Participants involved in discussions about SPRR aspects
On 26-28 April 2022, a national workshop was organized by the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) in Yaounde to help Cameroon implement the “Regional Sub-Strategy on the Screening, Prosecution, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Boko Haram Associated Persons in the Lake Chad Basin Countries” (Regional SPRR Strategy) in its national context.
CTED has been supporting States of the Lake Chad Basin, including Cameroon, to understand and implement relevant Security Council requirements to counter terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism while respecting human rights since it first began conducting assessments on behalf of the Counter-Terrorism Committee in 2006.
Participants and trainers participating in the workshop
The workshop was the first national SPRR event for Cameroon to be held under the current joint UNOCT/UNODC/CTED project launched in 2020 and entitled “Supporting Lake Chad Basin Countries to Develop and Implement Strategies for the Screening, Prosecution, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Boko Haram-Associated Persons”. It aimed to raise awareness about the regional SPRR sub-strategy and relevant
Security Council requirements among Cameroonian national Government authorities and civil society organizations (CSOs) and identify ways to ensure effective implementation of the sub-strategy in the national context through practical recommendations. The Sub-strategy was adopted in 2018, under the lead of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), in cooperation with the African Union, and with the contribution of CTED and other UN partner entities.
Since 2017, Cameroon has been dealing with hundreds of persons associated with Boko Haram either as terrorist suspects, victims, or hostages. The number significantly increased with the death of the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in May 2021, which prompted defections. During the workshop, Cameroonian authorities explored the most appropriate ways to address the current challenges posed by these defections under the framework of the Regional SPRR Strategy and adopted concrete recommendations on priority actions to implement in that respect.
Priority recommendations included, inter alia: Developing a legislative or regulatory framework that clearly defines the stages of the process for screening persons associated with Boko Haram and establishing a multi-stakeholder screening committee; establishing transitional justice mechanisms in Cameroon, in the context of Boko Haram, adapted to the needs of communities and local specificities; adopting a precise protocol for the rehabilitation of persons associated with Boko Haram, including an appropriate programme; and developing a strategy and action plan for the reparation of victims of terrorist acts, taking into account the communities’ needs. Participants highlighted the need to mainstream sex-specific and age dimensions while implementing these recommendations.
International and regional partners, including the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also took part in the workshop; and will contribute to the effective follow-up of these recommendations, as appropriate, in close cooperation with CTED, UNODC, and UNOCT.