Dear Peace & Justice Loving Friends:
This is an urgent call to help end the war in Cameroon that is now entering its 5th year in the Northwest & Southwest regions of the Country who now call themselves Ambazonians. Since the beginning of the year, there have been escalations of military activities and the killing of innocent civilians caught up in the fighting, adding to other previous massacres.
Mautu Jan 10, 2021 * Kumba massacre Oct. 24, 2020 * Ngarbuh Feb 14, 2020 * Mutengene & Munyenge September 10, 2019 * Menka-pinyin March 25, 2018, & and more
The Secretary of State of the Vatican, Prime Minister of the Holy Sea, Pietro Cardinal Parolin, will be visiting Cameroon, specifically the NW town of Bamenda, the epicenter of the war to celebrate Holy Mass. We call on the Pope, a man of God and servant of the faithful, to urge both President Biya who has been in power for over 38 years, and the "restorationist" groups to sit down in talks and find lasting solutions to end the violence now described as another Rwanda style genocide in the making.
In July 2019 Switzerland offered its good offices to mediate between the conflict parties. But till date, there is no credible evidence that President Biya is willing to sit down with the armed groups.
The U.S. senate passed Resolution 684 January 1, 2021 calling for credible 3rd party negotiations between the government and the armed groups. During the December 5, 2020 UNOCA briefings to the UN Security Council, several countries called again for 3rd party negotiations without preconditions to address the root causes.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has issued several appeals for a global ceasefire to combat the covid-19 pandemic and to open up corridors for humanitarian assistance. There are nearly 1 million people displaced due to the ongoing war and over 15,000 killed and 500 villages burnt to the ground. So far President Biya has not heeded the call to dialogue with the armed groups. Instead on January 8, 2021 two days before the Mautu killings in the Southwest, a fresh contingent of military was deployed to the area.
WPPJ is calling on you to stand in solidarity with the women and children who bear the brunt of the war by signing your name to this petition calling on His Holiness Pope Francis, through his envoy to Bamenda, Cameroon, Pietro Cardinal Parolin, to:
1. Use his good offices and all instruments at his disposal, as God’s Servant of Peace, to urge President Biya and the "restorationist" groups to adhere to the call for a global ceasefire to end the hostilities. And for President Biya to remove his military from the towns and villages so that women can return to their farms, the only means in most cases for families to subsist.
2. Urge President Biya to sit down with the "restorationist" groups under the Swiss mediation. Or failing which, urgently convene a Peace and Justice Summit in Rome and press upon both President Biya, his government and all those who have taken up arms and their leaders, including key international stakeholders to sit down to find lasting solutions and end human suffering for all.
This is a special call to join hands in this peaceful protest to end the war in Cameroon. It takes just a few seconds. And you would have saved a life – in the end.