U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, October 31, said he would end Cameroon’s preferential trade benefits from Jan. 1, citing what he called the country’s “persistent gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”
In a letter to the
U.S. Congress, Trump said Cameroon had failed to address U.S. concerns
regarding extrajudicial killings, torture and other persistent human rights
violations being committed by Cameroonian security forces.
“I am taking this step because I have determined that the
Government of Cameroon currently engages in gross violations of internationally
recognized human rights, contravening the eligibility requirements of section
104 of the (African Growth and Opportunity Act),” Trump wrote in the letter.
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative C.J. Mahoney said the U.S.
government remained deeply concerned about human rights violations committed by
the Cameroonian government against its own citizens. “This action underscores the
Administration’s commitment to upholding the human rights criteria as required
in the AGOA legislation,” he said in a separate statement.
Mahoney urged the
government of Cameroon to work with the United States and the international
community to strengthen protection of human rights under the law and to
publicly hold to account those who engage in human rights violations.
In order to qualify
for preferential benefits under the AGOA legislation, partner countries must
meet certain eligibility requirements, including not engaging in gross
violations of internationally recognized human rights. They must also
demonstrate continual progress toward establishing the rule of law, political
pluralism, establishing internationally recognized worker rights, and the
elimination of barriers to U.S. trade and investment.
Sixty-five civil
society organizations this week urged the African Commission on Human and
Peoples’ Rights to address serious and systematic human rights violations in
Cameroon. In a joint appeal, they said
violence in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions has led to 3,000 deaths over the past
three years, forcing half a million people to flee their homes, and leaving
over 700,000 children out of school.
Cameroon President Paul Biya, who has governed for nearly
four decades, is seeking to calm unrest stoked by a disputed presidential
election last year and the separatist insurrection.
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