The Commission recalls also that hate speech is defined by the United Nations: as any communication in speech, writing or behaviour that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to someone's religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity.
The
Commission further recalls that Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights adopted on 27 June 1981, ratified by Cameroon on 20 June 1989
and entered into force on 21 October 1989, forbids all forms of discrimination
based on race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any
other opinion, national or social origin, fortune, birth or other status.
The
Commission equally notes that Section 241-1 of Law No. 2019/020 of 24 December
2019 to amend and supplement some provisions of the Penal Code relating to
contempt of tribe or ethnic group provides that whoever by any means makes hate
speech against people or incites them to violence due to their tribal or ethnic
origins shall be punished with imprisonment from one to two years and with fine
of 300,000 (three hundred thousand) to 3,000,000 (three million) francs.
The
Commission commends the publication by the National Communication Council (NCC)
in its communiqué of 23 January 2024, where it reminds the entire national
media community and the public that while preserving their freedom of
expression, they remain bound by their role of education, information and
social cohesion, in a spirit of objectivity, moderation and social
responsibility, and calls on them to avoid potential divisive excesses.
The
Commission strongly condemns all forms of ethnic, religious and political
intolerance, attacks against minority communities, particularly during
inter-community conflicts in some parts of the country, and the dissemination
of ethnic supremacist messages in the media or during public or private
meetings and demonstrations, disinformation, incitement to hatred on social
media and the resurgence of violence in the home and society at large.
The
Commission reiterates to the Government to practice zero tolerance for
tribalism, including its most extreme form, ethnic supremacism, which, like the
Holocaust, is based on the theory of a superior ethnic group.
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