Four environmental activists have been arrested and detained in Cameroon. Nasako Besingi, the director of Struggle to Economise Future Environment (SEFE), was detained without charge on November 14, 2012 with three of his colleagues in the town of Mundemba in the South West region of Cameroon.
In a press release, Greenpeace International and Greenpeace Africa have expressed disgust over the arrest of environmental activists and called for their immediate release. They have also called on the Cameroonian authorities to respect the rule of law and individuals’ human rights.
Besingi, it would be noted, has been a vocal and peaceful critic of the plans and working practices of US-based company, Herakles Farms, whose large-scale palm oil plantation project in the region, he says, would cause widespread environmental destruction and threaten the livelihoods of residents in an area home to vital biodiversity.
The activities of SEFE have always been based on legal court actions and peaceful social dialogue around the only real tangible asset of people in the region – land.
“The proposed plantation by Herakles Farms is the wrong project in the wrong place and residents and individuals opposed to it should be free to voice their concerns in a peaceful manner,” said Michael Obrien-Onyeka, Greenpeace Africa’s Executive Director.
“The detention of Mr. Besingi and his colleagues is in violation of Cameroonian law and of the internationally protected rights to freedom of expression and liberty and security of person,” he added
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