After inquiry on #Ngarbuh massacre, Valentine's Day 2020 ordered by @PR_Paul_BIYA following international outcry, #Cameroon govt releases report which retracts earlier official claims that soldiers were not responsible for the killing of over a dozen civilians. 1/n @CrisisGroup https://twitter.com/PRC_Cellcom/status/1252649720197132288

Ngarbuh massacre represented one of the worst attacks on civilians, especially women and children in Cameroon's war on its Anglophone separatists. Thanks to the headiness of journalists, human rights and social media activists it managed to haunt world leaders … 2/n

… in a way that several other incidents had failed to bother the world and many unconcerned Cameroonians. The two sides in the conflict had become accustomed to acting with little regard for int'l humanitarian law, a situation which embarrassed Cameroon's partners. …3/n

By accepting the responsibility of its troops, albeit following intense pressure, @PR_Paul_BIYA may be marking a welcome turning point in the separatist conflict that remains in a stalemate after over two years of no limits fighting. Biya's recommendations are stacked with… 4/n

… good intentions: a monument for victims, honourable reburials, compensation, security and govt services for #Ngarbuh 's residents … but to end there would be a missed opportunity. In Sep 2019, @CrisisGroup laid out prior to the national dialogue @CmrDialogue that… 5/n

… painstaking facilitated talks between government and Anglophone leaders is necessary for a fair chance at ending conflict which has disrupted 4 years of #education, created 700,000 IDPs, 60,000 @Refugees in Nigeria and destroyed region's economy ...6/n https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon/cameroons-anglophone-dialogue-work-progress

Cameroon can simply not afford to be conducting inquiries into massacres every now and then, including for those committed by separatists, when it could take the step to try the only thing it has so far not done: a dialogue-driven inclusive peace process. ...7/n

There are gaping holes in the report. For ex. how the large number of armed vigilantes came to be employed in the army's war and now being untraceable. It underlines the need for gov to think beyond the war, how these communities will heal to live together. … 8/n

But the key positive remains that Pdt Biya has set the record straight. Impunity and blame games will complicate peacebuilding: no amount of reconstruction goodwill will prosper in such a scenario. #Ngarbuh inquiry can provide a candlelight to the dialogue room. 9/n

There'll be some sigh of relief by a few in Ngarbuh, Ntumbaw, in Kumbo diocese. But for most residents of Bamenda, Belo, Buea, Kumba, Mamfe, Fontem, Bafut, Eyumojock, Muyuka, Bali, Batibo, … this will be quickly dismissed with scepticism unless CMR follows up with the holy grail