**1. Introduction**

It seems people everywhere are questioning the ability of traditional political actors to represent their interests and are increasingly seeking a more direct and unmediated relations to the decisions that affect their lives [1]. The Southern Cameroon-Ambazonia crisis commonly known as the Anglophone crisis revolves around the marginalization of the Anglophones and the dilution of their cultural identities especially concerning education and the judiciary by the Francophones in their attempt to assimilate them. Anglophones have therefore collectively given voice to their grievances and concerns and are demanding that something be done about them and they have taken extra-institutional actions by arming themselves to defend themselves against the government security forces who abuse their human rights by arbitrarily arresting, torturing, detaining, killing them, burning their houses, raping their women and also refusing them the right to self-determination.

The collective challenge that from the onset of the crisis was predominantly regressive, that is, a return to federation as it was from 1961 to 1972, changed due to Cameroon government's failure to listen to their plights. They overwhelmingly became progressive, that is, they wanted absolute independence except for their elite (parliamentarians, ministers and other prominent government workers) still clamoring for federation and a unitary state because they benefitted from the government and were afraid of losing their jobs. The question we ask is: how have Anglophones historically sustained social solidarity with their common opponent, which is the government of Cameroon, in order to attain their desired policy change? What means have they used to make their voices heard in the international scene? And finally, how have the government responded to their protest?

The rise and spread of new ICTs have transformed the way that society is organized, which of course include social movements. Internets and SMS messaging for examples have enabled activists to coordinate protest in record time, giving rise to the 'flash mob' phenomenon. 'Flash mob' is a term that originally referred to social experiments and countercultural movements to reclaim 'public spaces' Salmond [2]. The Anglophone movement can be dubbed as the 'Twitter Revolution' or 'Facebook Revolution' emphasizing the role of social media in diffusing videos of human rights abuses and to organize protest mobilizations both at the local and international levels.

The videos were diffused all over the world thereby creating huge impact in the international community. Diffusion is the process through which movements import and export ideas, tactics, strategies, organizational forms and cultural practices as Entman [3] puts it, by framing: a way of selecting and highlighting a particular claim to mobilize supporters, demobilize antagonists and convince observers of the worthiness of their course. The frame Ambazonian highlight is that their union with Francophone is fake and it never took place because there is no certificate of union and that they are culturally different, therefore the need for the restoration of their independence. Their frames are deeply rooted in local or national political and cultural context and are more open to diffusion especially as it concerns the abuse of human rights. They use a frame that makes them to think globally and act locally, that is, they take a political action frame that links global problems with local action.

Many videos have been spread on the brutality of the security forces that disrespected the universal declaration of human rights. They can easily be downloaded from the Internet clearly showing that due to the age of Twitter and Facebook revolution, the images have been globalized in order to gain international attention from organizations and countries that matter in the world. The spreading of these videos and other information led to the shutting down of the Internet in Ambazonia for 93 days.

The objective of this work is to collect and analyze short videos and journalists' reports for television stations using social movement theory.

## **2. Origin of the Ambazonia uprising: dominant not consensual cultural hegemony**

The Ambazonia crisis is an attempt of Southern Cameroonians to break the dominant Francophone cultural hegemony. Since 1972, La République du Cameroun has dominated the Southern Cameroonians, which came into union with them from a weaker position with a population numerically smaller. As a result, La République du Cameroon has been making efforts not just to dominate them but to absorb them into the broader Francophone cultural system. They silently destroyed

**147**

countries.

*Uprising and Human Rights Abuses in Southern Cameroon-Ambazonia*

the dignity and statehood of Anglophones-not by the French-speaking community at large, but by the government which was led and dominated by Francophones. Marx and Engels [4] famously argued that, in any epoch, the dominant ideas are the ruling ideas in society that serve to maintain the dominance of the ruling classes. Those who have the means of economic production also have control over the production of ideas, and the class which is the material force of society is at the same time the ruling intellectual force. The ruling class, rules also as thinkers and as producers of ideas and regulate the production and distribution of ideas of their age. Similarly, La République du Cameroon has been producing ideas to suppress Southern Cameroonians because of their dominance over the economy, judiciary and political institutions. When the crisis started in order to dilute it, they produced many unsuccessful concepts such as the promotion of Bilingualism and multiculturalism, the national disarmament and demobilization and reintegration committee all headed by Anglophones and whose reports were dropped in the dustbins. Finally, they gave Anglophones what they termed 'Special Status,' which Anglophones rubbished as being empty. How did these two separate entities come

Cameroon was initially a German's territory from 1887 to 1914 before the British

This poorly conducted re-unification was based on centralization and assimilation, and has led the Anglophone minority feeling politically and economically marginalized as their cultural differences are ignored. "On the 1st September 1966 the Cameroon National Union (CNU) was created by the union of political parties of East and West Cameroon. Most decisions were taken without consultation, which led to widespread feelings amongst the West Cameroonian public that although they voted for reunification, La Republique du Cameroon was absorbing or domi-

Achankeng [7] states that although the plebiscite was an expression of willingness to associate with French Cameroon, no necessary discussions took place to arrive at an agreed document and set the legal basis of the federation. So it never took place and neither were any agreements subsequently signed between the two

In 1972, President Ahidjo (the President of the Republic of Cameroon) conducted a referendum on the form of the state. Although the West Cameroon lawmakers heavily opposed and rejected it on the ground that it was a violation of the 1961 Federal Constitution, he went ahead with the referendum and the Federal Republic of Cameroon became the United Republic of Cameroon [8]. All these events were calculated attempts meant to incorporate a former colony into another state. Bongfen [9] and Ajong [10] state that it abolished "all federal legislative, judicial and administrative institutions, and removed all guarantees that protected the rights of the minority Southern Cameroonians in the federation. Unlike during the plebiscite of 1961 wherein only Southern Cameroonians voted to decide on their

invaded it from Nigeria in 1914 and the German surrendered in February 1916. After the war, the League of Nations partitioned the colony between the United Kingdom and France on June 28, 1919, and France gained the larger geographical share. French Cameroon became independent as La République du Cameroun in January 1960 and Nigeria was scheduled for independence later that same year, which raised question of what to do with the British territory. A plebiscite was agreed on and it was held on February 11, 1961, and the British Southern Cameroon voted to join Cameroon as West Cameroon I.CB Dear [5]. To negotiate the terms of the union, the Foumban Conference was held on July 16–21, 1961 in which the Federal Constitution was drafted. It stated in Article 47.1 that "No bill to amend the constitution may be introduced if it tends to impair the unity and

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91053*

together and form a union?

integrity of the federation."

nating them," Wikipedia [6].

#### *Uprising and Human Rights Abuses in Southern Cameroon-Ambazonia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91053*

*Education, Human Rights and Peace in Sustainable Development*

The collective challenge that from the onset of the crisis was predominantly regressive, that is, a return to federation as it was from 1961 to 1972, changed due to Cameroon government's failure to listen to their plights. They overwhelmingly became progressive, that is, they wanted absolute independence except for their elite (parliamentarians, ministers and other prominent government workers) still clamoring for federation and a unitary state because they benefitted from the government and were afraid of losing their jobs. The question we ask is: how have Anglophones historically sustained social solidarity with their common opponent, which is the government of Cameroon, in order to attain their desired policy change? What means have they used to make their voices heard in the international

scene? And finally, how have the government responded to their protest? The rise and spread of new ICTs have transformed the way that society is organized, which of course include social movements. Internets and SMS messaging for examples have enabled activists to coordinate protest in record time, giving rise to the 'flash mob' phenomenon. 'Flash mob' is a term that originally referred to social experiments and countercultural movements to reclaim 'public spaces' Salmond [2]. The Anglophone movement can be dubbed as the 'Twitter Revolution' or 'Facebook Revolution' emphasizing the role of social media in diffusing videos of human rights abuses and to organize protest mobilizations both at the local and

The videos were diffused all over the world thereby creating huge impact in the international community. Diffusion is the process through which movements import and export ideas, tactics, strategies, organizational forms and cultural practices as Entman [3] puts it, by framing: a way of selecting and highlighting a particular claim to mobilize supporters, demobilize antagonists and convince observers of the worthiness of their course. The frame Ambazonian highlight is that their union with Francophone is fake and it never took place because there is no certificate of union and that they are culturally different, therefore the need for the restoration of their independence. Their frames are deeply rooted in local or national political and cultural context and are more open to diffusion especially as it concerns the abuse of human rights. They use a frame that makes them to think globally and act locally, that is, they take a political action frame that links global

Many videos have been spread on the brutality of the security forces that disrespected the universal declaration of human rights. They can easily be downloaded from the Internet clearly showing that due to the age of Twitter and Facebook revolution, the images have been globalized in order to gain international attention from organizations and countries that matter in the world. The spreading of these videos and other information led to the shutting down of the Internet in Ambazonia

The objective of this work is to collect and analyze short videos and journalists'

**2. Origin of the Ambazonia uprising: dominant not consensual cultural** 

The Ambazonia crisis is an attempt of Southern Cameroonians to break the dominant Francophone cultural hegemony. Since 1972, La République du Cameroun has dominated the Southern Cameroonians, which came into union with them from a weaker position with a population numerically smaller. As a result, La République du Cameroon has been making efforts not just to dominate them but to absorb them into the broader Francophone cultural system. They silently destroyed

reports for television stations using social movement theory.

**146**

international levels.

problems with local action.

for 93 days.

**hegemony**

the dignity and statehood of Anglophones-not by the French-speaking community at large, but by the government which was led and dominated by Francophones.

Marx and Engels [4] famously argued that, in any epoch, the dominant ideas are the ruling ideas in society that serve to maintain the dominance of the ruling classes. Those who have the means of economic production also have control over the production of ideas, and the class which is the material force of society is at the same time the ruling intellectual force. The ruling class, rules also as thinkers and as producers of ideas and regulate the production and distribution of ideas of their age. Similarly, La République du Cameroon has been producing ideas to suppress Southern Cameroonians because of their dominance over the economy, judiciary and political institutions. When the crisis started in order to dilute it, they produced many unsuccessful concepts such as the promotion of Bilingualism and multiculturalism, the national disarmament and demobilization and reintegration committee all headed by Anglophones and whose reports were dropped in the dustbins. Finally, they gave Anglophones what they termed 'Special Status,' which Anglophones rubbished as being empty. How did these two separate entities come together and form a union?

Cameroon was initially a German's territory from 1887 to 1914 before the British invaded it from Nigeria in 1914 and the German surrendered in February 1916. After the war, the League of Nations partitioned the colony between the United Kingdom and France on June 28, 1919, and France gained the larger geographical share. French Cameroon became independent as La République du Cameroun in January 1960 and Nigeria was scheduled for independence later that same year, which raised question of what to do with the British territory. A plebiscite was agreed on and it was held on February 11, 1961, and the British Southern Cameroon voted to join Cameroon as West Cameroon I.CB Dear [5]. To negotiate the terms of the union, the Foumban Conference was held on July 16–21, 1961 in which the Federal Constitution was drafted. It stated in Article 47.1 that "No bill to amend the constitution may be introduced if it tends to impair the unity and integrity of the federation."

This poorly conducted re-unification was based on centralization and assimilation, and has led the Anglophone minority feeling politically and economically marginalized as their cultural differences are ignored. "On the 1st September 1966 the Cameroon National Union (CNU) was created by the union of political parties of East and West Cameroon. Most decisions were taken without consultation, which led to widespread feelings amongst the West Cameroonian public that although they voted for reunification, La Republique du Cameroon was absorbing or dominating them," Wikipedia [6].

Achankeng [7] states that although the plebiscite was an expression of willingness to associate with French Cameroon, no necessary discussions took place to arrive at an agreed document and set the legal basis of the federation. So it never took place and neither were any agreements subsequently signed between the two countries.

In 1972, President Ahidjo (the President of the Republic of Cameroon) conducted a referendum on the form of the state. Although the West Cameroon lawmakers heavily opposed and rejected it on the ground that it was a violation of the 1961 Federal Constitution, he went ahead with the referendum and the Federal Republic of Cameroon became the United Republic of Cameroon [8]. All these events were calculated attempts meant to incorporate a former colony into another state. Bongfen [9] and Ajong [10] state that it abolished "all federal legislative, judicial and administrative institutions, and removed all guarantees that protected the rights of the minority Southern Cameroonians in the federation. Unlike during the plebiscite of 1961 wherein only Southern Cameroonians voted to decide on their destiny, the May 1972 referendum was extended to all the people of la République du Cameroun. It was 'a creeping annexation than unification'. However, the dissenting voices of Southern Cameroonians rejecting the centralized United Republic of Cameroon were dwarfed by the wide majority of La République. Many Southern Cameroonians regard 20th May, - the national day of today's Cameroon – as a day when they lost their freedom".

In 1984, Paul Biya removed one of the stars from the flag and changed the official name of the country to the Republic of Cameroon (La République du Cameroon), which Cameroon had before her unification with Southern Cameroon. Some Anglophones such as Gorji-Dinka, Bernard Fonlon and Carlson Anyangwe from the Southern Cameroon considered it as the dissolution of the 1961 union.

Citizens from these regions, that is, the Anglophone regions, have been mobilizing against their marginalization by the Francophone-dominated government. They complain about chronic under-representation in all issues of national life, including political appointments and professional training. They argue that since their reunification, they have been treated as second-class citizens. Their vibrant economic and political institutions have been completely erased, and their education and judicial systems have being undermined and degraded.

Gorji Dinka and Albert Mukong: Southern Cameroonian nationalists who protested the ill-treatment of their people by the central regime were arrested and detained. Representatives of southern Cameroonians in the tripartite talks of 1991 proposed a return to the federation, but the leaders of La République du Cameroon ignored them. In 1994, John Ngu Focha and Salomon T. Muna both former Prime Ministers of the Southern Cameroons returned to the United Nations in New York and demanded separate independence for the Southern Cameroons. The mission to the UN preceded the All Anglophone Conference (AAC 1), which took place in Buea in April 1993 bringing together all Southern Cameroon citizens who unanimously called for the restoration of the statehood of the Southern Cameroons. A second All Anglophone Conference (AAC 2) was held in Bamenda in May 1994, at which the decisions of AAC 1 were reiterated and a reasonable time was given to French Cameroon to accept a return to the two state federations or Southern Cameroon would revive its statehood and independence. The implementation of AAC 1 and AAC 2 was however stalled by the brutal arrests and incarceration of the leaders of the AAC with several others escaping into exile.

The ACC was renamed the Southern Cameroons Peoples Conference (SCPC), and later the Southern Cameroon People's organization (SCAPO), with the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) as the executive governing body. Southern Cameroon National Council younger activists formed the Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL) in Buea on May 28, 1995.

When they felt their demands were met with contempt and total disregard, the SCNC took their case back to the United Nations led by John Foncha and protested against La République du Cameroun annexation of their territory. Their focus has been maintained on the restoration of the statehood of Southern Cameroon, and the government brutal repression has helped to unify them.

Police routinely disrupted SCNC activities: On March 23, 1997, gendarmes killed about 10 people in a raid in Bamenda. The police arrested between 200 and 300 people, mostly SCNC supporters as well as members of the Social Democratic Front. In the subsequent trials, Amnesty International and SCNC found substantive evidence of the government torturing and using force on them. The raid and trial resulted in a shutdown of SCNC activities. On October 1, 1999, SCNC militants took over Radio Buea to proclaim the independence of Southern Cameroon but failed to do so before security forces intervened. After clashes with the police, the SCNC was

**149**

in words [13].

**4. The Ambazonia uprising**

*Uprising and Human Rights Abuses in Southern Cameroon-Ambazonia*

officially declared illegal by the Cameroonian authorities in 2001. In 2006, a faction of SCNC once again declared the independence of Ambazonia Lansdorf, ed. [11]. Although Cameroon is bound by the international law and its own constitution to respect human rights and freedoms, many human rights have been violated in Southern Cameroon. This work pays particular attention on the cruel treatment of people who exercise the right to association and peaceful assembly. We use videos to show how these rights were violated in Ambazonia. We argue that the videos helped to globalize the crisis and attract the attention of the international community to

In the age of smartphones, images or video-making has become less problematic as most people even in the third world possess a smartphone with a built-in camera. They take pictures of what is relevant to them in their daily lives. They usually film the remarkable, the extraordinary, the exceptional and not the ordinary or everyday activities [12]. From the onset of the Anglophone crisis, participants made many videos to expose the human right abuses of the military and they flooded the Internet. That was why the government cut-off the Internet in the English-speaking

We decided then to collect 30 videos to analyze them because they provide information that cannot be provided by other types of data. They are used as 'proofs of facts' and as it is often said, a picture or video is more, and different, than a thousand words because they contain much more visual information on bodily movement and include acoustic data. Although images are specific reality constructions, ambivalent, subjective and diffuse, their interpretation must be substantiated

The videos collection contribute toward answering a research question and are interpreted by providing verbal accounts and linked to the theoretical concept of cultural dominance and media and information communication. The questions we asked concerning each of the videos were similar to those asked by Becker [14]: What are the acts of violence and human rights abuses in each video? How can they be interpreted and linked to our theoretical concept? What insight do they generate and substantiate? What different kinds of people are there? We link observations to theoretical concepts such as status, groups, norms, rules, and common understand-

The relationship that exists between Southern Cameroon and La République du Cameroon is one of two people, two inheritances, and two divergent mentalities: one struggles for its liberation, while the other suppresses and abuses its human rights or struggles to maintain control over it by using its mighty state military. They speak different languages with little or no rapprochement although they live in the same country. The various videos below clearly show the differences. The oppressors' troops speak in French, while the oppressed speaks in Pidgin English. A country divided predominantly by language although language is not the cause of the Anglophone crisis: it is the history of people. This shows the struggle between the two people and languages while one is resisting the onslaught and domination, the other is trying very hard to overcome and crush them. Having been oppressed for long, the oppressed is not willing to give up and the oppressor

ings, deviance and rule violation, sanctions and conflict resolution.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91053*

the severity of the killings and abuse.

**3. Data collection and interpretation**

areas to stop them from circulating incriminating images.

#### *Uprising and Human Rights Abuses in Southern Cameroon-Ambazonia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91053*

officially declared illegal by the Cameroonian authorities in 2001. In 2006, a faction of SCNC once again declared the independence of Ambazonia Lansdorf, ed. [11].

Although Cameroon is bound by the international law and its own constitution to respect human rights and freedoms, many human rights have been violated in Southern Cameroon. This work pays particular attention on the cruel treatment of people who exercise the right to association and peaceful assembly. We use videos to show how these rights were violated in Ambazonia. We argue that the videos helped to globalize the crisis and attract the attention of the international community to the severity of the killings and abuse.
