Cameroon: Human Rights

(asked on 16th September 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what is their latest assessment of human rights in Cameroon, and (2) what steps they are taking to improve human rights in Cameroon through the bilateral trade agreement with that country.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 29th September 2021

Reports of further human rights violations are disturbing. At the UN Security Council in June, the UK's Permanent Representative reiterated the UN Secretary General's call for the violence to end and for all actors to stop attacks against civilians. At the UN Human Rights Council this month, the UK called for an end to violence and impartial investigations to hold the perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses to account. The former Minister for Africa iterated these calls during his visit to Cameroon in March. HMG also urges the Government of Cameroon to engage fully with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Government's approach is clear that using trade to support development and prosperity is not mutually exclusive to the rule of law, protecting human rights, and democratic principles. We continue to press the Cameroonian Government to uphold these principles, which underpin the Economic Partnership Agreement.

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