Survie backs Charles Atangana

On 25 August Glasgow branch chair John Matthews, Simon Coss and myself met with the NUJ Survie to find out how they could help in the campaign to save Cameroonian journalist Charles Atangana from deportation.

charlesatangana

Charles Atangana

Charles, right, a member of Glasgow branch, has been an asylum seeker in the UK since he escaped from torture and imprisonment in Cameroon in 2004. Earlier this year his claim was rejected and he has until 7 October to prepare for a hearing on his right to appeal. John Matthews had come to Paris to gather evidence on conditions for journalists in Cameroon to support Charles’s case.

I first heard about Survie when following the protests against Sarkozy honouring the leaders of France’s former African colonies at this year’s Bastille Day celebrations. Among these leaders was Paul Biya, President of Cameroon since 1982 and ranked 19 in David Wallechinsky’s World’s Worst Dictators list.

It was exposing corruption in Biya’s government and acting as press attaché for an opposition candidate in elections that led to Charles’s arrest and torture.

Survie campaigns for a reform of France’s relations with its former African colonies – what is known as Françafrique, a neo-colonialism that often overlooks human rights abuses and the suppression of democracy in the pursuit of trade. As it turned out, Survie’s President Odile Biyidi Awala was able to share first hand knowledge of the situation in Cameroon. The widow of the writer Mongo Beti, she was friends with Pius Njawé, founder of the newspaper Le Messager for whom Charles had written, who was interrogated 126 times and spent several spells in prison before being killed in a road accident earlier this year. Odile confirmed that several other journalists had been tortured, threatened and died in custody in Cameroon in recent years. She provided us with contacts and is preparing a statement to help in Charles’s case.

The campaign for Charles Atangana continues and these last couple of weeks before the crucial hearing on 7 October are important. If you think you can help in any way, please contact John Matthews at jmatthews378@btinternet.com or on +44 (0) 7949 351 745, or myself alison.culliford@gmail.com. John Matthews also tell me that a new, similar case, is looming for the Gambian journalist Alieau Ceesay, so any leads for Gambia will also be gratefully received.

 To find out more about Survie and subscribe to their newsletter Billets d’Afrique, go to survie.org
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