The Ambazonia Governing Council is appalled by the level of violence committed against civilians in Ambazonia (the erstwhile Southern Cameroons). Some of these actions have been documented by Human Rights organizations and it is important that each party involve in the Ambazonia independence conflict take these reports seriously and act accordingly to protect innocent civilian lives and property, especially critical infrastructure such as schools and health treatment facilities.

We condemn the torture, maiming, rape, harassment, kidnapping, ransom taking, dismembering, enforced disappearances and killing of innocent civilians. Women and children have been victims of some of these acts. The right to external self-determination and to self-defense is as important as every other human right, and both parties to this conflict, namely Cameroun and the Ambazonia people, have an obligation to respect these rights in their entirety. We understand that arm robbers and gangs have taken advantage of the political instability and military conflict to commit atrocities that some media and human rights organizations may erroneously attribute to genuine forces engaged in self-defense actions as recognized in international law. We likewise denounce these atrocities and invite those who commit them to cease and desist, and to become responsible actors in the freedom of Ambazonia. As we have stressed severally, the path to this freedom and the international recognition of the federal state of Ambazonia rest on diplomatic engagements, national and international mobilization, and the legality of our cause.

It is imperative for Cameroun to end immediately the war it declared on Ambazonia in November 2017, and to accept viable negotiations with the Ambazonian people in the presence of international third parties towards guaranteeing peace and stability in the Gulf of Guinea and respecting the independence and territorial integrity of Ambazonia.