Maurice Kamto

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Maurice Kamto after the 2018 election

Maurice Kamto (born February 15, 1954 in Bafoussam ) is a Cameroonian lawyer , politician and university professor .

Youth and education

Maurice Kamto belongs to the Bamileke ethnic group . He studied law at the University of Yaoundé , in Nice and in Paris . In 1983 he received his doctorate .

In 1985, when Kamto was working as a young teacher at the Institute for International Relations , he was arrested for an article in which he was critical of President Paul Biya . Due to pressure from his international students, he was soon released.

In 1988 he received a prize from the Académie des Sciences d'Outre-Mer .

Academic career

Kamto taught and worked in almost all of the ten regions of Cameroon. From 1994 he taught as a professor at various Cameroonian universities. He was also visiting professor at several universities in France and Senegal . From 1999 to 2004 he was dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at Yaoundé II University .

Kamto worked for many years as a researcher and lecturer at the Hague Academy for International Law and was also a member of its board of trustees in 2015.

From 2005 Kamto was an associate member of the Institute for International Law , and in 2013 he became a member.

He has written specialist publications and founded several scientific journals.

Consulting activities

He worked as a consultant on numerous projects in various international organizations . As an expert for the International Telecommunications Union , he was involved in the drafting of the telecommunications laws of Mali , Rwanda , Mauritania , Burkina Faso , Guinea-Bissau and the Comoros from 1996-1998 .

From May 1999 to August 2016 he was a member of the International Law Commission , and in 2011/12 he was also its President.

He was a project member of the UN organizations UNDP , UNEP and FAO . He is a member of numerous international non-governmental organizations such as IUCN , the International Commission of Jurists and the International Law Association .

Political commitment

Kamto was a member of the intergovernmental commission of Cameroon and Nigeria for the implementation of the judgment of the International Court of Justice of October 10, 2002 on the question of the land and sea borders between the two countries.

From December 2004 to November 2011 he was in the Cameroonian government. He held the functions of Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

After leaving the government, Kamto founded the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (Mouvement pour la renaissance du Cameroun - MRC) party in August 2012 .

In the 2018 presidential election in Cameroon , Kamto ran against ruling President Paul Biya. He declared himself the winner of the election even before the official results were announced. The official election result, according to which Biya is said to have been re-elected with 71 percent of the vote, he did not recognize. His party spoke of electoral fraud and subsequently organized several protests.

Imprisonment

On the evening of January 28, 2019, Kamto was arrested along with other party members in the port city of Douala . He is charged with rioting, insulting the president and other charges. Human rights organizations like Amnesty International have called for his release and criticized the fact that the trial against Kamto should be brought to a military court . Numerous prominent lawyers have called on the European Union to freeze support for Cameroon through funds from the 11th European Development Fund until Kamtos and his supporters are treated according to basic constitutional standards. In April 2019 the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on Cameroon to release Kamto and uphold human rights . In early June 2019, protests took place in Cameroon demanding the release of Kamto and other prisoners. Another 350 people were arrested, 75 of whom were later released.

In early October 2019, President Biya surprisingly stopped the prosecution of several opposition members. As a result, Kamto was released in Yaoundé on October 5, 2019.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b Kamto decries Bamileke stigmatisation, challenges Biya to set Bulu competitive exam for him. In: natimesnews.com. October 18, 2018, accessed February 5, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Cameroun: l'opposant Maurice Kamto fête ses 65 ans en prison. In: actucameroun.com. February 15, 2019, accessed February 16, 2019 (French).
  3. ^ Paul Biya ordered my arrest by the DGRE - Maurice Kamto. In: cameroondailyjournal.com. February 4, 2019, accessed February 5, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Alexander Kopp, Peter Becker: Transformation target democracy. Civil society and decentralization in Cameroon (= Jochen Franzke [Hrsg.]: Welttrends Thesis . Volume 18 ). Universitätsverlag Potsdam, Potsdam 2014, ISBN 978-3-86956-304-6 , p. 62 , urn : nbn: de: kobv: 517-opus-71883 .
  5. ↑ a b c CURRICULUM VITAE of Professeur Maurice KAMTO, Candidate of MRC. In: crtv.cm. June 2017, accessed on January 29, 2019 (French).
  6. ↑ Clarisse Juompan-Yakam: Maurice Kamto: "Proposer au peuple camerounais des idées nouvelles". In: Jeune Afrique . August 16, 2012, accessed January 30, 2019 (French).
  7. ↑ Cameroon opposition leader Maurice Kamto, MRC members arrested. In: Deutsche Welle . January 29, 2019, accessed January 29, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Cameroon's main opposition leader charged with rebellion: Lawyer. In: Channel NewsAsia . February 13, 2019, accessed February 16, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Cameroon's opposition leader Kamto charged with 'rebellion'. In: France 24 . February 13, 2019, accessed February 16, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Cameroon: Nearly 60 opposition members tortured by security forces. In: amnesty.org . July 26, 2019, accessed on July 29, 2019 .
  11. ^ Appeal in support of Maurice Kamto. French Society of International Law. March 14, 2019, accessed on July 28, 2019.
  12. ↑ Resolution of the European Parliament of April 18, 2019 on Cameroon (2019/2691 (RSP)). In: europarl.europa.eu . April 18, 2019, accessed July 29, 2019.
  13. ↑ Ilaria Allegrozzi: Mass arrest of opposition members in Cameroon - Hundreds Detained After Defying Ban on Demonstrations. In hrw.org . June 4, 2019, accessed on July 29, 2019.
  14. ↑ Cameroon opposition leader Maurice Kamto, supporters freed from prison. In: Deutsche Welle . October 5, 2019, accessed October 6, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Kamto, Maurice
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cameroonian lawyer, politician and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH February 15, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Bafoussam , Cameroun