{"id":2628,"date":"2020-06-24T19:39:04","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T19:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-death-penalty-worldwide.pantheonsite.io\/?p=2628"},"modified":"2020-09-01T23:19:47","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T23:19:47","slug":"cameroon-three-juveniles-sentenced-to-death-for-terrorism-after-fleeing-boko-haram-now-face-retrial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/cameroon-three-juveniles-sentenced-to-death-for-terrorism-after-fleeing-boko-haram-now-face-retrial\/","title":{"rendered":"Press Release: Three Juveniles Sentenced to Death Face Retrial"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday June 26, three women may face a lengthy prison sentence when they are tried for espionage. They were previously sentenced to death after fleeing Boko Haram violence when they were still minors. All three have already spent over 5 years in prison, two of them with very young children. We urge the authorities of Cameroon to ensure that they receive a fair and speedy judgment. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Marie Dawandala, Damaris Doukouya and Martha Weteya were only 17 years old when they were arrested and accused of supporting Boko Haram in October 2014. Damaris was taken into police custody with her three-month-old daughter, and Marie was six months pregnant. The three teenagers had left their native villages in impoverished Northern Cameroon to work as domestic servants with their husbands across the Nigerian border.\u00a0 In the midst of escalating violence perpetrated by the militant group Boko Haram, they were forced to flee home across the border, like tens of thousands of civilians displaced since the crisis began.<\/p>\n

As the attacks intensified, \u201cthe Cameroonian authorities arbitrarily arrested hundreds of alleged supporters of Boko Haram, many without sufficient investigation, and charged them with terrorism, an offense punishable by death,\u201d explains Marie-Lina Samuel, Africa Project Coordinator at ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty). \u00a0International organizations have decried this repressive campaign as a human rights crisis. In its report \u201cSentenced to Oblivion: Factfinding Mission on Death Row<\/a>,\u201d ECPM highlighted the proliferation of unfair trials in terrorism cases.<\/p>\n

After their arrest, the three girls were stunned to learn that they were accused of belonging to the very militant group they had fled just two weeks prior. For four months, they had no lawyer and no interpreter, even though the pre-trial investigation was conducted in French, a language they do not understand. Marie gave birth to a son in detention. The three women and their two children were then transferred to Maroua Central Prison, where conditions are life-threatening. The facilities lack basic hygiene, are severely overcrowded (built for 350 inmates but housing over 1,400), and offer inadequate food, drinking water, and medical care. The women raised their children as best they could for the next five years in this inhumane environment.<\/p>\n

In April 2016, Marie, Damaris, and Martha were brought before Maroua\u2019s military tribunal, where they were charged with espionage, conspiracy to commit insurrection, and membership in an armed gang. After an expedited trial that lasted only a matter of hours, Marie, Damaris and Martha were convicted on all counts and sentenced to death by firing squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trial proceedings read like a litany of fair trial violations,\u201d says Delphine Lourtau, Executive Director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide. \u00a0First, the military tribunal that imposed the death sentence had no authority to try the women under Cameroonian law as they were minors at the time of the alleged crimes. International law generally prohibits the trial of civilians by military tribunals and absolutely prohibits the use of the death penalty for juveniles. Second, there was no direct or material evidence supporting the convictions, and no defense or prosecution witnesses were called. Third, the women\u2019s state appointed counsel did not provide adequate representation. The defender had not yet fully qualified as a lawyer and only met once in private with her clients, in a short break during the trial. Fourth, all of the proceedings were conducted in French, and the women were not always provided with an interpreter.\u00a0 \u201cSo little did they understand their own trial that it was not until they returned to prison and spoke to a prison guard that they realized they had been sentenced to die,\u201d adds Lourtau.<\/p>\n

In 2019, recognizing that it lacked jurisdiction over minors, the military tribunal vacated the women\u2019s death sentences. The prosecutor nevertheless decided to retry the women before a civilian court. Marie, Damaris and Martha were transferred to a smaller prison in Mokolo, where detention conditions are even more desperate.\u00a0 Moreover, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Damaris and Marie had to accept a religious group\u2019s offer to care for their children outside of prison. They have received no visits or news of their children\u2019s welfare for the past three months.<\/p>\n

Marie, Damaris and Martha will attend their next court hearing on June 26. They hope that the court will render a speedy judgment after postponing their trial six times in a row since the beginning of this year. \u201cThe court should also take into consideration the time they have spent in prison with their children and the irregularity of the proceedings against them to date,\u201d says Lourtau. \u201cAfter everything they have been through, Marie, Damaris, Martha, and their children deserve a fair trial and a just outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

More information about this story<\/strong>:
\nhttps:\/\/live-death-penalty-worldwide.pantheonsite.io\/cameroon-targeting-girls-fleeing-terrorist-violence\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Media Contacts<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Delphine Lourtau, Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide
\ndml348@cornell.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Michael Luze, ECPM
\nluzemichael@yahoo.fr<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Co-Signatory Organizations: <\/strong><\/p>\n

ACAT Cameroun<\/em> (Action des chr\u00e9tiens pour l\u2019abolition de la torture<\/em>)
\nCoalition camerounaise contre la peine de mort<\/em>
\nDroits et paix<\/em>
\nRACOPEM (R\u00e9seau des avocats camerounais contre la peine de mort<\/em>)
\nAbdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran
\nACADP (Arab Coalition Against the Death Penalty)
\nACAT France (Action des chr\u00e9tiens pour l\u2019abolition de la torture<\/em>)
\nACHRS (Amman Center for Human Rights Studies)
\nAEDH (Association europ\u00e9enne pour la d\u00e9fense des droits de l’homme<\/em>)
\nAlliance des avocats pour les droits de l’homme
\n<\/em>CHESCO (Children Education Society)
\n<\/em>CENESA (Civic Education Network for Eastern and Southern Africa in Kampala, Uganda)
\nCoalition marocaine contre la peine de mort<\/em>
\nCoalition portoricaine contre la peine de mort<\/em>
\nDeath Penalty Focus
\n<\/em>FIACAT (F\u00e9d\u00e9ration internationale de l’action des chr\u00e9tiens pour l\u2019abolition de la torture<\/em>)
\nFHRI (Foundation for Human Rights Initiative)
\nForum marocain pour la v\u00e9rit\u00e9 et la justice<\/em>
\nHands off Cain
\n<\/em>SHAM (Human Rights & Democracy Media Center in Palestine)
\nInmates\u2019 voices
\nItalian Federation for Human Rights
\nJCADP (Jordan Coalition Against the Death Penalty)
\nLawyers for Human Rights International
\nLAW (Legal Awareness Watch)
\nLifespark
\n<\/em>OBP (Observatoire burundais des prisons<\/em>)
\nObservatoire marocain des prisons<\/em>
\nASBL (Pax Christi Uvira<\/em>)
\nSOS Africaines en danger<\/em>
\nSunny Center Foundation USA Inc.
\nVietnam Committee on Human Rights
\nWitness to Innocence<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Logos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday June 26, three women may face a lengthy prison sentence when they are tried for espionage. They were previously sentenced to death after fleeing Boko Haram violence when they were still minors. All three have already spent over 5 years in prison, two of them with very young children. We urge the authorities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,2,76,67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender-fr","category-non-classifiee","category-advocacy-fr","category-alice-project-fr"],"better_featured_image":{"id":2562,"alt_text":"Three young women","caption":"Martha Weteya, Marie Dawandala, et Damaris Doukouya (de gauche \u00e0 droite) \u00e0 la prison de Mokolo","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":1080,"height":486,"file":"2020\/06\/Final-Picture-three-clients.jpeg","sizes":{"medium":{"file":"Final-Picture-three-clients-300x135.jpeg","width":300,"height":135,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Final-Picture-three-clients-300x135.jpeg"},"large":{"file":"Final-Picture-three-clients-1024x461.jpeg","width":1024,"height":461,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Final-Picture-three-clients-1024x461.jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"Final-Picture-three-clients-150x150.jpeg","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Final-Picture-three-clients-150x150.jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"Final-Picture-three-clients-768x346.jpeg","width":768,"height":346,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Final-Picture-three-clients-768x346.jpeg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"post":2607,"source_url":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Final-Picture-three-clients.jpeg"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"external_author":"Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and ECPM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2628"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3005,"href":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628\/revisions\/3005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}