Accountability of Law Enforcement Personnel for Human Rights Violations in Cameroon: Trends and Challenges

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2021/v24i0a10395

Keywords:

Law enforcement personnel, accountability for human rights violations, torture in Cameroon, protection of human rights in Cameroon

Abstract

Law enforcement personnel are critically important in both the security and criminal justice sectors. Unlike ordinary citizens, they possess the broad powers needed to perform the tasks in these sectors: for example, they possess the power to arrest and detain; to search premises and seize items; to interrogate individuals; to stop assemblies; to check and even to restrict the movements of people during certain times; and to use force and firearms in specific circumstances. In exercising such powers, they are required to act independently and judiciously. Also, they must stay within the remit of the law. Such powers, however, render them prone to committing human rights abuses since by their very nature, they interfere with the civil and political rights of individuals. In instances of violations they are expected to be held accountable. Accountability for law enforcement for human rights violations evokes and entails the notions of lawfulness and legitimacy. As legitimacy touches on the public perception of law enforcement personnel, it becomes vital to explore what mechanisms are put in place to ensure accountability as well as possible challenges that hamper it. Examining the notion of the accountability of law enforcement personnel in the context of Cameroon, this paper argues that selective accountability has been the trend which puts the country at quite a distance from its international human rights obligations. Informed by empirical evidence from credible governmental bodies, the paper identifies and assesses the legal framework on accountability, touching on a few instances of selective accountability, and argues that if lawfulness and legitimacy are to be the cornerstones of accountability, then a comprehensive approach must be considered, including the de-politicisation of law enforcement units in Cameroon.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bibliography

Literature

Auerbach JN "Police Accountability in Kenya" 2003 AHRLJ 275-313

Bayley DH Changing the Guard: Developing Democratic Police Abroad (Oxford University Press Oxford 2005)

Bayley DH Democratizing the Police Abroad: What to Do and How to Do It (US Department of Justice Washington DC 2001)

Crawford J "The ILC's Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts: A Retrospect" 2002 AJIL 874-890

De Soto W "Do Police Officers in the USA Protect and Serve all Citizens Equally?" 2018 Social Sciences 1-11

Eban E "Criminal liability of the Police in Cameroon: Prospects and Challenges" 2011 AJCJS 127-146

Egharevba S (ed) Police Brutality, Racial Profiling, and Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System (IGI Global Hershey PA 2017)

Ellison G "A Blueprint for Democratic Policing Anywhere in the World? Police Reform, Political Transition, and Conflict Resolution in Northern Ireland" 2007 Police Quarterly 243-269

Graziano L, Schuck A and Martin C "Police Misconduct, Media Coverage, and Public Perceptions of Racial Profiling: An experiment" 2010 Justice Quarterly 52-76

Hope Sr KR "In Pursuit of Democratic Policing: An Analytical Review and Assessment of Police Reforms in Kenya" 2015 International Journal of Police Science and Management 91-97

Hope Sr KR "Civilian Oversight for Democratic Policing and Its Challenges: Overcoming Obstacles for Improved Police Accountability" 2020 J Appl Secur Res 1-33

Jacobi JV "Prosecuting Police Misconduct" 2000 Wis L Rev 789-854

Jobard F and Lévy R "Racial Profiling: The Parisian Police Experience" 2011 Can J Criminol Crim Justice 87-93

Jones T and Van Steden R "Democratic Police Governance in Comparative Perspective" 2013 Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management 561-576

Klockars CB, Ivkovic SK and Haberfeld MR The Contours of Police Integrity (Sage Thousand Oaks 2003)

Klockars CB, Ivković SK and Haberfeld MR Enhancing police integrity (Springer Dorrecht 2007)

Lumina C "Police Accountability and Policing Oversight Mechanisms in the Southern African Development Community" 2006 African Security Studies 92-108

Mahmud SS "The State and Human Rights in Africa in the 1990s: Perspectives and Prospects" 1993 Hum Rts Q 485-498

Ngwang R "Arresting Roadside Corruption: What Prospects Remain for Anglophone Cameroon?" 2021 American Journal of Public Policy and Administration 1-11

Nwauzi L and Ogon P "A Critical Analysis of the Scope of Police Powers of Law Enforcement in Nigeria" 2018 Cranbrook L Rev 26-41

Onwudiwe I "Defining Terrorism, Racial Profiling and the Demonisation of Arabs and Muslims in the USA" 2005 Safer Communities 4-11

Pino NW and Wiatrowski MD "The Principles of Democratic Policing" in Pino NW and Wiatrowski MD (eds) Democratic Policing in Transitional and Developing Countries (Ashgate Farnham 2006) 69-98

Prasad D "Strengthening Democratic Policing and Accountability in the Commonwealth Pacific" 2006 Sur Revista Internacional de Direitos Humanos 108-131

Radelet LA and Carter DL The Police and the Community (Macmillan College Publishing New York 1994)

Reitzel JD, Rice SK and Piquero AR "Lines and Shadows: Perceptions of Racial Profiling and the Hispanic Experience" 2004 JCJ 607-616

Rowe M Policing the Police: Challenges of Democracy and Accountability (Policy Press Bristol 2020)

Sanders A and Young R "Police Powers"in Newburn T (ed) Handbook of Policing 2nd ed (Willan Portland 2008) 309-340

Tator C et al (eds) Racial Profiling in Canada: Challenging the Myth of "a Few Bad Apples" (University of Toronto Press Toronto 2006)

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Handbook on Police Accountability, Oversight and Integrity (United Nations New York 2011)

Case law

The People vs Tonfack Julienne and Kamdem Robert Judgment No 69/00 of 21 September 2000

Legislation

Law No 2005/007 of 27 July 2005 on the Criminal Procedure Code

Law No 2016/007 of 12 July 2016 on the Revised Penal Code

Government publications

MINJUST Report by the Ministry of Justice on the State of Human Rights in Cameroon 2005

MINJUST Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights in Cameroon in 2006

MINJUST Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights in Cameroon in 2007

MINJUST Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights in Cameroon in 2008

MINJUST Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights in Cameroon in 2009

MINJUST Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights in Cameroon in 2010

MINJUST Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights in Cameroon in 2011

MINJUST Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights in Cameroon in 2012

MINJUST Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights in Cameroon in 2013

International instruments

African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (1981)

Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (1990)

Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1985)

Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (2001)

Guidelines for the Effective Implementation of the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (1989)

International Code of Conduct for Public Officials (1996)

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)

United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (1979)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Internet sources

Anon 2014 Sir Robert Mark: From Constable to Commissioner. My Grandfather – Marcus http://www.sirrobertmark.co.uk/portfolio/my-grandfather-marcus/ accessed 30 January 2021

USAID 2020 https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Police_

United States Agency for International Development 2020 The Effectiveness of Police Accountability Mechanisms: What Works and the Way Ahead https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Police_

Accountability_Mechanisms_8.5.2020.pdf accessed 30 January 2021

Published

26-10-2021

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Agbor, A. (2021). Accountability of Law Enforcement Personnel for Human Rights Violations in Cameroon: Trends and Challenges. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 24, 1-33. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2021/v24i0a10395

Similar Articles

131-140 of 1188

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.