End Military Trials of Civilian Prisoners of Conscience held at the Kondengui High-Security Prison!
Press Statement, 27 March 2018
We support without reservation Penn Terence Khan and the other Ambazonian Prisoners of Conscience held at the Kondengui High-Security Prison protesting their unfair trial by the Cameroon Military Tribunal in Yaounde, and we call on others to stand by him as well.
In a statement yesterday to the Prosecuting Officer of the Court Penn Terence Khan announced that he will henceforth not voluntarily participate in the court proceedings, as an act of civil disobedience in reaction to the unfair nature of his now 15 month old trail.
They are protesting their prosecution by military tribunal and the violations of their fundamental rights that have accompany the trials. The trials are linked to arbitrary detentions for which Amnesty International in October 13, 2017 wrote:
“This mass arrest of protesters, most of whom were acting peacefully, is not only a violation of human rights, but is also likely to be counter-productive,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty International’s Lake Chad researcher.
“The Cameroonian authorities should release anyone detained only for exercising their right to peaceful protest.”
The government instead escalated its response, the military deployed helicopter gunships to shoot live ammunition at protests, chased down and executed hundreds of unarmed protesters, and detained hundreds more in addition to the 500 arrested mentioned in Amnesty International’s October 13, 2017 report. The International crisis group reported that some people detainees were arrested in their homes and without warrant.
Penn Terrance is taking on significant risk with this action. He faces the possibility of the Death Penalty or Life Imprisonment for fabricated charges related to his solidarity with the struggle for Ambazonian human rights. He has done nothing but speak up for justice and equality. We need the Cameroonian regime to know that the world is watching!