Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa to support families of victims of the 2020 Ngarbuh massacre in filing a “well-grounded appeal” seeking reparations and heavier penalties for those convicted, following what it described as a trial “short on justice”.
On February 20, 2026, a military court in Yaoundé sentenced three security force members and a pro-government militia member, tried in absentia, for their role in the killing of 21 civilians in Ngarbuh, in Cameroon’s Northwest Region, on February 14, 2020. The court handed down prison terms ranging from five to 10 years, alongside fines of 183,100 CFA francs each.
In a strongly worded statement, Human Rights Watch criticised the verdict, arguing that the penalties were unduly lenient and that senior officers who allegedly bore command responsibility were never investigated.
“Prosecutors did not pursue any evidence about who planned and ordered the killings,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Africa researcher at HRW. “The failure of Cameroon’s prosecutors and judiciary to investigate those bearing command responsibility, combined with the denial of reparations, exacerbates the suffering of victims’ families.”
HRW said the proceedings, which lasted more than five years, were marred by “serious shortcomings”. Authorities did not arrest or charge senior officers who authorised and oversaw the operation, while 17 ethnic Fulani militiamen accused of murder remain at large. Victims’ families had only limited access to the court, key evidence was excluded, and claims for compensation were rejected.
HRW said its investigations found that government forces and allied Fulani militiamen killed 21 people, including 13 children and a pregnant woman. It furthered that at least five homes were burned, dozens of properties looted, and residents beaten in what appeared to be a reprisal attack against a community suspected of harbouring separatist fighters amid the ongoing Anglophone crisis.
It notes that under Cameroon’s penal code, murder is punishable by life imprisonment, and co-perpetrators are subject to the same penalties as principal offenders. HRW said the sentences imposed “are relatively light, taking into account the gravity of the crimes”, adding that international practice requires punishments for serious crimes to reflect their gravity and serve as deterrence.
HRW revealed that the court rejected a compensation claim of 1.7 billion CFA francs filed on behalf of the victims by barrister Menkem Sother, stating that families had already received 80 million CFA francs. However, Sother told HRW there was no proof that any such payment had been made.
“The Ngarbuh trial has delivered neither full accountability nor meaningful redress,” Allegrozzi said. “The United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa should offer legal and technical assistance to the victims’ families, to enable them to file a well-grounded appeal seeking reparations and to ensure continued protection of their rights throughout the process.”
The UN Centre, based in Yaoundé and mandated to promote the rule of law and accountability for human rights violations, reportedly assigned a lawyer to attend one hearing in 2022. According to Sother, the representative did not return for subsequent proceedings.
Defence and civil parties’ lawyers have 10 days to appeal the ruling. HRW urged renewed international engagement to ensure that the appeal process delivers justice that the initial trial, in its view, failed to provide.
