The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas press freedom in Cameroon is deteriorating; whereas the Cameroonian Constitution recognises freedom of expression and fundamental rights; whereas journalists are routinely detained, attacked, censored, and imprisoned on anti-state, criminal defamation, ‘fake news’, and retaliatory charges while reporting on the crisis in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions;

B.  whereas Cameroon uses lengthy pre-trial and arbitrary detention; whereas journalists have been held incommunicado and convictions are handed down by military courts, among other serious violations of fair trial and due process rights;

C.  whereas the UN Committee against Torture, Freedom House and the Committee to Protect Journalists recently reported that Cameroon’s police, gendarmes and other government agents have arrested, detained, physically attacked and intimidated journalists and that, once detained, journalists are often ill-treated, tortured and killed;

D.  whereas Tsi Conrad, Mancho Bibixy, Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka and Thomas Awah Junior are journalists who reported on the situation in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, including on abuses perpetrated during the armed conflict and ongoing civil unrest; whereas Amadou Vamoulké, a journalist in poor health, was sentenced to 32 years in prison for his independent management of the state broadcaster;

E.  whereas the journalists Martinez Zogo, Jean-Jacques Ola Bebe, Samuel Wazizi and Anye Nde Nsoh were killed between August 2019 and May 2023, and serious questions about accountability remain unanswered;

F.  whereas the EU is Cameroon’s leading trade partner;

1.  Condemns the structural violations of journalists’ human rights by the Cameroonian authorities, calls on those authorities to ensure that press freedom is respected, particularly in the run-up to Cameroon’s 2025 presidential elections, and urges them to immediately and unconditionally release Amadou Vamoulké, Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka, Mancho Bibixy, Thomas Awah Junior and Tsi Conrad and ensure, in the meantime, that their basic rights are upheld and that they have access to medical treatment;

2.  Calls for the EU and the Member States to raise cases of detained journalists with the Cameroonian authorities; calls for the EU to use its diplomatic and economic leverage to achieve tangible improvements in human rights in Cameroon;

3.  Urges the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States’ diplomatic missions to actively respond to restrictions against journalists, including by ensuring comprehensive observation of trials, visiting journalists in detention and maintaining active contact with marginalised or at-risk journalists and with their families and colleagues;

4.  Urges the Cameroonian authorities to end their practice of trying civilians in military courts, which does not comply with international law, and to stop abusively invoking terrorism, anti-state and ‘fake news’ charges in cases against journalists;

5.  Reiterates its call on the Member States to support a UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission to Cameroon, particularly in light of the conflict in the North-West and South-West Regions;

6.  Calls on the Member States to facilitate humanitarian visa applications for Cameroonian journalists at risk of persecution;

7.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the VP/HR and the President, Government and Parliament of Cameroon.