Explanation and Analysis of my time with
Global Conscience Initiative
Caroline Thomas
I spent one week with Global Conscience Initiative, from March 31 st – April 4 th 2008. My aims were to learn as much as possible about the human rights situation in Cameroon, and about the work that Global Conscience does.
I feel that I definitely achieved those aims: I met a lot of interesting people, carried out some very informative interviews, and witnessed first-hand the judicial and penal system in action in Kumba. I felt that I had excellent access to a wide range of people and places. In addition, all involved with GCI were wonderful – really friendly, welcoming and helpful. I learnt a lot about GCI and Cameroon from them.
My week began with an interview with Samba Churchill, founder and executive director of GCI, who briefed me on the work that GCI does and the challenges it faces. He also gave me information about specific human rights violations in Kumba, which was very useful for my subsequent interviews with local authorities.
I then had an interview with Louis Madiba from the police force. I brought up the issue of police taking bribes in order to release suspected criminals from custody, and was told this never happens. I also brought up the issue of police at roadblocks taking money for themselves, and was told, ‘I can't say whether that is true or not, but everywhere in the world there are people who do all kinds of things.' I was also told that the police feel there aren't enough of them to keep order, and that they suffer from a lack of resources, e.g. they have only 1 van and 1 land cruiser between the roughly 100 police who cover the 3 sub-districts of Kumba. The police told me they hope this situation will change and they will be given more resources.
I also met with the District Officer and the head of the local Gendarmerie. I also had an interview with the Magistrate. We spoke about the recent riots, and he told me that people had been given sentences of between a minimum of a few months and maximum of 2 years. The magistrate told me that crime is increasing in Kumba, and we spoke about the reasons behind this: unemployment and poverty. ‘When you had lots of boys sitting by the roadside all day with nothing to do, crime is inevitable,' he said. I was also informed that there are a lot of repeat offenders in Kumba: the Magistrate said he sometimes sees a person who has been released just a few days before, arrested again and brought before him. He says that prison ‘hardens' people. ‘Only very, very few [who are released] truly appreciate freedom,' he said.
I asked him why they sometimes don't allow people to be released on bail, and he said that often people are released on bail and never come back. ‘The level of education of the local population about the judicial process is not sufficient here,' he said. ‘People don't take things seriously enough.' He said, ‘GCI always talks about human rights, but what about educating people that they must respect the law?' He also spoke at length about how he believes there are some people in society who are addicted to crime, and won't ever be able to stop.
I also had an interview with Ella Menye Andre Fils, the Commissaire de Police Principal. He told me the crime rate is declining in Kumba, compared to when his predecessor was here. He also told me that ‘jungle justice' is increasing. I asked him why he thought ‘jungle justice' was increasing and he said it was because of bottlenecks in the judicial system, although he also wanted me to know he was not blaming the tribunals. He also said that often people carry out ‘jungle justice' as they were ignorant of judicial procedures, e.g. that you have to have sufficient proof and evidence to be able to convict someone in court. He said that what is needed is greater education of the public about how the police, gendarmerie and courts all work. He also criticized the media and said that the free press in Cameroon always looks for negative stories and ways to criticize the judicial process, and don't always give the full picture. He said that the media ‘intoxicates' the public, and instead should inform and educate them. We also spoke about the recent riots, and he expressed his opinion that there was a group of people who seized the opportunity of the fuel price strike to incite people to commit violence, with a view to raising awareness of their opposition to proposed revisions to Article 6.2 which would increase the Presidential mandate.
I also visited the Director of the Kumba prison twice, and visited inside the prison. We spoke about how currently minors are kept in the same place as adult prisoners. I also asked him why he felt there were so many repeat offenders and he said, ‘Inside prison, everything is taken care of for a prisoner, so it's a simple life. But outside, you have to be able to look after yourself and survive financially on your own. Some come back as life is easier inside.' We also spoke about how sometimes prisoners die inside the prison due to disease: some come with wounds, scratches etc which in the heat become infected; some have TB.
He said that one aspect of prison workers' job is to give prisoners advice about how the world has evolved, and prepare them for the outside world. He said that they offer services such as literacy classes and sewing classes. He said the prison is hindered in this work by a lack of adequate resources, e.g. they only have very old-fashioned typewriters, not computers. He said having access to computers and the internet would be the number 1 thing which would make a difference to prisoners' education, and by extension to Cameroonian society.
Inside the prison the prisoners were sitting around; it didn't seem like they had much to occupy themselves with. I wasn't allowed to see inside the ‘Untried Prisoners' cell block, but from the outside I could see that it was very dark inside, and I imagine it must be very hot. I repeatedly asked the Prison Director how long prisoners stayed in that cell before their trial but he evaded the question. He said they were allowed out into the yard 3 or 4 times a week. I also saw a long length of chain tied to the cell block. I asked the Prison Director whether prisoners were ever tied up, and he said ‘Only the very dangerous ones.'
I spent some time with the women prisoners, who have a separate enclosure. They were washing clothes, drying nuts, and cooking food. Some of the younger ones were lying down on their bunks. The sleeping quarters for the women seemed very crowded. They have a tv with very poor reception and a dvd player. There was one woman prisoner who had a 2 year old child with her, and she was also 6 months pregnant. She had been in prison for 2 months, awaiting her trial for fighting. Her husband was also in the prison. The Prison Director said she was able to see her husband occasionally, under the supervision of the Yard Mistress.
While in Kumba, I also witnessed ‘jungle justice' in action, when a ‘thief' was caught by a mob behind my hotel. When I got there the man in question had blood on his t-shirt from a wound on his head. There was much debate amongst the mob, apparently about whether he was mentally ill. I was there for approximately 20 minutes, and no police turned up. A few of the mob took him away in a car, apparently to take him to the police station.
Overall, I was impressed that the authorities were willing to meet with me and answer my questions, but I found them to be very defensive and very keen to paint the authorities and judicial system in a positive light. I think they are afraid of making any negative comments or criticisms. I also feel there is very much a feeling of ‘them and us' between the authorities and the local population. I think the authorities and the population feel this way – they is a lack of trust and understanding on both sides.
My time with GCI surpassed my expectations. I feel I learnt a great deal about Cameroonian life, and about the many difficulties that GCI faces in its quest to secure human rights for all people.