7/27/2019 Coalition Letter to Biya

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c/o

Via Email, Facsimile, and U.S. Airmail

July 29, 2013

His Excellency Paul Biya,

Presidency of the Republic

Yaounde, Cameroon

Communication Unit 

RE: Justice for Marafa Hamidou Yaya and all Prisoners of Conscience in the Republic of Cameroon

Dear President Biya:

As U.S.-based NGOs and NGO representatives with individual members and constituents

collectively numbering in the tens of thousands, we write to urge you to declare a moratorium on

“Opération Epervier”; suspend further arrests of public officials suspected of embezzling public

funds; release those currently in detention as well as those whose convictions are suspect such as

Mr. Marafa Hamidou Yaya; and appoint an impartial, Blue-Ribbon Commission to conduct a

thorough review of the administration of “Opération Epervier” that will make recommendations

to you.

Our U.S. President Barack Obama's administration acknowledges that Cameroon’s “constitution

and law provide for an independent judiciary, but the judiciary remained corrupt, inefficient, and

subject to political influence” as of 2012. The U.S. State Department reports as follows in itsrecently released, 2012 report on human rights practices in Cameroon:

. . .

On September 21, the Mfoundi High Court delivered a guilty verdict in the trial of Marafa

Hamidou Yaya, former secretary general of the presidency and former minister of state for 

territorial administration and decentralization, on embezzlement charges stemming from the

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MARAFA WATCH

Rodney Logal, Coordinator http://marafa-watch.tumblr.com/ 

The Oregon-Cameroon Connection

Elizabeth Armstrong, Managing Editor http://tocc.newsvine.com 

Drum Majors for Truth

L. Kenneth Kendrick,Program Director http://www.dm4t.org 

National Forum On Judicial Accountability

Timm Wheeler, CIOhttp://50states.ning.com 

 purchase of a presidential plane in 2001. The presiding judge read a 1,156-page judgment that 

contained mostly allegations and insinuations, but little evidence, and sentenced Marafa to 25 

 years’ imprisonment. Observers noted that many aspects of the case pointed to executive

interference.

. . .

Minister Yaya was accordingly identified by the Obama Administration as a political prisoner.

Mr. President, even before the U.S. released its latest stinging report on Cameroon’s human rights

record, it was common knowledge that “Opération Epervier” had lost sight of its central objective,

weighed down by its own internal contradictions. It is our understanding that the initiative was

conceived and perceived to be a vehicle for recovering and, if need be, repatriating purloined state

funds; the goal being to bring those responsible to justice after a fair, just, and transparent trial.

“Opération Epervier” has, however, veered dangerously off course and apparently become an

instrument for capturing and persecuting political opponents.

Besides the case of Marafa Hamidou Yaya, the use of criminal trials to forestall political opposition

and eliminate rival candidates for the presidency of your Republic receives steady media

attention. Representatives of foreign governments, reported to have previously supported

prosecution of government and other public officials for corruption in Cameroon, now are said to

believe these trials were largely used to settle political scores and less to fight corruption. Word of 

these cases and how they were misused does not help Cameroon’s international reputation as a

good place to make an investment or do business.

We believe it would be in the long term interest of the Cameroonian people if you as their

President took the firm decision to allow the judiciary to play the role prescribed for it in the

Constitution. A role, as we understand it, to serve as the guardian of republican values and not as

an instrument for settling political scores. We promote good government in our own country and

are therefore confident that it would be best for you to follow a righteous course. Please help

ensure a fair outcome in Minister Marafa’s case, redressing his and other similar grievances in the

best possible manner.

Thank you for your consideration, anticipated cooperation, and corresponding best efforts.

Respectfully,

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The Plea For Justice Program

George Stokes, Co-Administrator http://www.plea4justice.org 

OAK

Organizations Associating for the Kind of Change America Really Needs

 Attorney Zena Crenshaw-Logal, Co-Administrator http://www.oak4change.org 

POPULAR 

Power Over Poverty Under Laws of America RestoredDr. Andrew D. Jackson, Co-Administrator http://www.popular4people.org 

cc: His Excellency Paul Biya, Presidency of the Republic

c/o Ambassador Joseph Foe-Atangana

Embassy of Cameroon

3400 International Drive, NW

Washington, D.C. 20008

Prime Minister Philemon Yang

Prime Minister’s Office 

Yaounde, Cameroon

Mr. Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo

Ministry of External Relations

Yaounde, Cameroon

Ambassador Joseph Foe-Atangana

Embassy of Cameroon3400 International Drive, NW

Washington, D.C. 20008

Ms. Bianca Menendez,

Political and Economic Section Chief 

Embassy of the United States

Avenue Rosa Parks - P.O. Box 817

Yaounde, Cameroon