Effects of Cameroon 2014 Anti-Terrorism Law on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights: Case of Northwest and Southwest Regions

Terrorism is a threat to sustainable peace in the world. The scars of the September 11 attacks in United States of America compelled global war on terror and the introduction of anti-terrorism laws to combat terrorism. The adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001), obliged member states to implement measures to strengthen institutional and legal capabilities to combat terrorism. From the foregoing, Cameroon introduced the anti-terrorism without taking into cognizance it may put human rights at risk. The introduction of the 2014 anti-terrorism law has negatively impacted the promotion and protection of human rights. This paper examines the effects of the 2014 anti-terrorism on the promotion and protection Human Rights in the North West and South West regions. This paper applied the Legal Realism theory to highlights these effects. With the use of purposive sampling technique, this paper interviewed 5 Lawyers, 5 Journalists and 5 Human rights activists based in the Northwest and Southwest Regions and data was analysed using thematic analysis. This paper found out that the understanding people have about the 2014 anti-terrorism law is that it creates fear, the law is vague and it is a threat to human rights. The paper also found out that the 2014 anti-terrorism law has negatively impacted the promotion and protection of human rights, which includes; violation of press freedom and expression, creates unsafe working environment, absence of rights to life, absence of rights to life, arbitrary Arrest, detention and torture, and reduction in media coverage, underreporting and limited cases in the Northwest and Southwest regions. This paper concludes that the Cameroon 2014 anti-terrorism was hurriedly introduced due to the pressure from Western Powers without taken into consideration the realities and contexts of Cameroon thus it has negatively impacted the promotion and protection of human rights in Cameroon in general.