Abstract

This thesis deals with the assessment of the role of the National Commission of Human Rights and freedoms in Cameroon. The problem here is to look at the stumbling blocks that stood as a hindrance to the NCHRF to the effectively carry out human rights activities. These include the fact not all the regions are represented; also the commission is bank roll by the state hence has no financial autonomy; the NCHRF plays merely a recommendatory role and so on.

The main issue was to the to examine what the NCHRF is all about, to assess the measures taken by the NCI~IRF in ensuring the protection of human rights in Cameroon, to determine the extent to which these human rights are effectively protected by the NCHRF and to propose policy recommendations that can be made on the protection of human rights by the NCHRF. In trying to address the above issues therefore this study analysed the activities carried by the NCHRF as far as protection of human rights is concerned.

That is, their role in the promotion of political, civil, economic, social cultural and developmental rights and the effectiveness of the role of NCHRF in the promotion of these rights. From the findings, one can conclude that though the commission have some lapses, it can however not be denied that they play a primordial role as far as protection of human rights is concerned.

Conclusively for the commission to succeed in its goal to protect human rights, the activities of the Commission should move beyond issues of enforcement and address those which are important to the achievement of equality of opportunity, such as improved representation of women and disabled persons in public life.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world from birth until death. They apply regardless of where you are from, what you believe or how you choose to live your life. They can never be taken away although they can sometimes be restricted, for example” all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” . These basic rights are based on values like dignity, fairness, equality respect and independence. Human rights are not just abstract concepts; they are defined and protected by law. In Britain for instance, human rights are protected by the Human Rights Act of 1998, all human rights- civil, cultural, economic, political and social – are recognized as universal as per Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The national commission of human rights and freedoms is an independent institution for consultation, monitoring evaluation, dialogue concerted action, promotion and protection in the domain of human rights. The commission was first created by the Presidential Decree .

Amongst other duties the commission receives denunciations of human rights violations, conducts inquiries and inspects penitentiary establishments, popularizes human rights instruments, liaises with Non-Governmental Organization {NGOs) and proposes measures to the authorities in area on human rights related issues.

 

 

1.1 Background To Study

The atrocities of the Second World War made the protection of Human rights an international priority . The formation of the United Nations pave the way for more than 50 member states to contribute to the final draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted in 1948. This was the first time an attempt was made at the global level on the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms shared by all human being.

Human rights discourse is a relatively recent phenomenon in Cameroon. This may be partly due to the fact that this issue was seen as an international rather than a domestic issue at least until the political upheavals of the 1990s when the political antagonism of the Cold War era during which the discourse of rights was itself used as a weapon in the political posturing between the West and the former Soviet Union.

The West emphasized the importance of civil and political rights laid down in the ICCPR, while the communist Soviet Union actively supported the ICESCR and referred to rampant unemployment, lack of universal healthcare among others not only as forms of abuse of human rights in the capitalist world but also as symptomatic of the failings of the capitalist economic system.

This legacy of Cold War rhetoric did not only contribute to the general perception that human rights are primarily about civil and political rights but also played a major role in stalling the debate of social and economic rights. While the establishment of the National Commission of Human Rights and Freedoms was expected to bring significant changes to this state of affairs, it ended up posing new challenges.

The status NCHRF was granted to Cameroon during 31st Ordinary session of African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights which was held in Pretoria, South Africa from 2- 16 May 2002. Its president is called Chemuta Divine Banda and its head quarter is located in Yaounde, Cameroon .

Human rights commissions are concerned primarily with the protection of nationals against discrimination and with the protection of civil and other human rights. The precise functions and powers of every commission is usually defined in the legislative act or decree under which it is established.

These laws or decrees equally define the Commission’s jurisdiction by specifying the range of discriminatory or violator conduct that it is empowered to investigate. Some commissions concern themselves with allege violations of any rights recognized in the constitution. Others may be able to consider cases of discrimination on a broad range or grounds including race, colour, religion, sex, national or ethnic origin, disability, social condition, sexual orientation, political convictions and ancestry.

Today, human rights considerations are relevant to almost every sphere of governmental activity and indeed to many other areas of public and private life. The number and range of human rights issues reflects this reality. The activities of churches, trade unions, the mass media and many non- governmental organizations touch directly on human rights issues, as to do those of most government departments, the courts and legislature.

In many countries, and in Cameroon in particular, special commissions have been established to ensure that the laws and regulations concerning the protection of human rights are effectively applied. Most commissions functions independently from other organs of government, although they may be required to report to the legislature on a regular basis.

The fact that a law exists to protect certain rights is not enough if these laws do not also provide for all of the legal powers and institutions necessary to ensure their effective realization. It has therefore become increasingly apparent that the effective enjoyment of human rights calls for the establishment of national infrastructures for their protection and promotion, hence the creation of NCHRF in Cameroon.

As regards the foundation of the NCHRF, its mission statement is, “Independent Institution for consultation, Monitoring, Evaluation, Concerted Action, Promotion and Protection in the Area of Human Rights”.

The NCHRF founding laws are based on a law- No. 2004/016 of July 2004 which set up the NC. The NCHRF in Cameroon is a commission with National jurisdiction which was established in 1990 by a presidential decree and has been operational since then; it was then later founded on the law of July 2004.

The NCHRF has 30 members on its governing body. Two of them are full time employees and 28 of them are on a part time basis engagement. The founding laws of the NCHRF require pluralism in the composition of the institutions governing body. These are clearly spelt out in section 6(1) of the Founding law. It has persons drawn from the following fields; NGOs, Trade Unions, Academics, Legal professions e.t.c

1.2 Statement Of Problem

Enormous efforts have been made to ensure that the human rights of individuals are effectively protected. One of the ways the state of Cameroon promotes the guarantee of human rights was by adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was then incorporated into the Cameroon constitution as seen in the preamble. Also the creation of human rights institutions such as the Cameroon National Commission on Human rights has helped a great deal as far as the protection of human rights in the country is concerned.

However, despite these efforts, the protection of human rights in the country is still wanting, though measures are taken by the NCHRF to curb human rights violations. Nowadays there are still cases of violation of economic, social, political, civil, developmental and cultural rights.

The NCHRF role as a mediator between parties in dispute by the NC is becoming more and more a problem because, this role is only limited to advising the parties in dispute, and does not include prosecution, it becomes the. This therefore defeats the goal of the NCHRF to effectively protect human rights in the country.

Besides, not only that all ten regions are fully represented by NCHRF. That is Western, Far North, Eastern regions of Cameroon and also in the regions which are represented, the suburbs barely have a feel of the NCHRF, thus rights of those of those living in the suburbs and that of regions which not represented are relegated to the background, in order words, human rights violation is the order of the day in these areas. Since as the NCHRF which usually intervene in such situation is located further from these communities. Though it can however not be denied that there is still persistent violation of rights even in the represented regions of Cameroon to an extent.

The fact that the NCHRF is bank roll by the state is equally a problem, as they do not have financial autonomy to effectively run their affairs.

1.3 Research Questions.

1. What is the NCHRF all about?
2. What role does the NCHRF play in the protection of human rights in Cameroon?
3. To what extent has the NCHRF protected human rights in Cameroon?
4. What policy recommendation can be made on the protection of human rights by the NCHRF?

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