Civilian Protection in Armed Hostilities: An Analysis of the Conflict Situation in the Two English-Speaking Regions of Cameroon

  ABSTRACT: The conflict in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon has been ongoing since 2016 with some dire consequences felt by the civilian population of the two conflict-hit regions (the Northwest and Southwest regions). These consequences rang from the destruction of civilian properties on both side of the conflict, destruction of means of livelihood of the civilian population, loss of lives and forceful displacement of the affected population as a result of the growing insecurity caused by the conflict. The civilian population suffers as a result of the conflict but mostly because of the failure the state the ensure the respect of international instruments for civilian protection in situations of armed conflicts and guarantee the safety of the non-combatants. International Humanitarians Law asserts that civilians must be protected against all forms of violence in times of war. This however has not been the case with the ongoing conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, given that the civilian population in the two regions have been receiving the hard end of the stick in the conflict. The civilian population, likewise civilian properties have been the object of attack on both sides of the conflict. The paper analyses the lack of civilian population by the state, how the lack of civilian population affects the non-combatants in the conflict-hit regions. The paper equally analyses the measures and instruments of civilian protection in situations of conflict. The paper goes further to identify the areas of non-compliance to International Humanitarian Law by the parties in conflict. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews with selected civilians in the affected regions and the failure of the state to guaranteed civilian protection by the parties in conflict was identified. The paper concluded that the situations of civilians in the two regions continues to deteriorate and the civilian population surfers even more and recommends the effective enforcement of the respect of international legal instruments on civilian protection duly ratified and adopted by the state of Cameroon.

KEY WORDS: conflict, armed hostilities, civilian population, non-combatants, internally displaced persons, civilian protections, International Humanitarian Law.