REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CAMEROON: THE CHRC AND THE USA STRENGTHEN MECHANISMS FOR EXCHANGING INFORMATIONCHRC Chair recommends careful review of US State Department information on human rights in Cameroon.

The Cameroon Human Rights Commission and the United States Embassy in Cameroon, through its representative Jan Mensz, held a working session in Yaoundé on 29 August. This meeting, the second of its kind, enabled Mamouda Ferikouop, Head of the Division for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, to provide the American envoy with information based on documented studies and figures on the human rights situation in Cameroon. “It should be underlined that these working sessions are the logical follow-up to the observations made by Professor James Mouangue Kobila, the Chairperson of the Cameroon Human Rights Commission, on the 2021 report of the US Department of State on the human rights situation in Cameroon,” said Mamouda Ferikouop. Professor James Mouangue Kobila, the Chairperson of the CHRC, recommended that the information published annually by the US State Department on the state of promotion and protection of human rights in Cameroon should be carefully examined. 

The CHRC ensures full coverage of the entire national territory thanks to its 10 regional branches and a network of more than 715 civil society organisations. This position gives the Commission exclusive access to data on the protection of human rights in Cameroon. Jan Mensz, the American envoy, acknowledged Cameroon’s commitment to human rights: “We discussed the excellent work the Commission is doing in the area of human rights. We also discussed developments over the past year. It is clear that human rights are a key issue for both the United States and Cameroon.”

The CHRC has a wide range of instruments that enable it to carry out its mission successfully on a daily basis. Mamouda Ferikouop told American envoy Jan Mensz, who has been in Cameroon for three months, about the introduction of a toll-free number, 1523, to report human rights violations and all acts of torture.

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