Cameroon has introduced a series of measures intended to limit freedom of expression ahead of the African country’s 2025 presidential elections, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
HRW cited in particular a decree issued July 16 by the region containing the capital Yaounde, giving authorities the power to expel “anyone who dangerously insults the [state] institutions or the person who embodies them.”
Two days later, the communications ministry issued a press release stating that “it is unacceptable for compatriots to use irreverent language” about President Paul Biya.
“These announcements are the latest in a series of troubling government decisions that appear to be aimed at stifling opposition and dissent ahead of the presidential elections in 2025,” HRW said.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to speak freely in Cameroon,” it said.
The communications ministry did insist in its statement that Cameroon is a democracy under the rule of law “where Cameroonians can express themselves without constraint.”
The 91-year-old Biya has been in power for 42 years and his government is regularly accused by international human rights NGOs of repressing all opposition.
He was re-elected in 2018 to his seventh term after a contested vote that sparked a wave of political repression.