Diplomacy : Battle To Cleanse Tainted Image

Government has spent the first year of President Paul Biya’s current “Great Opportunities” term of office to cleanse the tainted image of the country at the international scene soiled through smear campaign by some international human rights Non-governmental Organisations, political parties, groups, media and individuals. 
Using mostly the social media networks, some foreign media organs and some local media organs as relays,  the campaigners have levied accusations against Cameroon’s defence and security forces. They make allegations that forces have embarked on gross human rights violations in the socio-political and security crisis in the North West and South West Regions characterised torture, extrajudicial killings of civilians, destruction of property. Government is also accused of being inflexible against opponents of the ruling party with alleged stifling of political manifestations, arrest, detention and torture of political leaders.
Faced with these gruesome attacks, government has stood up to give its own true version of the stories, government’s policy and vision to promote unity, social cohesion, living together  and attainment of economic emergence. For example, government reacted to the false allegations propagated by the French media outlet Mediapart accusing Cameroon’s elite force, the Rapid Interventional Battalion (BIR) of rights violations in the Anglophone regions.  Communication Minister and government’s spokesperson René Emmanuel Sadi in a press conference  last  September said, “The allegations of this foreign media, peddled and relayed by a string of international media, reveal an undeniable desire to tarnish the image of the Cameroonian army, that of its leader, and therefore, that of Cameroon as a whole.” He further said, “There is no doubt that there again, as we have seen, in other circumstances, is a clear intention to manipulate national and international opinion, to stir up resentment and tensions in a country resolutely committed and mobilized to restore peace and security, where they are today threatened, to demonize and stigmatize a strong and credible army, whose main credo, as we know, lies on the respect of republican institutions, and popular defence, and may be, to question the validity of its participation in the Major National Dialogue.”
The international NGO, Human Rights Watch, has targeted Cameroon with its Ma...