Maximilienne Ngo Mbe under surveillance by unknown individuals
On 17 October 2018, human rights defender Maximilienne Ngo Mbe was informed that two men were monitoring her house and requesting information about her whereabouts. On 18 October 2018, the same men were spotted near her home again.
Maximilienne Ngo Mbe is the Executive Director of the Central African Network of Human Rights Defenders (Réseau des Défenseurs des Droits de l'Homme de l'Afrique Centrale – REDHAC). REDHAC is a coalition of human rights defenders active in eight countries in Central Africa, based in Douala, Cameroon. The coalition works to protect, train, and promote human rights defenders in Central Africa through national and international advocacy. Recently, REDHAC has been actively working to monitor democratic institutions and processes in Cameroon, most importantly around the presidential election that took place on 7 October 2018.
On 17 October 2018, human rights defender Maximilienne Ngo Mbe was informed that two men were monitoring her house and requesting information about her whereabouts. On 18 October 2018, the same men were spotted near her home again. As the human rights defender has previously been harassed and threatened, there are concerns that this surveillance indicates further targeting of her and her work.
Maximilienne Ngo Mbe is the Executive Director of the Central African Network of Human Rights Defenders (Réseau des Défenseurs des Droits de l'Homme de l'Afrique Centrale – REDHAC). REDHAC is a coalition of human rights defenders active in eight countries in Central Africa, based in Douala, Cameroon. The coalition works to protect, train, and promote human rights defenders in Central Africa through national and international advocacy. Recently, REDHAC has been actively working to monitor democratic institutions and processes in Cameroon, most importantly around the presidential election that took place on 7 October 2018.
When Maximilienne Ngo Mbe’s driver Sone Noel went to have breakfast at a restaurant nearby her house on 17 October 2018, the restaurant owner asked him, “Are you hiding a REDHAC thief?”. The owner informed Sone Noel that two men had come to monitor Maximilienne Ngo Mbe from her restaurant, had asked her how many cars the REDHAC Director had, and were inquiring about any REDHAC staff that had visited her house.
On 18 October 2018, Maximilienne Ngo Mbe was informed that the men were once again seated at the restaurant, monitoring her house. Maximilienne Ngo Mbe went over to the two men and asked them why they were monitoring her movements, to which they did not respond and then left.
As the Director of REDHAC, Maximilienne Ngo Mbe has been the subject of threats and smear campaigns in the past, specifically in relation to REDHAC’s work in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, and their work with the LGBTI community. REDHAC attributes this recent surveillance to their work conducted before and during the presidential election on 7 October 2018; REDHAC traveled to remote areas to monitor and document irregularities in the voting process, and human rights violations perpetrated against voters. Their aggregated observations were published on 16 October 2018 on their Facebook page.
Front Line Defenders believes the surveillance of Maximilienne Ngo Mbe’s home may be linked to REDHAC’s peaceful election monitoring in several rural areas. The crackdown on human rights defenders working in the Anglophone region since 2016 is especially worrying, and Front Line Defenders calls on the Cameroonian authorities to cease targeting all human rights defenders in Cameroon and guarantee in all circumstances, particularly during the post-election period, that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.
