Far North: The trial of soldiers accused of extrajudicial execution will resume behind closed doors in January.

The trial on the case of the execution of two women and their young children will resume on January 20, 2020. The incident took place in

the Far North of Cameroon.

The 7 soldiers implicated in this case will return to the bar. However, as of January, the trial will no longer be open to the public. Prosecuted

for assassination by the State of Cameroon, had petitioned the Yaoundé military court. Ruling on December 16, the court decided that the

trial would continue in camera.

The arrest of the accused soldiers took place after a denunciation by the NGOs. The two women and their children were executed because

of alleged ties to Boko Haram. It was the NGO who proved the involvement of Cameroonian soldiers. The facts, dating from 2015, were

widely disseminated in 2018. This denunciation prompted the government to carry out the investigations necessary and carry out the

arrests.

The alleged perpetrators were identified through the testimony of soldiers engaged in the Far North. The charges for which they are

prosecuted are co-murder, violation of instructions and complicity in murder. These accusations are argued. They indicate that they acted

on the orders of their hierarchy. It is, moreover, for the argument that they acted in accordance with the orders that the defendants

requested in camera. The request would in fact be aimed at avoiding the leakage of information on military practices in the war against

Boko Haram.

By John Paul Sama