The accusations are contained in a report made public Monday, August 31, 2020, in Buea. It follows a four-month long-running inquiry by CHRDA, the organization founded by Human Rights Lawyer Nkongho Felix Agbor Anyior alias Agbor Balla.

The inquiry report reveals that the CHRDA team examined several incidents between May and August 2020.

The military is accused of “engaging in gross human rights violations” as they battle to banish armed fighters seeking to create a putative state out of the restive Anglophone regions.

“In such violations, civilians are the primary victims,” the damning CHRDA report said, alleging further that the army was responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians across the troubled regions.

It said: “There have been extra-judicial executions, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention, looting and extortion, poor prison conditions, and inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees. Inhabitants have also seen their homes and villages burned down by the military in the two English-speaking regions, forcing civilians to flee from their homes and seek refuge in other towns as IDPs or simply flee to the bushes.”

The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa said its human rights monitoring and reporting officers among other things gathered testimonies of victims and eyewitnesses.

“Documentary and audio-visual evidence, showing acts of violence committed by the military, were also received and analyzed by CHRDA,” the international human rights group said in Monday’s statement.

It said between May and August 2020, the military carried out no fewer than six incidents of extrajudicial executions.

“On Thursday, May 28, 2020, the military conducted an offensive raid in the neighborhood of Upper Bonduma, situated in Buea, which led to the killing of four unarmed young men…The young men were allegedly caught smoking cannabis before the military executed them,” the report read in part.

It adds: “On Saturday, July 4, 2020, Ebangi Brice, a native of Bangem was shot at close range and killed by the military. The military killed him for ringing a church bell. They claim he was alerting the local population to escape after they arrived in the village to carry out an operation.

“On July 20, 2020, the military stormed Modelle Village, in Menchum Valley Subdivision, and attacked the civilian population in reprisal for the death of three soldiers killed by separatist fighters. Three civilians were killed – Igang Mica, Kuta Daniel, and Iba.

“On 13 August 2020, the Defence and Security forces open fire on three children in Tiko, Fako Division, and killed a 17-year-old girl called Bessem Blandine, in Form Two.”

CHRDA says the summary executions add to the arbitrary arrest and detention of civilians in precarious prison conditions, harassment, and extortion of civilians, as well as arson of homes.

The government and the security and defence forces are expected to be readying a reputational damage control following the publication of the damning findings. Authorities have always denied wrongdoing on the part of the military, describing excesses as isolated incidents.