Human Rights Watch (HRW) has strongly condemned the lenient sentences handed down to soldiers convicted of the murder of 21 civilians, mostly women and children, in Ngarbuh, Northwest Cameroon, on February 14, 2020. HRW expressed its concerns in a statement released on February 24, stressing that the trial had failed to deliver full justice and bring the masterminds of these acts to justice.
The Yaoundé military court sentenced members of the security forces and a member of a pro-government militia to prison terms ranging from five to ten years. Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Africa researcher at HRW, denounced the authorities' failure to hold senior army officers to account and to provide adequate redress to the victims' families.
"The failure of the Cameroonian prosecutor's office and judiciary to investigate those responsible, coupled with the refusal to grant reparations, is compounding the suffering of the victims' families," said Ilaria Allegrozzi. She added that the Ngarbuh trial had failed to fully establish responsibility or obtain meaningful redress.
The Ngarbuh massacre took place on February 14, 2020, when Cameroonian soldiers, accompanied by Peul militias, attacked the village of Ngarbuh, located in the Ndu district of the Northwest region. The attack killed 21 people, including 13 children and a pregnant woman. The attackers also set fire to houses, assaulted residents and looted property.
Initially, the government denied the soldiers' responsibility, before acknowledging their involvement following the establishment of a commission of inquiry. Three soldiers, Baba Guida, Gilbert Haranga and Cyrille Sandings, were arrested, while some 20 Peul militiamen are still on the run. The trial, which began on December 17, 2020, concluded with sentences deemed insufficient by HRW.
Haranga and For, tried in absentia, were sentenced to ten years in prison, Guida to eight years and Sandings to five years, with a fine of 183,100 CFA francs each. HRW believes that these sentences do not reflect the gravity of the crimes committed, pointing out that the Cameroonian Penal Code provides for life imprisonment for murder.
The organization also criticized the amount of compensation awarded to the victims. While the victims were claiming 1.8 billion CFA francs, the court considered this amount unjustified, noting that they had already received 80 million CFA francs. HRW called on the United Nations Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa to provide legal and technical assistance to the families of victims to enable them to file a solid appeal for redress and ensure the continued protection of their rights.
The leniency of the sentences handed down in the Ngarbuh case raises questions about the Cameroonian authorities' real willingness to combat impunity and guarantee the protection of civilians in conflict zones. The situation of the victims and their families remains worrying, in the absence of adequate reparations and full justice.
