Amnesty International Accuses Cameroon of Torturing Suspects<br />By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJULY 20, 2017<br />DAKAR, Senegal — More than 100 people have been tortured by Cameroon’s security forces<br />and held incommunicado in the past four years after being accused of having links to the extremist group Boko Haram, according to a report issued Thursday by Amnesty International.<br />A letter from the American Embassy in Cameroon to Amnesty said<br />that it took such allegations seriously, and that the United States did not provide aid to any security unit if it had "credible information that such a unit has committed a gross violation of human rights."<br />Suspects are usually detained after attacks by Boko Haram, whose insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people<br />and displaced millions in Nigeria and nearby countries, including Cameroon.<br />" the report said, adding that they were also suspended from poles and subjected to drowning, and<br />that many were deprived of food, water and medical care. that Detainees were severely beaten with various objects including electric cables, machetes and wooden sticks,<br />Though no one interviewed told Amnesty of direct involvement by agents of other countries, some<br />described seeing white men speaking English at a military base where torture occurred.<br />Most of the 101 cases investigated by Amnesty involved men 18 to 45 years old, though it documented<br />the mistreatment of women, children and people with mental and physical disabilities.
