WASHINGTON— As part of Covington's Kurt Wimmer Media Freedom Pro Bono Initiative, the firm assisted in preparing a new report on press freedom and freedom of expression in Cameroon submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Covington supported the joint submission alongside Freedom House, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights (ABA). The joint stakeholder report was prepared as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) which will assess Cameroon’s government of its fulfillment of its human rights obligations and commitments in November 2023 as part of the UPR’s 44th Session in Geneva.
The groups’ submission highlights that the killing, physical attacks, abduction, torture, arbitrary arrest, use of military tribunals, and harassment of journalists by Cameroonian police, intelligence agencies, military, and non-state actors violates international law and continues to have a severe chilling effect on journalism in Cameroon. Several journalists have been forced into exile, two journalists have died in government custody under suspicious circumstances since 2010, and, most recently, prominent journalist Martinez Zogo was murdered in January 2023. The arbitrary imprisonment of journalists coupled with incommunicado and lengthy pre-trial detention has made Cameroon the second worst jailer and second longest detainer of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa.
Among the recommendations in the report, CPJ, Freedom House and the ABA urged President Paul Biya’s government to finally account for the death in custody of Samuel Wazizi, to free the journalists it has arbitrarily detained, including those falsely accused of terrorism, and to ensure that the murder of Martinez Zogo and the killing of Jean-Jacques Ola Bebe do not go unpunished. They also called for Cameroon’s overly broad anti-terror law to be reviewed and to include a public interest defense.
The Wimmer Initiative was launched as a tribute to Covington's late partner, Kurt Wimmer, an international leader in media law. Covington lawyers provide pro bono support on media freedom matters across two main pillars: protecting and advancing media freedom and the safety of journalists, and advising nonprofit newsrooms on media law and operational issues.
Covington lawyers Peter Lichtenbaum, Dan Feldman, Cherine Foty, Caroline Garth, and Sebastian Marotta partnered with the stakeholders to submit this joint report.
Click here to read the full report.
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