In a video circulated on social media on July 21, Steve Akam, alias Ramon Cotta, a Cameroonian social media activist, stands before a barrier in an outdoor space, handcuffed and surrounded by members of the Cameroonian police. It was the last time he was seen.
Human Rights Watch contacted sources in Cameroon, and geolocated and analyzed the video, determining it was filmed between July 19 and July 21 at a border post between Gabon and Cameroon in the Cameroonian town of Kye-Ossi.
Cotta, who has been living in Gabon for the past ten years, is known for his TikTok videos in which he criticizes the Cameroonian authorities.
On August 7, lawyers representing Cotta said they sent requests for information to various Cameroonian authorities about their client’s situation and whereabouts, to no avail. The lawyers believe that Cameroonian authorities extrajudicially returned Cotta to Cameroon from Gabon, and that he is a victim of an enforced disappearance, meaning Cameroonian authorities have detained him but are refusing to acknowledge his detention or disclose any information on his whereabouts, depriving him of protection of the law.
The Central Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, a prominent Cameroonian human rights group, and Maurice Kamto, the head of the main opposition party Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon, both called on authorities to immediately reveal Cotta’s whereabouts.
The Cameroonian government has for years cracked down on opposition and free speech, jailing political activists, journalists, and dissidents. Ahead of elections in 2025, it has increasingly restricted freedoms of expression and association.
In March of this year, the territorial administration minister banned two opposition coalitions, describing them as “clandestine movements.” In June, gendarmes in N’Gaoundéré, Adamawa region, arbitrarily rearrested prominent artist Aboubacar Siddiki, known as Babadjo, for “insulting” a governor. In July, the head of the Mfoundi administrative division issued a decree threatening to ban anyone insulting state institutions from the division. Also in July, members of the intelligence services in Douala, Littoral region, arrested Junior Ngombe, a social media activist, for his TikTok videos advocating for democratic change. Ngombe was released on bail on July 31.
In an August 7 statement following a visit to Cameroon, Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, said that the process leading up to the elections will be “a key opportunity … to ensure the free expression of political opinions.”
Forcibly disappeared people are vulnerable to a wide range of abuses, including life threatening. Cameroon’s authorities should immediately confirm the detention and location of Cotta and respect his rights by releasing him.
