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239
Gregory Stanton’s Schema and the Making
and Unmaking of Genocide in the
Cameroun – Anglophone Crisis
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31920/2516-5305/2023/si1n1a11
Nicholas Idris ERAMEH, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow,
Department of Political Studies & International Relations
North West University, Mafikeng South Africa
&
Research and Studies Department,
Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA)
Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria
eramehnicholas@gmail.com
Prof. Victor OJAKOROTU
Department of Political Studies & International Relations
North West University, Mafikeng South Africa
Honorary Professor, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU),
South Africa
vojakoro@yahoo.com
Joshua Olusegun BOLARINWA, PhD
Research and Studies Department,
Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA)
Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria
segunbolarinwa@yahoo.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0082-3632
African Renaissance
ISSN: 1744-2532 (Print) ISSN: 2516-5305 (Online)
Indexed by: SCOPUS, IBSS, EBSCO, COPERNICUS, ERIH PLUS,
ProQuest, J-Gate and Sabinet
Special Issue, October 2023
pp 239-258
Erameh, Ojakorotu & Bolarinwa/African Renaissance Special Issue, October 2023, pp 239-258
240
Abstract
Despite global and regional condemnation of acts of genocide, incidences of
genocide have persisted with no end in sight. Relying on a qualitative
methodology, secondary and primary sources, and including interviews, this
study interrogates the veracity of claims of genocide against Cameroun’s
Anglophones against the yardstick of Gregory Stanton’s ten stages of genocide
and its implications for civilian protection. The study finds the Paul Biya
regime guilty of nine of Stanton’s ten stages of genocide against the
Anglophone population. Regardless, the international community has yet to
respond effectively via armed or soft intervention. This has further energized
the regime to sustain its campaign of armed violence against the civilian
Anglophone population. The study calls for urgent international intervention
via firm condemnation and a call for an end to hostilities, followed by a judicial
inquiry to ensure the regime and culpable parties to the genocide are punished
accordingly. While also compelling the Paul Biya regime to commence the
process of inclusive transitional justice with a view to healing the wounds
among victims and their relatives and restoring sustainable peace and stability
to the country.
Key Words: Gregory Stanton Genocide Stages, Genocide, Political Violence, Cameroun,
Anglophone
Introduction
The perpetuation of political violence, genocide, and other horrendous
crimes against the civilian population in Africa is not a recent
phenomenon. Before colonialism, resistance by indigenous groups to
foreign domination in Africa generally led to some of the earliest forms
of armed violence (Sarkin 2011; Baer 2017; Adhikari 2020). Most
notable are the killings of about 70,000 Herreros and Mamas in Namibia
by Germany between the periods 1904 and 1908 (Melber 2017; Weber &
Weber 2020) and thousands of Congolese by Belgian forces under the
orders of King Leopold (Rosoux 2014; Ndahinda 2016). These drastic
acts against the civilian population were more prevalent during colonial
rule, as most Western countries relied heavily on superior military force
in the annexation of territories. This forceful annexation established the
root for present-day problems ranging from contested citizenship to
ethnic domination, unequal distribution of resources, lack of social
cohesion, territorial disputes, and ongoing inter-ethnic conflicts, all of
which combine to ensure state fragility in Africa (Fadakinte & Amolegbe
2016).
Gregory Stanton’s Schema …
241
Certainly, break-away movements, separatist activities, and persistent
calls for self-determination occasioned by violence against ethnic groups
remain a significant source of new wars in Africa. Cameroun's
Anglophone crisis exemplifies such a phenomenon, which dates back to
the colonial era (Caxton 2017; Keke 2022). Since Cameroun's
independence, its Anglophone population has suffered the worst forms
of systemic acts of violence from successive French-led governments,
despite the history of their unification (Teneng Cho & Agbo 2022;
Fanso 2017). Administrations from Ahmadou Ahidjo to Paul Biya's have
perpetuated increasing mass atrocities against the Anglophones. First
were state repression, human rights violations, long-detention terror, and
wicked acts against opposition leaders within the Anglophone
community (Vubo 2014; Ngoh 2018).
In particular, Paul Biya's unilateral decision to change the country's
name to the Republic of Cameroun (Teneng Cho & Agbor 2022; Fanso
2017) was the culmination of such repressive and exclusionary policies.
This move was resisted and led to several secessionist actions by
nationalist movements, which were confronted with heavy state-
sponsored violence. The Paul Biya regime's unwillingness to address the
root cause of these movements, coupled with the continuous
deployment of state-sponsored violence against the Ambazonians in the
present, continues to drive secessionist conflict and calls for the
independent state of Ambazonia (International Crisis Group 2017).
Though the recent agitations began as a protest on October 11, 2016
among lawyers from the North-West and South-West regions about
perceived social injustice, these agitations were followed by
unprecedented state-sponsored violence, leading to the deaths of several
people.
These acts have served to intensify calls for secession, with the
Southern Cameroun Ambazonia Consortium United Front declaring the
independence of Southern Cameroun on October 1, 2017. Beyond the
unrestrained, state-sponsored violence and persistent calls for
government self-government by the Anglophone population, this study
attempts to explore the nature of violence and the veracity of the claims
of genocide against the Anglophones. Accordingly, this study will rely
on Gregory Stanton’s ten-stage genocide classification schema in
interrogating the Cameroun-Anglophone crisis, the extent to which mass
atrocities qualify as acts of genocide, and what implications the apparent
silence of the international community portrays both for the civilian
population and the prospects of the Genocide Convention.
Erameh, Ojakorotu & Bolarinwa/African Renaissance Special Issue, October 2023, pp 239-258
242
Genocide, Political Violence, and State-Citizen Relations in Africa:
A Theoretical Consideration
Genocide
The term genocide resonates from the Greek words "geno," which
connotes race, and "cide," referring to kill, first used by Raphael Lemkin
in 1944. Lemkin demonstrates that various forms of genocide include
political, social, cultural, economic, biological, physical, religious, and
moral (Lemkin 1944). Thus, genocide is a premeditated violent act
carried out to destroy a group of people or ethnic groups. For Lemkin,
these violent attacks could target the culture, language, feelings, key
institutions, politics, and economics of a particular ethnic group. Most
times, genocide is perpetuated with the ultimate goal of total annihilation
(ibid.).
Since its independence, successive governments in Cameroun have
carried out systematic political violence against the civilian population in
southern Cameroun, with the ultimate goal of retaining political power.
While this armed violence has provoked a series of protests, separatist
and rights movements, and the formation of a political party, these
demands have been met with brutal state repression by the Paul Biya
regime to foster national unity. Most problematic is the use of Special
Forces to unleash terror on individuals, key opposition figures, and even
Anglophone communities, as evident in the government's response to
the 2016 riots, protests, and uprising (Agbor & Njeassam 2022).
For Okereke (2018), political violence and genocide against the
Anglophone resonated within agitations, protests, and rebellions against
the central government on issues bothering marginalization, repression,
and relapse on agreements about nation-building. Okereke further
contends that the inability of successive governments to abide by these
agreements and the widening nature of dissenting Anglophone voices
have led to increased political violence to suppress the people's
agitations. Similarly, Ngoh (2018) explains the persistent political
violence on the Anglophone from the perspective of what constitutes
the Anglophone problem itself. Unlike other scholars who have traced
the genesis of the violence to the amalgamation of 1916, Ngoh thinks
that the crisis resonated within the context of the Foumbam
Constitutional Conference of 1961 and the Tripartite Talks of 1961. He
concludes that the unprecedented nature of political violence and
Gregory Stanton’s Schema …
243
genocide was avoidable if the Anglophone population had chosen to
join Nigeria against Cameroon.
For systematic and analytical purposes, this study adopts the
Gregory-Stanson ten-stage genocide model. The model has its roots in
the writings of Gregory Staton, who had hitherto proposed eight stages
of genocide but was later influenced to adopt the ten stages in 1996 and
thereafter revised it in 2013. These stages include classification,
symbolization, discrimination, dehumanization, organization,
polarization, preparation, persecution, extermination, and denial (Staton
2016). Acknowledging that genocide cannot be perpetuated by an
individual or small group, Staton proposed that the aforementioned
stages are expected to be a universally accepted guide to understanding
what constitutes acts of genocide and how the international community
can best respond to such acts. Hence, Stanton argued that these various
stages of genocide do not necessarily need to occur in a linear
progression; instead, they can coexist (ibid.).
In which case, at the point at which a stage has been established
against the civilian population, genocide is already occurring. Looking
critically at the way in which successive regimes in Cameroun have
responded to the Anglophone agitations via violent responses, the
situation provides a basis for reflecting on the ten stages of genocide in
order to either affirm or debunk reports of worsening ongoing mass
atrocities since the self-determination protests commenced.
Research Design and Methods
This study has been designed to investigate the claims and counterclaims
of genocide in Cameroun since the declaration of secession in 2016.
Specifically, it does this by interrogating the veracity of claims of genocide against
Cameroun’s Anglophones against the yardstick of Gregory Stanton’s ten stages of
genocide and its implications for civilian protection. Thus, the study adopted the
qualitative method and relied on both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources
include ten (10) interviews conducted among key stakeholders of Anglophone and
Francophone descent. Considering the repressive nature of the Paul Biya regime and
the fear of possible attacks by the special military forces, the participants have
been assured that they will remain anonymous for their safety.
Second, this study draws from existing literature on genocide,
particularly with reference to Cameroun. It analyzes the debates in peer-
reviewed literature, news articles, official government sources, and gray
literature from conventional and non-conventional media sources. It
Erameh, Ojakorotu & Bolarinwa/African Renaissance Special Issue, October 2023, pp 239-258
244
takes into consideration information from political actors, human rights
groups, documentary producers, and online sources. This is done with
the consideration that the government’s current stance of negative
criticism has stifled a lot of commentary and reportage on the issue.
Anglophone Agitation and State Response: A Historical Analysis
Before the outbreak of World War I, the entire geographical land space
that harbors the Cameroonians was strictly under the control of
Germany, which had embarked on expansionism amidst the expanding
economic drive in Europe. Within this period, Germans ventured into
different forms of mercantilism, including plantation farms, to meet the
energy needs of Europe. Accordingly, many of the locals
(Cameroonians) were recruited across the length and breadth of the
country to work as porters, laborers, and auxiliary staff, and some were
deployed to the German colonial army (Ngoh 2018). This movement,
occasioned by economic imperatives, resulted in several people
migrating from their ancestral homes.
However, France and Britain faced a series of brick walls, including
the failure of the 1914–1915 proposal to administer the country as one
political entity, which led to the decision to divide Cameroun along
Francophone (France) and Anglophone (British or English Interest).
Given that several people had hitherto migrated to work in German
plantations and have found themselves under the new partitioning, these
events further challenge the country's discourse about ancestral identity.
This is because the partition was solely carried out in the interest of
France and Britain without consideration of the language, ethnicity,
cultural identity, or social and religious identity of the people (Okereke
2018; Bello et al., 2022).
Though colonial administration distorted the culture and expected
growth of the people, the brutal nature of colonialism ensured that the
territory was held under strict control. Meanwhile, Britain and France
continued to battle for the sole possession of Cameroun. Only the end
of World War II led to the emergence of the United Nations, which
consequently empowered Britain to possess Cameroon as a trust colony.
Then, the southern part of Cameroun, which was mainly occupied by
the British, became a quasi-regional territory exercising self-government
with Nigeria (Fanso 2017). Invariably, both the Francophone and
Anglophone regions had hitherto existed as separate political
communities with the ability to control their territory.
Gregory Stanton’s Schema …
245
Apart from this problem, how to administer the new republic of
Cameroun became an immediate issue of concern. While the
Anglophones hoped for a loose federal union, the Francophone elites
preferred a highly centralized, unitary state (Ngoh 2018), which became
a significant source of contestation and conflict. Soonest, it became
apparent among the Anglophone region that the whole agreement and
expectations behind the unification were more rhetoric than reality.
Notably, the Francophone region had begun to sideline the Anglophone
from the necessary decision-making process in the country, just as they
suffered other forms of marginalization. Notably, Anglophone elites
accused the Francophones of insincerity in implementing the principles
of the 1961 Plebiscite. It was expected that the country would exist as a
bicultural entity with mutual respect for the cultural histories of both
regions (Ngoh 2018).
Specifically, on October 1, 2017, members of the Anglophone
community, led by the Southern region, declared independence, and this
move has sparked a series of actions and reactions. Between the period
of September 28 and October 2, a total of forty (40) deaths were
recorded, with over one hundred (100) protesters injured (International
Crisis Group 2017). Therefore, the next section will be devoted to
deploying the Gregory Stanton Ten stages of genocide in interrogating
the nature of mass atrocities perpetrated by the Francophone-dominated
government on the Anglophone population.
Gregory Stanton’s Genocide Classification Schema and the
Cameroun-Anglophone Crisis
In a bid to conceptualize and set the pace for the identification and
condemnation of genocide, one of the prominent scholars of genocide
has listed ten stages of genocide, which include classification,
symbolization, discrimination, dehumanization, organization,
polarization, preparation, prosecution, extermination, and denial (Staton
2016). For Stanton, these various stages of genocide do not necessarily
need to occur in a linear progression; instead, they can co-exist (ibid.),
and that is why systematic acts of genocide must not be tolerated in
contemporary times. Therefore, it is expedient to deploy these ten stages
of genocide in interrogating the crisis in Cameroun between the
Francophone and the Anglophone and putting to test the veracity of the
claims of genocide against the Anglophone population.
Erameh, Ojakorotu & Bolarinwa/African Renaissance Special Issue, October 2023, pp 239-258
246
Classification: In this phase, there is apparent disrespect or disregard
for the historical roots of people. Mostly, there is the division of "us"
and "them," which could be deployed in framing stereotypes to
segregate people based on their ethnicity, race, religion, and nationality.
The deployment of the "Us" versus "Them" is not entirely new in
Cameroun; it has assumed the worst dimension since the late 1990s up
to the declaration of self-government in 2017. Since the proclamation of
self-government, the central government has embarked on force
labelling, repression, and violent attacks against the Anglophone
population, to the amazement of the international community. By
October 2017, responses had manifested in branding protesters as
"terrorists," massive repression, and state-sponsored violent, systematic
attacks against the civilian population (Orock 2021), which led to violent
responses and the springing up of militia groups among the
Anglophones.
Given such a response and counter-response, the situation has
metamorphosed into an unprecedented civil war, leading to the deaths
of several people in Cameroun. According to the International Crisis
Group (ICG 2019), the conflict has led to the deaths of about 3,000
people, or about half a million people displaced within Cameroun, with
40,000 people said to have fled to neighbouring countries (UNHCR
2021).
Symbolization: This form or stage of genocide includes the use,
application, or deployment of derogatory names, symbols, and
expressions to segregate and distinguish people for persecution.
Accordingly, symbolism manifests in the classification of the targeted
population as "Jews" or "Gypsies" or the relation based on their colour,
dress, and other socially constructed symbols (Staton 2016). Since the
Anglophone community abandoned dialogue for other strategies in
pressing home their demands, they have suffered all forms of
symbolization by successive governments as a desperate means to
silence their agitations.
Although this pattern of symbolization and consequent armed
violence has persisted against the Anglophone population in Cameroun,
Stanton (2016) contends that classification and symbolization are
generally used across the world; they do not necessarily lead to acts of
genocide but dehumanizing treatment. This best describes the systematic
pattern of political violence against the Anglophone population. Given
that they constitute just 20% of the population, the Francophone-
Gregory Stanton’s Schema …
247
dominated government deploys all forms of dehumanizing treatment as
desperate means to silence their agitation, albeit with little or no success.
Discrimination: This phase of genocide is attained when a government
or dominant group deploys harsh laws, customs, privileges, and access
to political power to deny a small or weak minority their fundamental
rights. The ultimate goal in this phase is to ensure that such
discrimination eventually leads to monopolization or expansion of
power among dominant groups (Staton 2016). Since the amalgamation
of Northern and Southern Cameroun in 1961, the francophone-
dominated government has persistently retained political power,
including denying Anglophone candidate John Ngu Foncha the chance
of ruling the country after being declared the winner of the election
(Ambazonia Genocide Library 2018).
This discrimination was made worse by the 1975 alteration of the
country's constitution. Accordingly, the new constitution led to limited
autonomy, the breaking up of the southern part into small provinces, the
alteration of the consensus nomenclature of "United Republic of
Cameroun" to "Republic of Cameroun” (Konings 2005; Konings &
Nyamnjoh 2018), the adoption of French as the official lingua franca,
unequal job opportunities, police brutalization, and discrimination in
terms of access to social services.
Dehumanization: This stage of genocide is a phase that is
systematically achieved or carried out by a dominant group seeking to
undermine the existence of another person's or groups within the same
territory. At most times, the dominant group equates minority groups
and treats them like lesser creatures, animals, parasites, or even diseases
that must be eradicated (Staton 2016). Interestingly, a similar pattern of
dehumanizing treatment has been witnessed in the way and successive
manner in which regimes in Cameroun have treated the Anglophone
population.
For instance, Eliadis & Nkongho (2019) reported that since the
recent outbreak of violence, the Anglophone population faces all forms
of dehumanizing treatment and this including; deprivation of human
liberty, torture, arbitrary arrest, the disappearance of opposition figures,
sexual violence, rape, torture, public humiliation, invasion and burning
of villages by government forces in retaliation of activities of militia
groups, indiscriminate and unprovoked shooting and killing, attack of
private homes and killing of inhabitants and lots more dehumanizing
treatment. In most cases, critical Anglophone opposition figures are not
Erameh, Ojakorotu & Bolarinwa/African Renaissance Special Issue, October 2023, pp 239-258
248
only tortured openly but are a strip of their fundamental rights via all
forms of dehumanizing treatment (Li 2021; Eric 2019; Amnesty
International 2022). The ultimate goal of such dehumanizing treatment
from the central government is to create a psychological fear in the
Anglophone population. Still, such treatment had increased the intensity
of their demands and armed violence.
1
Organization: Given past experiences, the acts of genocide against an
ethnic group are always well organized to achieve their goal of total
annihilation This stage of genocide has generated several concerns due
to the strategy, including training and equipping of unique units, the use
of militias, special mercenaries, criminals, terrorists, insurgents, and even
long-held prisoners in perpetuating political violence and genocide
against certain people or ethnic groups Since the late 1990s, the
Cameroonian authorities began to deploy use of special military units
such as the Rapid Intervention Brigade (Brigade d'intervention rapide,
BIR), Brigade Mobile Mixte (BMM), and specially trained gendarmes
against protesting communities and groups across the Anglophone
region According to an Amnesty International Report (2017), more than
100 people were arrested, detained, stripped naked, blindfolded, severely
dealt with, and held in solitary conferment by the BIR. This pattern of
organization and armed violence has been sustained until the violent
riots that broke out in 2016 and the consequent declaration of self-
government in 2017
2
.
For instance, Maclean (2018 ), the Biya regime adopted a more
deadly organizational tactic which led to the closing of the Anglophone
border with Nigeria Subsequently, it deployed the BIR and BMM units
whose mandate was to fight the Boko haram insurgency to unleash
mayhem across the Anglophone communities This operation led to the
death of about 7,000 persons, burning of villages, mutilating several
corpses via the use of unconventional weapons used in counter-
insurgency (Agbor & Njeassam 2019 ). Also, about 20,000 people
managed to flee the region into Nigeria and other neighboring countries
as refugees.
Polarization: Polarization is a very delicate stage in the genocide
process because it deploys the use of propaganda by the dominant
1
Anonymous Interview; April 11, 2022
2
Anonymous Interview; April 11, 2022
Gregory Stanton’s Schema …
249
ethnic group or government against a targeted ethnic group. In
polarization, interaction among groups is discouraged by introducing
certain social constructs. This stage is supported via propaganda to
preach prejudice and hate against targeted ethnic groups (Staton 2016).
The Francophone-dominated government's deployment of hate speech
and propaganda against the Anglophone dates back to history.
This trend has become more worrisome in the height of the
escalation in violent protests that swept across southern Cameroun in
the early 1990s, particularly in 2016 and 2017. The Cameroun
government heavily depends on state-owned and controlled media
outlets like the Cameroun Radio Television Broadcasting Company
(CRTV), Vision 4, and other outlets that use such medium to label the
Anglophone terrorists, secessionists (Tatah 2021) criminals, arsonists,
and different derogatory vocabulary which makes them vulnerable to
attacks Apart from the fact that polarization has promoted or energized
genocide against the Anglophones, it has led to mass migration.
Preparation: This is a critical stage in the carrying out of acts of
genocide, and this is because it involves the use of language such as
"Counter-Terrorism," "defending territorial integrity," "Flushing out
Foreign Manipulated Citizens or Traitors," to "Fighting Criminality" in
perpetrating genocide against certain ethnic groups Across the globe and
especially in Africa, successive governments have deployed such
techniques in sustaining genocide against certain ethnic groups In
affirming this position, Foncha whose ideal reflects an accommodating
federal system was forced to resign because the Francophone dominated
regime kept treating the Anglophones as enemies, with the run of the
gun replacing the rule of law and dialogue (Ngoh 2018) While, his
resignation raised consciousness among the Anglophones about their
political future, such awareness only increased the level of armed
violence and genocide against the civilian population by the Biya
regime.
Thus, to ensure public safety and political stability, the Biya regime
has continuously deployed various forms of armed violence leading to
genocide across critical towns and provinces in the Anglophone-
dominated region. For instance, the constant harassment, labeling of
lawyers, teachers’ unions, and youths assumed a high point following the
Erameh, Ojakorotu & Bolarinwa/African Renaissance Special Issue, October 2023, pp 239-258
250
2016 protests, which led to mass killings (Okereke 2018:8) and the
perpetration of large-scale genocide across Anglophone communities
3
.
Persecution: At this stage, victims are marked for persecution along
religious, ethnic lines, and even political affiliation. Sometimes,
prospective victims might be camped in isolated places; their houses are
marked with total execution. This pattern of genocide against
Ambazonians did not start with the violence that followed the
declaration of self-government in October 2017; its intensity worsened
after that action. For instance, state-sponsored raids and violence against
the people of Bali in 2018 led to the killing of over 40 warlords and
unarmed civilians. Interestingly, the bodies of those killed were either
mutilated or burnt to ashes which raised suspicion about using a
chemical weapon against the civilian population in Cameroun (Nwati
2020).
Also, government-sponsored militias equally embarked on forceful
expulsion of locals and burning of properties, markets, private
investments, schools, churches, and hospitals domiciled across several
villages and towns within Southern Cameroun. Between 2016 and 2018,
several reports (Global Coalition to Protection Education from Attack
2020) from within and outside the country noted systematic attacks on
school children, distortion of schooling, kidnapping of teachers and
principals to the burning of schools and other learning materials with
the ultimate goal of suppressing the Anglophone agitation.
Extermination: This is the stage where genocide is carried out on the
full scale, and this is sustained via mass killings of a particular group of
persons or ethnic group (Staton 2016). At this point, the government
engages in recruiting, training, and arming special squads to carry out
mass atrocities and including genocide against certain ethnic groups.
Such acts are often carried out either to cause psychological trauma to
the people or in a desperate move to revenge attacks on government
forces. Accordingly, the government forces have ensured that they burnt
about 87 villages, displacing people from their ancestral homes and
turning many into refugees and internally displaced. Most depressing is
the willful killing and displaying of the body of such Anglophones like
animals killed (Metan 2021). This stage of genocide appropriately
3
Anonymous Interview; April 11, 2022
Gregory Stanton’s Schema …
251
captures the Cameroun –Anglophone crisis, which was energized by the
protest of 2016 and subsequent declaration of Independence in 2017.
Denial: This phase is regarded as the final stage of genocide. At this
stage, perpetrators ensure that all visible traces and shreds of evidence
are destroyed via digging up suspected grave sites, mutilating or burning
dead bodies, killing or intimidating witnesses and destruction of
repository memories about genocide against the civilian population
(Staton 2016). Across the globe and especially in Africa, denial of acts of
mass atrocities and genocide by the government is not a recent
phenomenon. The nature of the post-colonial state, which gives room
for competition among groups for recognition, resources, statehood,
and critical decision making increases the nature of violence, albeit met
with denial from the government or perpetrators.
According to International Crisis Group (2022), the crisis has
recorded the death of about 6,000 persons, with several others injured,
displaced, and fleeing the region. Despite the weighty evidence of
genocide and political violence against the Anglophone community,
denial remains the norm in Cameroun
4
.
Conclusion and Recommendation
This study explores the context and veracity of claims and counterclaims
of political violence and genocide against the Anglophone population in
Cameroun. Essentially, the ten stages of genocide were deployed in
exploring the context in which the Cameroun-Angophone crisis had
manifested. Apart from the use of symbolism, which might not
necessarily lead to genocide, the other nine stages of genocide, as put
forward by Gregory Stanton, exemplify the guilt of the Francophone-
dominated government for mass atrocities against the Anglophone
population. Despite this weighty evidence, the global community has yet
to effectively respond to the mass atrocities, political violence, and even
genocide against the civilian population, which persist with no end in
sight.
The Cameroun-Anglophone crisis has been made worse by the
apparent non-reference or deployment of relevant international human
rights frameworks like the Genocide Convention, the United Nations
4
Anonymous Interview; April 11, 2022
Erameh, Ojakorotu & Bolarinwa/African Renaissance Special Issue, October 2023, pp 239-258
252
Convention Against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment, the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, the
International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, Article 13(b) of
the Rome Statute, Article 4(h) of the African Union (AU) Constitutive
Act, the doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect, and the United
Declaration of Human Rights. The Cameroun-Angophone crisis only
demonstrates the weaknesses of global and regional norms in the
prevention of mass atrocities and protection of the civilian population as
envisaged in the international community.
Apart from the inability of the regional and international
governments to effectively respond to the Cameroun-Angophone crisis,
the worsening situation once again calls into question the potency of the
United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court, and
even the Genocide Convention. Once again, the conflict brings to bear
the most challenging problem of protecting the civilian population from
war crimes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, genocide, and
even political violence. Thus, the global community must rise beyond
mere condemnation to adopt the "Responsibility to Prevent and React."
While the former will ensure a halt to further acts of political violence
and genocide against the Anglophones, the latter will put the
international community on red alert about contemplating external
intervention should the attacks on civilians persist.
On the other hand, there is a need for the ICC to commence
prosecution against those guilty of political violence and genocide in
Cameroun and initiate and support transitional justice and the peace-
building process in the country. Undoubtedly, the ICC has gone a long
way in deploying legal means for trying African leaders who perpetuate
acts of genocide, as currently witnessed in Cameroun, so the importance
of the ICC in such a scenario cannot be overemphasized.
Lastly, the nature of genocide against the Anglophone population in
Cameroun and other citizens across the globe challenges global
perception, understanding, and expectations about its identification and
expected punishment. Hence, the scenarios further open new ground
about “when, why, and how" crimes such as genocide should be
responded to in an evolving world of armed violence.
Gregory Stanton’s Schema …
253
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