August 12, 2020, the people of Bui State, Northern Ambazonia, awoke to a day of terror as the Cameroon Occupation Forces launched a ruthless operation targeting innocent civilians.
What should have been an ordinary day turned into a horrifying scene of abduction, torture, execution, and the deliberate destruction of property. The forces, acting with complete impunity, stormed the community, forcefully taking civilians from their homes and places of work, subjecting them to inhumane treatment before ending their lives in cold blood.
Eyewitnesses recount the terrifying sounds of gunfire and desperate cries for help as families were torn apart by the brutality of the occupation forces. The victims, who were unarmed and posed no threat, were beaten and subjected to extreme acts of physical and psychological torment.
Many were tied up, humiliated, and left to endure prolonged suffering before being executed in an act of pure savagery. The killings were not only indiscriminate but also targeted, meant to send a clear message of fear and submission to the local population.
As if the bloodshed were not enough, the soldiers turned their aggression toward the very properties that sustained the livelihoods of the villagers. Homes, farms, and essential structures were set ablaze, their flames consuming the hard-earned belongings of those who had already lost everything.
Food supplies, agricultural tools, and vital resources were deliberately destroyed, ensuring that the surviving community members would suffer long after the soldiers had left. The scorched earth left behind was not just a physical wound but an economic and emotional devastation—a calculated attempt to weaken the people and strip them of their means of survival.
This coordinated act of destruction and murder has left families grieving, communities displaced, and a once-thriving region in ruins and despair. Those who survived now live in constant fear, knowing that justice remains elusive and that such atrocities could be repeated at any moment.
The abduction, torture, execution of civilians, and destruction of civilian property are grave violations of international humanitarian law. Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions prohibits murder, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture of persons not taking part in hostilities.
Article 8(2)(c)(i) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) explicitly criminalizes the intentional targeting of civilians, acts of torture, and inhumane treatment. Furthermore, Article 8(2)(b)(ii) of the Rome Statute forbids the extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity. These crimes demand an urgent international investigation and prosecution of those responsible to ensure accountability and justice for the victims.
GENOCIDE IN AMBAZONIA