Cameroon: Excessive use of force must stop amid post-election protests

Geneva - Yaoundé, The OMCT SOS Torture Litigators' Group in Africa, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the International Federation of ACATs (FIACAT) and its partners express their deep concern over credible reports of killings, injuries, and arbitrary arrests following protests that have erupted since 26 October 2025 in response to the announcement of Cameroon's presidential election results. These incidents occur against a long-standing backdrop of torture acts, ill-treatment, and impunity among Cameroonian security forces, as documented over many years.

1. Excessive use of force and arbitrary arrests

On 27 October 2025, the Constitutional Council declared President Paul Biya the winner with 53.66 percent of the vote. Following the announcement, peaceful demonstrations were organised in several cities across the country, including Douala, Yaoundé, Bafang, Garoua, Maroua, Guider, Batouri, Bertoua, Bangangte, Touboro, Mokolo, Bamenda and Mbanga. Reliable sources indicate that security forces used tear gas, water cannons, and in some cases live ammunition, resulting in deaths and serious injuries among the demonstrators. Dozens of people were arrested, including minors and opposition supporters. Such use of force against largely peaceful gatherings is disproportionate and contrary to international law. The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) had already, in its 2024 review, urged Cameroon to end excessive use of force including against peaceful demonstrators and ensure independent investigations into violations committed. In addition, the army has been deployed in several localities and, in some cases, used lethal force without any prior requisition decree, breaching domestic law. Lawyers are being turned away from police stations, and several people in police custody are reported to have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Threats against human rights defenders and journalists have also been reported.

2. Legal obligations and State responsibility

Cameroon is legally bound to prevent torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and to ensure that any use of force is strictly necessary, in compliance with the law and proportionality. The country is listed among "high-risk" States in the OMCT Global Torture Index, and the CAT's 2024 concluding observations denounced arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detentions, the use of military courts to try civilians, and gender-based violence against civilians. In the context of elections, these obligations are heightened: the State must protect the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and refrain from criminalising political dissent.

3. Future actions and call to the international community

The OMCT SOS Torture Litigator's group, cosignatory of this statement, recalls having already submitted several individual complaints to the CAT regarding acts of torture and ill-treatment inflicted on persons arrested during the 2018 post-election protests. These pending cases reveal a systematic pattern of arbitrary detention, torture in police custody, and the unlawful use of military justice. In light of the new abuses reported since October 2025, the Litigator's group will document and submit new cases of torture, arbitrary detention, and excessive force to the CAT; engage with other international and regional mechanisms; will support lawyers and victims in obtaining justice and protection; and warns the authorities of the risks of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.

The signatories of this statement call on the international community, the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, and bilateral partners to exert sustained pressure on the Cameroonian authorities to:

• Immediately end the excessive and lethal use of force against protesters;

• Respect the fundamental legal guarantees recognised under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights for all persons arrested;

• Release all individuals arrested or detained for peacefully exercising their right to protest and ensure fair-trial rights;

• Conduct independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of killings, injuries, torture, and ill-treatment;

• Prosecute and sanction perpetrators, including senior officials involved;

• Cease trying civilians before military courts;

• Grant unhindered access for human rights monitors and organisations to places of detention and protest-related trials.

Signatories:

The following lawyers are signatories to this statement:

• Djerandi Laguerre Dionro, Lawyer at the Bar of Chad

• Ferdinand AMAZOHOUN, Collective of Associations Against Impunity in Togo (CACIT)/Togo

• Claude AMEGAN, Collective of Associations Against Impunity in Togo (CACIT)/Togo

• Aissa RAHMOUNE, Committee for the Preservation of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (CS-LADDH)/Algeria

• Christian Loubassou, Christian Action for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT-Congo)/Republic of Congo

• Felix NKONGHO, Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA)/Cameroon

• WEMBOLUA Henri, Alliance for the Universality of Fundamental Rights (AUDF) / DRC

• Annie Masengo, Human Rights Defenders Network (RDDH) / DRC

• Armel Niyongere, SOS-Torture Burundi / Burundi

• Jeanne d'Arc Zaninyana, Collective of Lawyers for the Defense of Victims of Crimes under International Law Committed in Burundi (CAVIB) / Burundi

• Kadidiatou Hamadou, Association for the Defense and Protection of Children and Women (ADEPE-F / ESPOIR) / Niger

• Dorcas Mirette Nkongme, Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA)

• Mohsen Souilah, SANAD Centers/Tunisia

• Frédéric KWAMBA TSIHINGEJ, AFIA MAMA/DRC

• Drissa Traoré, Lawyer at the bar of Côte d'Ivoire

• Alexandrine Tchekessi, Changement Social Bénin

Other signatory partner organisations:

ACAT-Cameroun

International Federation of ACATs (FIACAT)

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

Cameroon Network of Human Rights Organisations

For more information, please contact: Guy Valère BADANARO, Coordinator of the Judicial Intervention Group/SOS-Torture in Africa; Collective of Associations Against Impunity in Togo (CACIT) / Tel: (+228) 92 18 67 92. Email: [email protected]

The SOS-Torture Litigator's Group in Africa is a group of lawyers from the OMCT SOS-Torture network whose aim is to contribute to strengthening the prevention, accountability, and redress of cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. It is made up of 16 African lawyers and is sponsored by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Collective of Associations Against Impunity in Togo (CACIT).