Transcripts For BBCNEWS Africa Eye 20240716

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team analyses who's committing atrocities there and why. this special programme contains distressing images from the start. hello and welcome to africa eye. cameroon uncovered. today we are talking about cameron giles top as the country prepares for the presidential elections next month, its government is fighting two wars. the first conflict between french—speaking state security forces and armed insurgents from the country's minority who complain of institutional discrimination. second, a war that spilt over from neighbouring nigeria in the north of the country. a fight against the jihadist group boko haram. it is bloody and dangerous journalist territory. both the government troops and the rebels have been accused of human rights violations, kidnappings, extrajudicial killings and burnings of schools and villages. today will be showing you to films from the bbc africa eye investigations team. using open source techniques, analysing and carefully verifying online material that has trickled out of these conflicts, they present some of the abuses and their perpetrators. yelling. this is the village being burnt to the ground. some months, images like these have been pouring out of cameroon on social media. some show burning villages, others record acts of torture and killing. many are too graphic to show. taken together, these films show a country sliding into civil war as the government tries to suppress an armed insurgency. so, what is going on? africa eye has analysed some of these videos, checks them against satellite imagery and spoken with eyewitnesses on the ground. for the first time, we show you who is committing these atrocities and why. this is a conflict that has been building for decades. at its root is a division between cameroon's french—speaking majority and its ingush speaking merger —— minority, concentrated in the west of the country. —— english—speaking minority. after cameroon gained its independence in 1960, the two parts of the country formed a single nation. even then, some english speakers felt they had been forced into the new republic. ever since, anglophones have complained that their regions are neglected and excluded from power. the current conflict began in 2016 when lawyers, students and teachers took to the streets to protest. activists were arrested and several protesters were shot by security forces. the crackdown intensified anglophone resentment, fuelling demands for secession and transforming this into an increasingly violent rebellion. by late 2017, separatists were symbolically proclaiming the independence of the new state that they call amp is only a. since then, there have been kidnappings on both sides, extra digital killings and burnings of villages. this is one of those villages. this is one of those villages. —— ambazonia. recorded in april this year. the film shows a unit of at least 13 soldiers setting fire to a house. the location can be confirmed by matching buildings to satellite imagery as well as by fire damage in this subsequent video from the same village. these men appear to be government troops. the fatigues, the helmets and the lack wedding at all consistent by those worn by cameroon's elite army unit that has been trained by us and israeli forces. here they are again in 2016 video scene with a distinctive marking on their wedding. the government minister said that the identity of the men in this video is unclear even though it was said that it belonged to the bir. a few days later in early may, this video was posted to facebook. we have examined the footage frame by frame and confirmed that this was filmed in the village. the satellite images from april 16 2018. lower resolution imagery from after the raid clearly shows that by may 22, many of these buildings have been destroyed. amateur footage also ca ptu red destroyed. amateur footage also captured an attack on a village of munyege on april 29. this video shows the town centre ablaze and reveals that this distinctive landmark which can be seen again in a video of the aftermath posted on may fourth. satellite imagery from before and after this attack shows the extent of the destruction. the bbc hasn't spoken with three residents of munyenge who all say the village was destroyed by government forces. 0ne man claimed troops also committed other atrocities. these are not isolated incidents. analysis of satellite imagery shows extensive fire damage in villages across the south—west region. kwa kwa. we can confirm who is responsible for torching these villages but lawyer and acted —— this lawyer and activist blames the government forces. the government denies this. government forces have also been accused of unlawful killings and torture. this video recorded in may 2018 appears to show car marini and army torturing separatists. the full video is too graphic to show that the men in inflicting the beating are repeating a phrase. 0ur the men in inflicting the beating are repeating a phrase. our analysis of the video places it outside the beauty —— this village. the government told us that they are investigating this incident. it is not just it is notjust the government committing these abuses. separatist rebels have also killed cameroonian security forces and attacked civilians accused of working with the government. cameroonian authorities say that 81 members of the security forces and more than 100 civilians have been killed by separatists in the past year. the rebels have also attacked and burnt down schools. this teacher was shot for keeping his school open. this new video shows a village chief being beaten apparently by a rebel militia. his tormentors are threatening to kill him if the government doesn't respond within 2a hours. thousands of families have been forced from their homes by the fighting. 21,000 people have fled across the border into nigeria. the un estimates that a further 160,000 displaced within camera room. —— cameroon. many like the people shown in this video are still hiding in the forest. first let's hear the government position on the anglophone crisis given by cameroon's minister of communication. this has to be part of the knowledge of all of your listeners. we are the victims of this barbaric, unlawful and unacceptable aggression. the cessation is temporary. they make life impossible. they stop a student from studying. this is an abominable crime. you say that there is a human rights violation from both sides. this is completely wrong. the nation is fighting against and our soldiers are out there from the nation. whatever they do, they do it on behalf of the nation. 0n whatever they do, they do it on behalf of the nation. on behalf of the government. the government has never, ever, given the instruction to burn down in whatever circumstances. in case it happens, the measures taken have already been taken. if a group of soldiers were caught red—handed in violation of human rights, they are completely disarmed. we have found some evidence of the cameroonian military actually burning down villages and torching some of these alleged insurgents. —— torturing. how do you explain these abuses and would you ta ke explain these abuses and would you take —— would use a government is in the process of sanctioning some of these perpetrators?” the process of sanctioning some of these perpetrators? i would like to remind you that whatever takes place in this area, it is taking place in cameroon. the responsibility of the government is to prevent it from taking place. the protection of all citizens depends and rests on the government. in case there is wrong going committed by the military, no matter when and where, during this and all of the perpetrators of certain legal actions, human rights abuses, all of them would be arrested. but the army is also fighting another war in the fire north of the country. this time against thejihadist north of the country. this time against the jihadist group boko haram. it is a war that has been ongoing for more than four years. bec, the cameroonian armed forces has been accused of executing civilians. —— there. one of viral video lastjuly showed shoulders killing two women and two children. we have analysed this footage to find out when and where it happened and who is responsible. this film contains disturbing images. these women and children are being led to their deaths. the soldiers accused them of belonging to the jihadist group boko haram. in the final scene of this video, too graphic to show here, they are blindfolded, forced to the ground and shot at close range 22 times. 0ne to the ground and shot at close range 22 times. one of the women still has the baby strapped to her back. the video began to circulate onjuly the 10th back. the video began to circulate on july the 10th 2018. back. the video began to circulate onjuly the 10th 2018. some claimed that this atrocity took place in mali. but others said it was filmed in the far north of cameroon, where government soldiers had been fighting boko haram since 2014. the government of cameroon initially dismissed the video is fake news. —— as. 0ne one month later, they announced seven members of the military were under investigation. but there has still been no official at admission that these killings were carried out on cameroonian soil by government soldiers, and there is still no guarantee that anyone will be held to account. —— official admission. so how can we tell what really happened here? over the next few minutes we are going to follow these women and children on the short walk to the end of their lives, and to glean from this video the clues that tell us where this happened, when it happened, and who was responsible for this atrocity. gunshots. this looks like the kind of dusty anonymous track that could be anywhere in the sahel. but the first 40 seconds of the film capture a mountain range with a distinctive profile. we spent hours trying to match this range to the topography of northern cameroon. then, in late july, we received a tipoff from a cameroonian source. have you looked at the area near zelevet? close to the town of zelevet we found a match for the ridge line. it places the scene on a dirt road just outside this village. a few hundred metres away is the border with nigeria. the video also reveals other details that can be matched precisely to what we see on the satellite imagery. this track, these buildings. and these trees. putting all this evidence together, we can say with certainty that the killings happened here. less than a kilometre away, in zelevet, we found this compound and identified it as a combat outpost used by the cameroonian military in their fight against worker around. we will come back to this base later. —— fight against boko haram. exactly when the killings took place is, at first sight, harder to say. killings took place is, at first sight, harderto say. but killings took place is, at first sight, harder to say. but again, the video contains clues. this building is visible in satellite imagery, but only until a euro 2016. the murders must have happened before that date. satellite images also captured this structure. the wall surrounding it —— walls surrounding it are present in imagery dated march 2015, but it had not yet been built in november 2014, giving us an earliest possible date for the atrocity. the video also reveals this footpath, a path that only appears in the hot dry season between january and april. there are other, less obvious clues in the video. as they lead these women away, these soldiers, like moving sundials, cast shadows on the track. a simple mathematicalformula tells us the angle of the sun in comparison to the horizon. we can also see what direction the light is coming from. when we add this data to the location, we can get a precise timeframe for this event. the killings happened between march 20 and april fifth, 2015. we the killings happened between march 20 and aprilfifth, 2015. we now know where this happened. and we know where this happened. and we know when it happened. but who are the men who murdered these women and children? in july, issa the men who murdered these women and children? injuly, issa tchiroma bakary, cameroon's minister of communication, insisted the killers we re communication, insisted the killers were not cameroonian soldiers, and presented what he claimed was irrefutable evidence from the video itself. the weapons, he said, are not those used by the cameroonian army in this area of operation. 0ur analysis shows that one of these guns isa analysis shows that one of these guns is a serbian made zastava m21. it is rare in sub saharan africa, but it is used by some divisions of the cameroonian military. bakary also claimed that a close examination of the video shows soldiers wearing colourful forest style camouflage. in the far north, he says, can really an soldiers were pale desert style fatigues. a closer look at the evidence reveals this. cameroonian soldiers, seeing here in a 2015 report by channel 4 news, filmed in zelevet, wearing dark forest style fatigues similar to those seen in the video. on facebook we also found these pictures of other cameroonian soldiers wearing the same type of camouflage. the images are target to zelevet. bakary also questioned why the soldiers we re also questioned why the soldiers were not wearing the standard combat gear of troops stationed in that area. heavy helmets, bullet—proof vests, and rangers boots. the answer is that the soldiers were not out on patrol. they were just a few hundred metres away from the combat outpost we saw earlier. we know that this is a military base because we matched the features visible on satellite imagery to the details in the channel 4 news report that was shot here in 2015. in august this year, and amnesty international investigator spoke with residents of zelevet who had been displaced by the fighting to a nearby town. among them was a man who said that he saw these women and children being brought into the base by cameroonian soldiers. a short while after they we re soldiers. a short while after they were led away, he said he heard gunfire. in august, there was a sudden change in the government's position. after weeks of denying that these killings took place in cameroon, bakary announced that seven members of the cameroonian military had been arrested and were under investigation. 0ur military had been arrested and were under investigation. our analysis has identified three men who actually pulled the trigger. 0ne has identified three men who actually pulled the trigger. one of them is this man, introduced at the start of the film as tchotcho. we found a facebook profile that links the nickname tchotcho to a soldier called cyriaque bityala. cyriaque bitya la called cyriaque bityala. cyriaque bityala is among the detainees named by the government. the bbc has also spoken with a former cameroonian soldier who confirmed that this is tchotcho cyriaque bityala. at the end of the film we see him again, blindfolding the little girl he is about to kill. a few seconds later he draws his weapon and opens fire. 0ur he draws his weapon and opens fire. our analysis identified two other guns that were used in the killing. 0ne guns that were used in the killing. one of them was in the hands of this man. we see him here blindfolding the woman with the baby seconds before the shooting starts. 0ur military source identified him as barnabas gonorso. although we were not able to confirm this identification, a very similar name, barnabas donossou, appeared in 11 days later on the government's list of soldiers now under investigation. the third weapon used in the killing is the zastava m21. it is in the hands of a man introduced in the video as second—class cobra. so who is cobra? as the women and children are killed, cobra is the last man still firing into the bodies. 0ne are killed, cobra is the last man still firing into the bodies. one of his colleagues calls out, tsanga, leave it, they are dead. when he still does not stop shooting they call out again. that's enough, tsanga, that's enough. the name tsanga also appears in the list of men under investigation, suggesting that cobra is a nickname for lance corporal tsanga. another man named among those arrested is etienne fabassou. man named among those arrested is etienne fa bassou. here's man named among those arrested is etienne fabassou. here's the platoon commander who was interviewed by channel 4 in 2015. as far as we can tell he does not appear in the video. we put these findings to the government of cameroon, who responded. these soldiers were arrested and disarmed. they are under investigation right now. i can confirm that all seven of them are in prison. the government's statement on the arrests makes clear that all these men enjoyed the presumption of innocence until the investigation has been concluded, and that all of them will be given a fair trial. no due process was extended to the two women killed outside zelevet, and no presumption of innocence was afforded to the children who died with them. you have been watching africa eye: cameroon uncovered. for more from africa eye you can go to a social media platforms and for watching. —— social media platforms and youtube. thanks for watching. good morning. friday felt more like autumn because we had cool air coming from the north. not surprisingly the highest temperature was on the south coast. still 19 degrees — pretty good. over the weekend, high pressure closer by, so while there will be some showers around, for the most part dry with sunshine at times. it will probably turn cooler as the weekend goes on. pretty cold at the moment underneath that area of high pressure would be clearer skies. more atlantic winds across the northern half of the uk and a weak weather front as well. that is where the we have this band of cloud and patchy rain. ahead of it one or two showers for scotland and northern ireland. more cloud and quite a strong westerly wind. england and wales, winds lighter. a lot more sunshine. highs of about 18 degrees and it should feel quite pleasant as well. not quite as warm for scotland and northern ireland, with the rain coming in to scotland in the evening. as it moves southwards, though, the rain peters out again. more a band of cloud heading down into england and wales. with more cloud debris, if you like, it won't be as cold, saturday night into sunday morning. it will feel chillier by day, mind you, because more cloud is moving southwards. behind it sunshine and some showers blown in on a brisk north to north—westerly wind. the bulk of the showers will be in the northern half of scotland. but temperatures will be lower across the board. 0nly around 12 or 13 degrees in scotland and ireland. 14—15 in the south. that chilly north to north—westerly airflow is with us for the start of the new month. but around the top of this area of high pressure, the wind will change direction across scotland and northern ireland, replacing a chilly northerly with a more atlantic westerly, bringing in rain to the north—west later. sunshine for england and wales — 14 degrees at best. showers possible to the north sea coasts. this band of rain in the north is initially quite heavy around that weather front there. but it will topple southwards and then again it is a familiar story. everything just weakens. that means higher temperatures by day, higher temperatures by night, but but probably not as much sunshine. this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera. our top stories — call the roll. mrgraham. aye. the senatejudiciary committee votes to approve brett kavanaugh but one republican breaks ranks and insists on a delay. this country's being ripped apart here and we have got to make sure that we do due diligence. the fbi now has a week to investigate allegations of sexual assault before the full senate casts a final vote. 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