Religion And Cameroon
Cameroon
The country has a total area of 183,568 square miles, and its population is approximately 15,422,000. Muslim centers and Christian churches of various denominations operate freely throughout the country. Approximately 40 percent of the population is at least nominally Christian, approximately 20 percent is at least nominally Muslim, and approximately 40 percent practices traditional indigenous religions or no religion. The Christian population is divided approximately equally between Catholic and Protestant denominations. ... [Read More]
Cameroon
Several religious denominations operate primary and secondary schools. Although post-secondary education continues to be dominated by state institutions, private schools affiliated with religious denominations, including Catholic, Protestant, and Koranic schools, have been among the country's best schools at the primary and secondary levels for many years. The Ministry of Education is charged by law with ensuring that private schools run by religious groups meet the same standards as state-operated schools in terms of curriculum, infrastructure, and teacher training. For schools affiliated with religious groups, the Sub-Department of Confessional Education of the Ministry’s Department of Private Education performs this oversight function. In 2002 and 2003, Confessional Education officials from all denominations complained that they had not received their financial allocations from the Government. The Government explained that this was a budgetary p ... [Read More]
United States Embassy Cameroon: Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2003-2004 (Cameroon)
The U.S. human rights and democracy strategy in Cameroon is to improve the democratic and human rights environment throughout the country by promoting elections that meet international standards, decentralization, independent and professional media, strong civil society and religious tolerance, as well as combating child labor. The United States has also been involved in a number of high profile public outreach efforts to help develop a free press and advance democratic reform. Over the course of 2003 and early 2004, the United States has actively engaged officials from all levels of the Cameroonian Government, local and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), members of civil society and the media to strengthen Cameroon's democratic institutions and improve respect for human rights. With presidential elections scheduled for October 2004, the United States' primary focus is on developing a more free, fair and transparent electoral process and preparing the media to effectively ... [Read More]
Cameroon
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and the Government continued to commit numerous serious human rights abuses. Citizens' ability to change their government remained severely limited. Security forces committed numerous unlawful killings and were responsible for regular torture, beatings, and other abuses of persons, particularly detainees and prisoners. Impunity remained a serious problem. Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. Security forces continued to arrest and detain arbitrarily various opposition politicians, local human rights monitors, and other citizens, often holding them for prolonged periods without charges or trials, and, at times, incommunicado. The Government regularly infringed on citizens' privacy. The Government continued to restrict freedoms of speech and press and harassed and threatened journalists. The Government restricted freedom of assembly and limited freedom of association. Security forces limited freedom of movement. Corrup ... [Read More]
US Embassy Cameroon: Immigrant Visa
Special Immigrants: Certain religious workers and ministers of religion, certain international organization employees and their immediate family members, and specially qualified and recommended current and former employees of the US Government (10,000). ... (II) EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANTS. A total of 140,000 immigrant visas (sub-limitations listed in parentheses) are available on an employment basis, divided into five preference groups: Priority Workers. People of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers; and certain multinational executives and managers (40,000). ... [Read More]
US Embassy Cameroon: Ambassador's Interviews
It's just a perception and a rather unfortunate one. Some people are just evil. They hate the United States of America for no reason. We have to make sure that these people are fished out wherever they are and sanctioned. We are going to fight them. We will get the terrorist. We do not intend to win the battle against terrorism alone. We have allies through out the world. Since September 11, our network against terrorism has arrested and jailed over 3000 people in over 60 countries. This also shows you how wide the terrorist network is. Since we waged the war against terrorism, the number of terrorist actions around the world has reduced. Airport security and international co-operation have made it practically impossible for terrorists to go around freely. Through hard work and patience, we will fetch them out one by one. On the other hand, the doors of the US are open to innocent citizens. Several young people around the world go to the U.S. each year for studies. We also give assista ... [Read More]
Cameroon
The Government's human rights record continued to be generally poor, and government officials continued to commit numerous serious abuses. Citizens' ability to change their government remained limited. Security forces committed numerous extrajudicial killings; were responsible for disappearances, some of which may have been motivated politically; and tortured, often beat, and otherwise abused detainees and prisoners, generally with impunity. However, the Government prosecuted a few of the most egregious offenders, including some who were convicted and sentenced to prison terms and others who remain in prison awaiting trial. Conditions remained harsh and life threatening in almost all prisons, although the Government granted international humanitarian organizations access to prisoners. Security forces continued to arrest and detain arbitrarily various opposition politicians, local human rights monitors, and other citizens, often holding them for prolonged p ... [Read More]
Cameroon
The Government's human rights record remained generally poor, and it continued to commit numerous serious abuses. Citizens' ability to change their government remained limited. Security forces committed numerous extrajudicial killings and were responsible for disappearances, some of which may have been motivated politically. They also tortured, beat, and otherwise abused detainees and prisoners, generally with impunity. However, the Government prosecuted a few offenders, including some who were convicted and sentenced to prison terms and others who remain in prison awaiting trial. Conditions remained harsh and life threatening in almost all prisons, although the Government granted international humanitarian organizations access to prisoners. Security forces continued to arrest and detain arbitrarily various opposition politicians, local human rights monitors, and other citizens, often holding them for prolonged periods, often without charges or a chance for trial and, at times, incommu ... [Read More]
Cameroon
Numerous prisoners died in custody due to abuse inflicted by security forces and harsh prison conditions and inadequate medical treatment (see Section 1.c.). Mob violence and summary justice directed against suspected thieves and those suspected of practicing witchcraft and other crimes reportedly continued to result in an increased number of deaths and serious injuries. For example, in early March, an angry mob in the Oyom Aban neighborhood of Yaounde beat to death Emile Eyenga, a 34-year-old bandit who previously had been arrested and released on several occasions. Aban was caught burglarizing a private residence. In early August, the gendarmerie company commander for Ngoketunjia Division, North West Province, stated that angry mobs lynched three persons caught stealing. The commander severely criticized the "jungle justice" and asked the citizens of Ngoketunjia to inform security forces of the presence of any su ... [Read More]
Cameroon
On May 23, the Douala police sealed off the premises of Freedom FM, a new FM radio station that Douala-based newspaper, Le Messager, intended to launch the following morning. According to police, the Minister of Communication ordered the cordon because Le Messager had not submitted an application for operation. Le Messager claimed to have submitted its application under a different name but subsequently informed the Ministry of the name change. The Minister of Communication granted the frequency that Freedom FM had applied to use to another private radio station. Station owner Pius Njawe, who previously has been jailed for criticizing President Biya, initiated legal action to recover his equipment, and the trial was ongoing at year's end. In November, the Government temporarily closed Radio Veritas, a private radio station established by Cardinal Christian Tumi, an outspoken critic of the Government; the station resumed broadcasting ... [Read More]
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