U.S. Reduces Military Aid to Cameroon Over Human Rights Abuses

As accusations of human rights violations pile up in Cameroon’s two-front battle against secessionists and Islamist extremists, the United States has decided to scale back its military assistance to its longtime ally in Central Africa.

The Defense Department told Cameroonian officials that it would hold off on providing military gear and training programs, opening a noteworthy rift with a strategically important partner in the fight against terrorism.

“The bottom line is right now in Cameroon, they have been a good partner with us counterterrorism-wise, but you can’t neglect the fact that they have — there are alleged atrocities in what’s gone on there,” Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, the leader of United States Africa Command, told lawmakers Thursday during congressional testimony.

American officials have not elaborated on the abuses in Cameroon, other than to say that the United States does not assist security forces credibly accused of gross human rights violations. It was unclear whether the move against Cameroon was in response to abuses carried out as part of the government’s crackdown on secessionists in English-speaking regions, or ones that have occurred in the battle against the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. It could be both.