offices, and names and The UN Working Group on Arbitrary contact details of staff as part of an “updating Detention, in two Opinions adopted in August operation”; otherwise they would not be 2019 and May 2021, called for the release of authorized to work in the country. Human Mancho Bibixy Tse and Tsi Conrad. The two rights defenders and associations denounced men had led protests in the anglophone the move. regions in 2016 and 2017 and were RIGHT TO HEALTH sentenced by a military court in Yaoundé to 15 years in prison, following their conviction Civil servants complained in the media about notably for “acts of terrorism, secession, the lack of financial support by the spreading false information, and contempt for government to their establishment to fight public bodies and officials”. Dozens of other against Covid-19. On 19 May, a report by the anglophone leaders remained in detention Supreme Court’s audit chamber was leaked after having been tried by military tribunals. to social media. It revealed potential dubious More than 100 Cameroon Renaissance contracts, falsified accounts, and the alleged Movement (MRC) members and supporters misappropriation of billions of CFA francs by reportedly remained in arbitrary detention; government bodies from the Special National they were charged or sentenced by military Solidarity Fund – created in March 2020 by courts, for attempted revolution, rebellion, President Paul Biya – for the fight against aggravated assembly, or participation in the Covid-19. On 28 May the authorities organization of an undeclared public announced judicial inquiries on the meeting, in relation to their activism or their management of Covid-19 funds. As of 28 participation in banned protests in December, only 1,020,007 Covid-19 September 2020. Among them, Olivier Bibou vaccinations had been administered. Nissack, the spokesperson of MRC leader Maurice Kamto, and Alain Fogué Tedom, LGBTI PEOPLE’S RIGHTS national treasurer of the MRC,were LGBTI people continued to be subjected to sentenced to seven years in prison. human rights violations. On 31 December, after 15 months of On 8 February, two transgender women pretrial detention, four members of the Stand were arrested in a restaurant by gendarmes. Up for Cameroon movement were found They said they were physically and verbally guilty of “insurrection” and sentenced to 16 assaulted before being transferred to New months in prison by a military tribunal. They Bell prison in Douala. Both were charged Amnesty International Report 2021/22 115