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| BIR Officers, like this one obstructed... |
"We
are alarmed by reports of obstruction and intimidation involving an officer of
Cameroon's top elite security unit, the BIR," said CPJ Africa Advocacy
Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "We call on authorities to conduct credible
investigations and sanction any officers involved."
Officers of
the country's top elite security unit, the army's rapid intervention battalion
(known as BIR), were working with police at the site of an airplane crash in
the northern city of Ngaoundéré, according to local journalists and news
reports. The crash, involving a small aircraft flying from Chad to Douala,
Cameroon's economic capital, killed one passenger and left four others injured,
Agence France-Presse reported.
Officers at
the scene threatened and obstructed journalists working for private news
outlets, but allowed local officials and reporters for the state-controlled
national public broadcaster Cameroon Radio and Television to gain access to the
site, according to the National Syndicate of Cameroonian Journalists and CPJ
interviews.
Salomon
Kankili, a reporter for the independent paper Le Messager, told CPJ that a BIR
officer grabbed him by the neck and threw him on the ground after he asked
about the basis for the restrictions. The same officer threatened unspecified
reprisals against Kankili and another reporter, Adolarc Lamissia of the daily
Le Jour, if they published anything about him, the syndicate and Le Messager
reported.
Joseph
Mouafo, a reporter for the private broadcaster Camnews24, told CPJ that the
same BIR officer threatened to break his video camera if he filmed the crash
site, even from a distance. Mouafo and another TV reporter, Clevis Moussa of
Equinoxe, both left after being chased away, he said.
Lt. Pioka,
the regional commander of BIR, did not immediately respond to CPJ's telephone
and text messages.
The BIR
operates under the authority of the Ministry of Defense with a mandate to
combat criminality and general insecurity in border regions, but it has also
intervened in political protests, according to CPJ research. Local press has
reported allegations of shootings, assaults, harassment and even murders of
civilians by BIR officers. In 2010, at least 16 officers had been expelled for
misconduct, according to news reports.
The office
of Cameroon's Ministry of Defense said it would investigate the reports of
threats and obstruction. Both Abakar Ahamat, the regional governor, and Col.
Guy Beyegue, head of the paramilitary police corps, denied issuing any orders
to restrict the press from reporting.
By the Committee to Protect
Journalists
I appreciate the ministry of defence for the good job through BIR.The unit requires more moral education in relation to civilians.They should work strictly under the injunction of the Ministry of defence.
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