Abstract

A new world order came into being out of the ashes of the World War II in 1945, putting respect for human rights alongside peace, security and development as the primary objectives of the United Nations. Hence, the United Nations General Assembly recommended for the creation of National Human Rights Commission(s) in all member states, charged with the ultimate mandate to promote and protect human rights and freedoms.

It is against this backdrop that the National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms (NCHRF) Cameroon was created. However, the Commission is unable to effectively operate towards the realisation of its goal due to the ambiguous and contradictory nature of certain provisions of the laws creating the NCHRF. In this regard, the paper sets out as main objective to examine the impediments affecting the smooth functioning of the National Commission for Human Rights & Freedoms (NCHRF) Cameroon.

In conducting this study, the researcher adopts the qualitative research methodology and in this light, data was collected from primary sources such as legal instruments and reports, while books, articles, and the internet were credible to build our secondary sources of data.

The results of our findings reveal that the predominant impediments faced by the NCHRF-Cameroon are the lack of autonomy and executive highjack of the Commission. As a result of these impediments which mar the effective functioning of the NCHRF, some policy recommendations will be proposed for the way forward.

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 The 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 violation and is a phenomenon that is easily identified in every society. The protection of human rights can be traced to King Cyrus II of Persia, who began his reign by decreeing reforms on this clay cylinder. Most notably, he declared that exiled slaves could return to their homelands and implies that there will be religious freedom (that is to say right to worship) throughout the Persian Empire.

This act became known as THE CYRUS CYLINDER –c539-530BC. After CYRUS CYLINDER, the Magna Carta of 1215 followed suit in the protection of human rights. This Great Charter provided a new framework for the relationship between the King in England and his subjects. It established for the first time that everybody, including the king, was subject to the law.

Most famously, it gave all „free men‟ the right to justice and a fair trial. With the Magna Carta already in place, the PETITION OF RIGHTS was given birth to in 1628. This petition was sent by the English Parliament to King Charles I. It included the demands that the King could not tax the people without the Parliament‟s consent nor imprison people without cause. The Magna Carta was succeeded by the English Bill of Rights 1689.

This English document set out political and civil rights, including the freedom to elect Members of Parliament, the protection of free speech in Parliament and that the king or queen could not interfere with the law. Increased awareness about the rights of man in society led to the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights came up in 1966. This covenant is also part of the International Bill of Rights. It covers civil and political rights such as the right to life and liberty, political participation and non-discrimination. New Zealand has many of these rights written into its Bill of Rights.

The International Covenant on Economic Civil and Cultural rights was established in 1966. This covenant is part of the International Bill of Rights, along with its equivalent on civil and political rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It covers economic, social and cultural rights such as the right to work for fair wages, holiday and leisure time, the protection of the family and the right to adequate food, housing and clothing.

New Zealand ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1978 The commitment of governments to the above conventions has compelled them to put in place mechanisms and instruments to ensure that human dignity is restored, if not entirely but to a reasonable extent.

The law is a frozen history,  thus there is a need to go down memory lane, to understand the events that animated the development of the constitution as a foundational document for human rights protection in Cameroon.  French Cameroun had gained independence on the 1 January 1960 with a constitution that established it as a unitary state.  When British Southern Cameroons voted to join French Cameroun, a new constitution was drafted at the Foumban conference. A federation was created with East and West Cameroon as the federated states.

In the case of Cameroon, the protection of human rights is traced from the preamble of the constitution, which affirms the attachment of the state of Cameroon to the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights (1948), the charter of the united nations, the African charter of human rights and all the duly ratified international conventions relating thereto.

The preamble of the Cameroon constitution is regarded as a national instrument or means of human rights protection. This is because it is coming from the law of the land (constitution) which is built on the principle of sovereignty of states.

Accordingly, the Universal Declaration of human rights, the charter of the United Nations and the African Charter on Human and people‟s Rights are classified as international and regional means of protecting human rights. It was due to the existence of these human rights protecting machinery that the state of Cameroon being a member of the international community and have signed and ratified treaties to ensure the protection of human rights, created its first specialised body in the protection of human rights.

This body which came into existence in 1990 was known as the National Committee of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom. This first human rights protecting organ in Cameroon was entangled with a lot of difficulties that made the accomplishment of its mission impossible.

The numerous shortcomings of this committee and its eventual failure in ensuring protection and promotion of the rights of Cameroonians led to its abandonment for a more neutral and effective committee (body). Hence, the creation of the national commission of Human Rights by law No 2005/2016 of 22 July 2004. 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.

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.

1.3.1 General Research Question

What are the role of the National Commission on Human rights and Freedom in the promotion and protection of Human rights in Cameroon?

1.3.2 Specific Research Questions

1. What is the legal framework for the protection and promotion of human rights in Cameroon?
2. What role does the NCHRF play in the promotion and protection of human rights in Cameroon?
3. What are the challenges faced by the NCHRF in the effective promotion and protection of human rights in Cameroon?
4. What policy recommendation can be made to solve the problem raised?

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