Herman J. Cohen is former assistant secretary of state for African affairs (1989–1993), the former U.S. ambassador to the Gambia and Senegal (1977–80), and was a member of the U.S. Foreign Service for thirty-eight years.

Taking to Twitter April 22, Cohen doffed his hat to the “transparent” nature of the inquiry into the “Ngarbuh massacre”, stating that it opens the way to talks that should end the conflict in Cameroon’s North West and South West Regions where defense and security forces have been battling armed separatists.

According to the report of the commission of inquiry set up by President Paul Biya to dig into the incident which saw the death of many persons including children and a pregnant woman, top military officials have questions to answer before the competent judicial organs in a bid to shed light on their role in the killings.

Making public the report of the inquiry in a communiqué Tuesday, April 21, 2020, the Minister of State, Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh said the President of the Republic ordered the institution of disciplinary proceedings against Major Nyiangono Ze Charles Eric, Commander of the 52nd Motorised Infantry Battalion (BIM) in Nkambe and all the servicemen who took part in the Ngarbuh operation.

The Commission of Inquiry found that: “Upon entering the Ngarbuh 3 neighbourhood, the place of the tragedy, the team led by Sergeant Baba Guida, comprising Gendarme Sanding Sanding Cyrille, Private 1st Class Haranga and the 10 members of the vigilante committee, launched an attack based on information provided by a repented terrorist and a farmer from the area.

“Following an exchange of gunfire, during which five terrorists were killed, and many weapons seized, the detachment discovered that three women and ten children had died because of its action.

“Panic-stricken, the three servicemen with the help of some members of the vigilante committee, tried to conceal the facts by causing fires.

“On his return to Ntumbaw, Sergeant Baba Guida who led the operation, submitted a deliberately biased report to his superiors, a report on which the Government initially based its statement.”

Hear Cohen: “Elements of peace starting to come together in Cameroon: Government transparency about Ngarbuh massacre; U.S. congratulations; Anglophone citizens becoming fed up with extremism of separatist militias. Let the U.S.-led talks begin.”

Cameroon-Info.Net recalls that on February 19, Cohen had called on the International Criminal Court to weigh into the Ngarbuh February 14 killings. “In the wake of this massacre of civilian women and children in North West Cameroon's Ntumbo-Ngarbuh quarter, I call on the International Criminal Court to investigate Paul Biya's regime for crimes against humanity.”

He is known to have also condemned the excesses of separatists who seek to make of Cameroon’s North West and South West Regions an independent country christened Ambazonia.

On January 10, Cohen said: “I sympathize with the determination of Anglophone Cameroonians to preserve their culture & way of life, but I must condemn the violence perpetrated by "Ambazonian" separatists against villages, homes and civilians. It is time for a ceasefire and a serious mediated negotiation.”

Human Rights Watch, HRW, has repeatedly shamed armed separatists for using education as a weapon for political gains, and for committing untold atrocities including maiming, arsons, kidnappings, rape and killings.

“In 1991, I mediated an end to a different African conflict with some striking similarities: the Eritrean war of independence, which raged for nearly three decades. Lessons from that precedent offer clues to a potential endgame in Cameroon,” Cohen posits.