While former Cameroonian public broadcaster Amadou Vamoulké is preparing to appear for a 23rd hearing, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has seized the special rapporteurs on freedom of expression and detention of the African Commission Human Rights and Peoples Rights to address the situation of the incarcerated journalist without having been tried for more than three years.
Will the 23rd hearing before the Special Criminal Court (TCS) scheduled for Wednesday, October 9, be the last for Amadou Vamoulké ? After twenty-two consecutive referrals, more than three years of detention and a trial that far exceeded the maximum of nine months in which the defendants were supposed to be tried by that court, RSF decided to bring the case former head of CRTV for the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information and his counterpart in charge of prisons, conditions of detention and police action were officially seized by our organization on Monday, 7 October.
Special rapporteurs are mechanisms set up by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, an organ of the African Union, to which Cameroon is a party. RSF is asking them, as their terms of reference permit, to make direct contact with the authorities of Cameroon, to undertake a visit to the country and to publicly challenge the authorities of the State to ask that Amadou Vamoulké be released.
“Record number of referrals, lengthy proceedings in violation of international standards and Cameroonian law itself, unlawful pre-trial detention, lack of proper care despite the establishment of several medical certificates, no journalist in the region has suffered such in recent years, denounces Arnaud Froger, head of the RSF Africa office. Faced with the limited possibilities of local recourse, RSF has chosen to increase the pressure for the release of this journalist by seizing two special rapporteurs of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”
If Amadou Vamoulké’s situation does not quickly find a way out, RSF could consider taking the case directly to the African Commission and ask it to refer the case to the Court, with a view to condemning the Cameroonian State for violating the rights of that country. journalist.
In March, RSF wrote to President Paul Biya asking him to use his prerogatives to release Amadou Vamoulké to whom he had entrusted the reins of CRTV in 2005. This letter was made public and remained unanswered.
Seized by a group of deputies on the situation of the journalist, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in its response that the prosecution “did not prove the relevance of its action” and announced that it would follow “with the greatest attention “the findings of the UN working group on arbitrary detention seized a few weeks earlier by RSF.
CRTV . The prosecution did not produce any documents or witnesses despite the record number of hearings held.
More than three years after his arrest, and without the prospect of a quick resolution of his situation on the judicial front, Amadou Vamoulké has seen his health deteriorate in recent weeks. Two medical reports, one by the central hospital of Yaounde and the other by the American hospital in Paris, clearly indicate that the journalist must undergo examinations and treatments that can not be carried out on the spot. RSF continues to request medical evacuation .
Cameroon ranks 131st in the RSF World Press Freedom Index in 2019.
Copyright ©2016, Reporters Without Borders. Used with the permission of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), CS 90247 75083 Paris Cedex 02 https://rsf.org
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