02-14-2017, 10:24 PM
*** 15-Feb-17 World View -- Cameroon shuts down internet for English-speakers protesting French-speakers
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Cameroon shuts down internet for English-speakers protesting French-speakers
****
![[Image: g170214b.jpg]](http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170214b.jpg)
Anglophone protesters use catapult against police in Bamenda, Cameroon (RFI)
In the hope of quelling protests by the Anglophone (English-speaking)
population of Cameroon, the government shut down all internet access
to to the Anglophone regions of the country, beginning on January 17.
The shutdown has been going on for five weeks, and covers 20% of the
population.
The activist group Internet Without Borders has estimated that small
businesses have lost over $700,000 because they are no longer able to
conduct much of their business without the internet. They add that
the outage had blocked entrepreneurs who are an important part of the
economic activity of the country. The UN has said that the
termination of Internet services was an "appalling violation" of the
right to freedom of expression, because it's a clear attempt by the
government to stifle citizen protest actions.
It's interesting that the internet didn't even exist not too many
years ago, and now it's said to be a basic human right. Africa News and IT News Africa and Newsweek
****
**** Brief generational history of Cameroon
****
(See this 23-Nov-16 World View article
for the early history of Cameroon.)
Historically, Cameroon was colonized by a variety of European
countries, but by the end of World War two there were two colonies,
the Anglophone "British Cameroons" colony and the Francophone "French
Cameroun" colony.
The last generational crisis war was the "UPC Revolt," 1956-1960,
which was a bloody civil war by communists attacking the French
government in the Cameroun colony. The outcome was independence in
1961, when the British Cameroons colony and the French Cameroun colony
were merged into a single country, and the Anglophones became a
disadvantaged and marginalized minority. Today, the Anglophone
regions are known as the "Southern Cameroons."
By 1995, an Anglophone secessionist movement had begun under a group
called the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC). This was a
generational Awakening era, like America in the 1960s, that splits the
population along generational lines, characterized by widespread
student riots and demonstrations. The government cracked down on the
protesters, though not as violently as in some other countries in
Awakening eras (Syria, Burundi, for example). Those protests are
continuing today, with younger protesters demanding complete
independence, and older Anglophones advocating a semi-autonomous
region, but still within the nation of Cameroon. Deutsche Welle and Dibussi Tande Blog - pro-Anglophone (1-Nov-2006)
****
**** English-speaking activists face death penalty for separatist protests
****
The trial of three English-speaking protesters facing the death
penalty opened at a military court in Cameroon on Monday. The
protesters, Felix Agbor Balla, Fontem Aforteka'a Neba and Mancho
Bibixy, pleaded not guilty to charges of acts of terrorism, complicity
in acts of terrorism, insurrection, propagation of false news, calling
for civil war and calling for a return to the federal system.
However, the trial was postponed until March 23 to give the
prosecution time to gather more evidence.
The defendants are being tried under a 2014 law created to help combat
militants from Nigeria-based Islamist militant group Boko Haram whose
fighters regularly launch attacks in Cameroon.
The internet shutdown was a government response to protests that began
in November, along with a strike by English-speaking teachers, lawyers
and students over alleged government bias in favor of French-speaking
Cameroonians. At times, the protests have turned violent.
Shutting down the internet to the Southern Cameroons region is the
kind of thing that looks like an act of desperation and backfires
during a generational Awakening era. Does anyone seriously believe
that young protesters are going to stop protesting because the
internet has been shut down? It's much more likely that all the
protesters, young and old, will be infuriated by the shutdown, and
protest more vigorously, or even become more violent. RFI and Reuters
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Cameroon, Anglophone, Francophone,
Internet Without Borders, UPC Revolt,
British Cameroons, French Cameroun, Southern Cameroons,
Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC,
Felix Agbor Balla, Fontem Aforteka'a Neba, Mancho Bibixy,
Nigeria, Boko Haram
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Cameroon shuts down internet for English-speakers protesting French-speakers
- Brief generational history of Cameroon
- English-speaking activists face death penalty for separatist protests
****
**** Cameroon shuts down internet for English-speakers protesting French-speakers
****
Anglophone protesters use catapult against police in Bamenda, Cameroon (RFI)
In the hope of quelling protests by the Anglophone (English-speaking)
population of Cameroon, the government shut down all internet access
to to the Anglophone regions of the country, beginning on January 17.
The shutdown has been going on for five weeks, and covers 20% of the
population.
The activist group Internet Without Borders has estimated that small
businesses have lost over $700,000 because they are no longer able to
conduct much of their business without the internet. They add that
the outage had blocked entrepreneurs who are an important part of the
economic activity of the country. The UN has said that the
termination of Internet services was an "appalling violation" of the
right to freedom of expression, because it's a clear attempt by the
government to stifle citizen protest actions.
It's interesting that the internet didn't even exist not too many
years ago, and now it's said to be a basic human right. Africa News and IT News Africa and Newsweek
****
**** Brief generational history of Cameroon
****
(See this 23-Nov-16 World View article
for the early history of Cameroon.)
Historically, Cameroon was colonized by a variety of European
countries, but by the end of World War two there were two colonies,
the Anglophone "British Cameroons" colony and the Francophone "French
Cameroun" colony.
The last generational crisis war was the "UPC Revolt," 1956-1960,
which was a bloody civil war by communists attacking the French
government in the Cameroun colony. The outcome was independence in
1961, when the British Cameroons colony and the French Cameroun colony
were merged into a single country, and the Anglophones became a
disadvantaged and marginalized minority. Today, the Anglophone
regions are known as the "Southern Cameroons."
By 1995, an Anglophone secessionist movement had begun under a group
called the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC). This was a
generational Awakening era, like America in the 1960s, that splits the
population along generational lines, characterized by widespread
student riots and demonstrations. The government cracked down on the
protesters, though not as violently as in some other countries in
Awakening eras (Syria, Burundi, for example). Those protests are
continuing today, with younger protesters demanding complete
independence, and older Anglophones advocating a semi-autonomous
region, but still within the nation of Cameroon. Deutsche Welle and Dibussi Tande Blog - pro-Anglophone (1-Nov-2006)
****
**** English-speaking activists face death penalty for separatist protests
****
The trial of three English-speaking protesters facing the death
penalty opened at a military court in Cameroon on Monday. The
protesters, Felix Agbor Balla, Fontem Aforteka'a Neba and Mancho
Bibixy, pleaded not guilty to charges of acts of terrorism, complicity
in acts of terrorism, insurrection, propagation of false news, calling
for civil war and calling for a return to the federal system.
However, the trial was postponed until March 23 to give the
prosecution time to gather more evidence.
The defendants are being tried under a 2014 law created to help combat
militants from Nigeria-based Islamist militant group Boko Haram whose
fighters regularly launch attacks in Cameroon.
The internet shutdown was a government response to protests that began
in November, along with a strike by English-speaking teachers, lawyers
and students over alleged government bias in favor of French-speaking
Cameroonians. At times, the protests have turned violent.
Shutting down the internet to the Southern Cameroons region is the
kind of thing that looks like an act of desperation and backfires
during a generational Awakening era. Does anyone seriously believe
that young protesters are going to stop protesting because the
internet has been shut down? It's much more likely that all the
protesters, young and old, will be infuriated by the shutdown, and
protest more vigorously, or even become more violent. RFI and Reuters
Related Articles
- Cameroon: One person killed in English-speaking vs French-speaking civil unrest (23-Nov-2016)
- Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza follows Syria's Bashar al-Assad on path to genocide (13-Oct-2016)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Cameroon, Anglophone, Francophone,
Internet Without Borders, UPC Revolt,
British Cameroons, French Cameroun, Southern Cameroons,
Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC,
Felix Agbor Balla, Fontem Aforteka'a Neba, Mancho Bibixy,
Nigeria, Boko Haram
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
