Why all Serbians should welcome arrest of Ratko Mladic

You're probably aware that 26 May 2011 saw the arrest of Ratko Mladic, a former General in the Bosnian Serb Army in Serbia. The arrest of General Ratko Mladic comes 16 years after the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued an international warrant for his arrest on charges of genocide, complicity in genocide, persecution, exterminations and murder, deportation and inhumane acts, unlawfully inflicting terror upon civilians, murder, cruel treatment, attacks on civilians and taking hostages [Source]. Despite these serious charges, not all Serbians welcome the arrest of Mladic.

Ratko Mladic was indicted in July 1995 for his role in the massacre of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks). The Srebrenica massacre perpetrated by troops under Mladic's control has been termed the "worst atrocity on European soil" since World War II.

According to the ICTY, General Ratko Mladic's men sought to "eliminate a part of Bosnian Muslims" during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

While families of the victims, rights advocates and groups like Human Rights Watch welcome the arrest of Ratko Mladic, calling it an end to impunity, the runaway General who is now under arrest enjoys the support of many nationalists in Serbia. Yesterday 29 May 2011, about 10,000 protesters took to the streets of Belgrade, capital of Serbia, demanding the release of Ratko Mladic. Many regard Mladic as a "hero" and Serbia's "best General."

Massive support for a commander whose troops planned and executed the massacre of members of a particular ethnic group emboldens perpetrators of heinous crimes and tarnishes Serbia's image.

It is hard to comprehend why Ratko Mladic is hailed in Serbia as a hero. A true hero would have used his position as commander to stop his troops from killing 8,000 unarmed men and boys.

In the interest of justice and closure for families of the victims of the siege on Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the Srebrenica massacre, all Serbians - including Serbs, Bosniaks and ethnic Hungarians - should welcome the arrest of Ratko Mladic and the 69-year-old General should be extradited to the Hague to answer charges for crimes committed under his command.

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Man sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for homosexuality in Cameroon

Homosexuality is outlawed in Cameroon and punishable under Section 347 bis of the Cameroon Penal Code (CPC) with up to 5 years in prison and/or a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 francs CFA. A lot has been written about the persecution of homosexuals in Cameroon and both national and international human rights organizations have urged Cameroon to decriminalize homosexuality. Despite these loud calls, the authorities have turned a deaf ear. A recent arrest, trial and conviction of a Cameroonian man has once again put the plight of homosexuals in Cameroon on the spotlight.

A Cameroonian male, identified by Human Rights Watch as Roger Jean-Claude Mbede, was arrested on 2 March 2011 in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Roger was reportedly held in Gendarme custody for 7 days without being charged - in violation of national law which stipulates that arrested persons should not be held in custody for more than 48 hours without being charged.

After 7 days in unlawful custody, Roger was transferred to Yaounde Central Prison. He was found guilty of homosexuality and sentenced to 3 years in prison by the Court of First Instance in Yaounde on 28 April 2011.

Roger Jean-Claude Mbide is currently imprisoned in the Central Prison in Yaounde.

Disturbingly, many Cameroonians are in favor of Section 347, ignoring the fact that the law is repugnant to equity and good conscience and alienates a vulnerable group of Cameroonians - many of whom have been forced underground, tortured, extorted, imprisoned or forced  to seek asylum abroad. This conflicts with Cameroon's obligations under international law.

Cameroon's "sodomy law" infringes on the privacy and other fundamental freedoms of individuals, including their right to free expression and equal protection of the law. It's in this vein that Human Rights Watch and two national organizations have written an open letter to Cameroon's Minister of Justice, Delegate General of Security and Secretary of State for Defense, condemning the imprisonment of Roger Jean-Claude Mbide and urging the three leaders to do the following:

• Review Section 347 of the CPC.
• Investigate recent conviction under the law.
• Stop arrests under Section 347 of the penal code.
• Over turn the conviction of Roger Jean-Claude Mbide.
• Uphold the rights of all Cameroonians to a life of dignity and equality.

My upbringing frowns on same-sex. However, as a matter of principle, I respect and defend the rights and freedoms of all individuals without distinction of any kind. Consenting adults in a private relationship should not be subjected to arrests, ridicule, torture, verbal or physical abuse, extortion, and imprisonment.

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Belgium: Cameroon embassy and right to access information

The right to access information is a basic right enshrined in key international human rights instruments such as in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR). It's incumbent on states to ensure that this right is respected by state representatives and employees in public offices. An aborted phone call to the embassy of Cameroon in Brussels, Belgium this afternoon put into question the commitment of the embassy staff to uphold the right to access information.

At about 4PM (GMT+2), a call was made to the embassy of Cameroon to get information about the requirements for applying for a new passport and opening hours.

The call was answered by a gentleman who spoke only French due to inability or unwillingness to speak English. He routed the call to an angry lady who struggled to speak English. Instead of providing the needed information, she hastily referred the caller to the embassy's website. Speaking English seemed to be a burden for her and rendered her audibly nervous and unwilling to help. Then the unexpected happened - she hung up the phone.

Undeterred and shocked by the unwelcoming reaction of someone representing his country abroad, the caller called back. This time, the same gentleman who routed the first call reluctantly provided the requested information in French - ignoring the possibility that the English-speaking caller does not understand French.

I visited the referred website and noted that most pages on the English section of the site are "...still under construction... soon available."

According to the website, the embassy opens from Monday to Friday from 09h30 to 16h00. This conflicts with information provided by the staff today: passport applicants must be at the embassy before midday and are not welcomed on Fridays.

The embassy's website, as of the time of writing, was last updated more than 2 years ago on 29 April 2009 and looks inactive, hence the caller had reason to believe that perhaps something has changed after all these years. The French section of the site was last updated on 25 July 2009.

Cameroon is a bilingual country and all its citizens have the right to access information in the language they fully understand. The Constitution of the Republic provides that all official communications or documents be made available in both French and English, but Cameroon's embassy in Belgium, like many other state offices, is yet to make information on its website available in both languages.

There's a need to educate individuals who represent Cameroon in embassies abroad and to ensure that persons working in public offices understand that their job is to serve the people and should not interfere with the people's right to access information. Embassy staff should be polite and be able to communicate in both official languages of the country they represent so that a group of nationals is not alienated.

More importantly, the website of the Cameroon embassy in Belgium is in desperate need of a make-over. The authorities should take advantage of the advent of new technologies and make information available online.

An unprofessional embassy staff and a website - www.cameroon.be - whose English section is perpetually under construction damages the reputation of Cameroon abroad and sends a wrong message to millions of English-speaking Cameroonians.

On a side note: Finland is a small country in Northern Europe which has two official languages - Finnish (Suomi) and Swedish (Svenska). The websites of Finland's embassies in Washington and Abuja for instance, carry both official languages and I bet embassy staff would aptly and happily communicate in both languages. This is a good example for bilingual countries to emulate.

UPDATE, 21.11.2011: The website of the embassy has been updated, predominantly with news about the 2011 presidential election. The site still lacks useful information such as passport application fees, visa fees and application forms.

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