Sacrilegious! The arrest of medical staff in Kumbo by Gov’t and Amba forces

By Minang Kongadzem

Staff of Banso Baptist Hospital (BBH) have found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. On September 22, three staff of the hospital were arrested by Government forces for ‘treating Amba fighters. The three included a nurse with a three-month-old baby.

On September 24, five more staff of the same hospital were also taken into Amba captivity, accused of ‘collaborating with the Cameroon military.

These actions must be condemned vehemently because the Cameroon army on the one hand believes that they can keep acting without impunity even when their actions clearly cross the line, while ‘Ambazonian’ fighters on the other hand feel that they too can take advantage of the fragile state of affairs and get away with actions like these.

Under the International Humanitarian Law, IHL, hospitals (be they permanent or make-shift ones), should be clearly marked with distinctive logos and should never be a target by warring parties except if there is credible evidence that they are being used by one party to aid the other party.

There is absolutely no evidence that this was the case at BBH which has been in operation since 1949 – a period during which the region was referred to as ‘Southern Cameroon’.

BBH is the first of seven Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) hospitals and the CBC Health Services has a non-political, non-partisan approach to its healthcare delivery.

This means that the organization does not discriminate against those it treats in its numerous health facilities spread all over Cameroon.This also extends to its employment policy. The CBC Health Services only hires the best talent, hence its doctors, nurses and other specialists come from different religious backgrounds, ethnic groups etc.

At the start of the Anglophone Crisis, the CBC Health Services chose to keep its two largest hospitals (both located in the embattled Northwest) operational. The two hospitals are Banso Baptist Hospital and Mbingo Baptist Hospital.
Both hospitals are among Cameroon’s most reputed private hospitals and even prior to the crisis, have never compromised the quality of their medical services – never turning anyone away regardless of their beliefs.
Several wounded soldiers have been (and still continue to be) treated at BBH and Mbingo as well as separatist fighters.

The gross violation of IHL at BBH last week by Cameroon government soldiers must not go without repercussions from the international community because it is encouraging a cycle of violence and a calculated attempt to drag medical personnel into the war by forcing them to side with the military. Medical professionals cannot do this. Medical professionals also take an oath to save lives as a priority regardless of who the patient is, hence they will continue to treat Cameroon soldiers, wounded separatist fighters, and the general civilian population.

Of course, the fact that soldiers and separatists are harassing and desecrating a medical facility is not exclusive to Cameroon. It however makes international law and common sense to be a joke. Medical neutrality is something trained government soldiers ought to know about. Hence, the reason we hold them to higher scrutiny.
In Chile, a man died in October 2019 after security forces deterred a medical team from administering treatment to him after civil unrest broke out.

In October 2015, a US airstrike in the Afghan town of Kunduz where Doctors Without Borders were operating a trauma hospital, killed 42 people. Most of the patients were burned alive in their beds as the military gunship made multiple passes over the MSF hospital. MSF’s request for an independent inquiry was never honored. The U.S. military investigated itself, eventually taking disciplinary action against a dozen service members.

During the 2011 Libyan Civil War, eyewitnesses recounted seeing Gaddafi forces attacking clearly labeled ambulances with the Red Crescent logo because they were carrying anti-Gaddafi combatants.
There is of course the more recent and ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As of March 12, 2022, at least nine medical facilities, including Mariupol maternity hospital, most being located to the north and the south-east of Ukraine were attacked by Russian military forces.

These examples just go to show the extent to which government authorities would go to wreak havoc on weaker parties during conflict or civil unrest –usually without any consequences. What the international community must therefore do is condemn these actions before they become the norm.