HRW calls for release of activist Abdul Karim Ali
The non-governmental organization, Human Rights Watch has called for the release of activist Abdul Karim Ali who has been detained by Cameroon state forces since August 11th 2022.
It is reported that soldiers arrested Ali in the Ntamulung neighborhood in Bamenda, North-West region, from where he was taken to the local gendarmerie station and kept incommunicado. It is only after enormous pressure mounted by his lawyers that authorities allowed his wife to visit.
Ali’s lawyers told Human Rights Watch they were not permitted to view his file and that he was questioned in their absence, in violation of Cameroonian law. While there are no official charges against Ali, authoritites have said he is accused of “apology of terrorism” for possessing a video on his phone showing alleged human rights abuses committed by a Cameroonian soldier against civilians.
Ali’s lawyers said he is being detained in deplorable conditions, in a six-square-meter cell without windows, a toilet, or mattresses and he shares the cell with 12 other detainees.
This is the second time the activist is being detained. The first was in 2019 when he waas taken to SED in Yaounde: a place which has become notorious for the torture of accused people. Then, he was accused of terrorism, financing terrorism, and secession but was released in November that same year.
HRW is now demanding that he be released and allowed to continue his work.
Read also: Is Abdulkarim Ali dead or alive?
