(CNN) — The US government has decided to cut millions in security and military aid to Cameroon amid growing concerns over the Cameroonian government's human rights record, US officials tell CNN.
The officials said the US intends to "terminate" over $17 million in security aid, including funds for radars, four defender-class patrol boats, nine armored vehicles, training programs for C-130 airplanes and helicopters and the withdrawal of an offer for Cameroon to be a candidate for the State Partnership Program.
A planned US funded upgrade to a Cessna aircraft belonging to Cameroon's elite Rapid Intervention Battalion has also been terminated. The battalion, which has been previously advised by US troops, has been accused of engaging in human rights abuses.
Some of the security assistance money had been put on hold by Congress due to those concerns.
Last May, the US Ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Henry Barlerin, gave a speech that accused pro-government Cameroonian security forces of conducting "targeted killings, detentions without access to legal support, family, or the Red Cross, and burning and looting of villages."
Barlerin also accused Anglophone separatists of committing "murders of gendarmes, kidnapping of government officials, and burning of schools."
US to cut aid to Cameroon due to alleged human rights violations
By Ryan Browne and Jennifer Hansler, CNN
Posted at 1916 GMT (0316 HKT) February 6, 2019
(CNN) — The US government has decided to cut millions in security and military aid to Cameroon amid growing concerns over the Cameroonian government's human rights record, US officials tell CNN.
The officials said the US intends to "terminate" over $17 million in security aid, including funds for radars, four defender-class patrol boats, nine armored vehicles, training programs for C-130 airplanes and helicopters and the withdrawal of an offer for Cameroon to be a candidate for the State Partnership Program.
A planned US funded upgrade to a Cessna aircraft belonging to Cameroon's elite Rapid Intervention Battalion has also been terminated. The battalion, which has been previously advised by US troops, has been accused of engaging in human rights abuses.
Some of the security assistance money had been put on hold by Congress due to those concerns.
Last May, the US Ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Henry Barlerin, gave a speech that accused pro-government Cameroonian security forces of conducting "targeted killings, detentions without access to legal support, family, or the Red Cross, and burning and looting of villages."
Barlerin also accused Anglophone separatists of committing "murders of gendarmes, kidnapping of government officials, and burning of schools."
The African nation has been beset by violence between the government, which is led by French speakers, and Anglophones who inhabit English-speaking regions of Cameroon.
"We continue to urge the Cameroonian government to take all credible allegations of gross violations of human rights seriously, investigate those allegations thoroughly, hold accountable the perpetrators of such abuses, and disclose the outcome of the investigations to the people of Cameroon," a State Department official told CNN when asked about the termination of security assistance.
US to cut aid to Cameroon due to alleged human rights violations
By Ryan Browne and Jennifer Hansler, CNN
Posted at 1916 GMT (0316 HKT) February 6, 2019
(CNN) — The US government has decided to cut millions in security and military aid to Cameroon amid growing concerns over the Cameroonian government's human rights record, US officials tell CNN.
The officials said the US intends to "terminate" over $17 million in security aid, including funds for radars, four defender-class patrol boats, nine armored vehicles, training programs for C-130 airplanes and helicopters and the withdrawal of an offer for Cameroon to be a candidate for the State Partnership Program.
A planned US funded upgrade to a Cessna aircraft belonging to Cameroon's elite Rapid Intervention Battalion has also been terminated. The battalion, which has been previously advised by US troops, has been accused of engaging in human rights abuses.
Some of the security assistance money had been put on hold by Congress due to those concerns.
Last May, the US Ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Henry Barlerin, gave a speech that accused pro-government Cameroonian security forces of conducting "targeted killings, detentions without access to legal support, family, or the Red Cross, and burning and looting of villages."
Barlerin also accused Anglophone separatists of committing "murders of gendarmes, kidnapping of government officials, and burning of schools."
The African nation has been beset by violence between the government, which is led by French speakers, and Anglophones who inhabit English-speaking regions of Cameroon.
"We continue to urge the Cameroonian government to take all credible allegations of gross violations of human rights seriously, investigate those allegations thoroughly, hold accountable the perpetrators of such abuses, and disclose the outcome of the investigations to the people of Cameroon," a State Department official told CNN when asked about the termination of security assistance.
"We have informed the Cameroonian government that lack of progress and clarity about actions undertaken by the government in response to credible allegations of gross violations of human rights could result in a broader suspension of US assistance," the State Department official said, adding that the US has "been assured by the government of Cameroon at the highest levels that US security assistance will not be diverted from other than its intended purpose."
Another State Department official emphasized that "it is in Cameroon's interest to show greater transparency in investigating credible allegations of gross violations of human rights abuses by security forces, particularly in the Northwest, Southwest, and Far North Regions."
CNN
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