As part of the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Cameroon by the UN Human Rights Council, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and our partnering organizations, Réseaux des Défenseurs des Droits Humains en Afrique Centrale (REDHAC) and Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA), have submitted the following report. Since the previous UPR in 2018, Cameroon’s complex security and humanitarian crisis, especially in the Anglophone region, has led to the effective closure of civic space. This submission assesses the Cameroonian government’s continued efforts to stifle freedom of expression, association, and assembly, including through intimidation, arbitrary arrests, detention, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. In particular, the report highlights the situation of human rights defenders and journalists.
The UPR is a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council to assess and improve the human rights situation in each of the 193 UN Member States.