The Cable
The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

Pentagon Investigating if U.S. Troops Knew of Torture at Cameroonian Base

Allegations of torture follow expansion of U.S. footprint in Africa, as Washington’s fight against terrorists forges new allies.

By , a staff writer at Foreign Policy from 2015-2018.
A picture taken on February 17, 2015 shows a Cameroonian soldier standing post in the Cameroonian town of Fotokol, on the border with Nigeria, after clashes occurred on February 4 between Cameroonian troops and Nigeria-based Boko Haram insurgents. Nigerian Boko Haram fighters went on the rampage in the Cameroonian border town of Fotokol on February 4, massacring dozens of civilians and torching a mosque before being repelled by regional forces   AFP PHOTO / REINNIER KAZE        (Photo credit should read Reinnier KAZE/AFP/Getty Images)
A picture taken on February 17, 2015 shows a Cameroonian soldier standing post in the Cameroonian town of Fotokol, on the border with Nigeria, after clashes occurred on February 4 between Cameroonian troops and Nigeria-based Boko Haram insurgents. Nigerian Boko Haram fighters went on the rampage in the Cameroonian border town of Fotokol on February 4, massacring dozens of civilians and torching a mosque before being repelled by regional forces AFP PHOTO / REINNIER KAZE (Photo credit should read Reinnier KAZE/AFP/Getty Images)
A picture taken on February 17, 2015 shows a Cameroonian soldier standing post in the Cameroonian town of Fotokol, on the border with Nigeria, after clashes occurred on February 4 between Cameroonian troops and Nigeria-based Boko Haram insurgents. Nigerian Boko Haram fighters went on the rampage in the Cameroonian border town of Fotokol on February 4, massacring dozens of civilians and torching a mosque before being repelled by regional forces AFP PHOTO / REINNIER KAZE (Photo credit should read Reinnier KAZE/AFP/Getty Images)

The U.S. military is investigating a report that its service members were present at a Cameroonian base where U.S.-trained security forces allegedly detained and tortured civilians.

The U.S. military is investigating a report that its service members were present at a Cameroonian base where U.S.-trained security forces allegedly detained and tortured civilians.

The allegations arose in an Amnesty International report released earlier this month, which documented over 100 cases of arrest and torture of civilians by Cameroonian security forces as they pressed civilians for intelligence about the Boko Haram terrorist group.

The report included photographs of U.S. military personnel at one base where the abuses allegedly occurred, although there have been no reports of Americans taking part in the torture, or witnessing it.

There are about 300 American military personnel plus civilian contractors in Cameroon helping the government there fight Boko Haram, a group that has terrorised several Western African nations for years. The deployment is part of Washington’s push to train and advise small nations across the globe to fight extremist forces, with U.S. troops operating surveillance drones, training local forces, and helping to plan missions.

Asked about the report, Capt. Jennifer Dyrcz, a military spokesperson, told FP in an email that “U.S. Africa Command has ordered that an inquiry be conducted into these allegations.” Dyrcz said due to the open inquiry she was unable to provide many details. However, “a portion of the inquiry will include determining what reported information, if any, AFRICOM was aware of prior to this allegation.”

Much of the Amnesty report revolves around alleged abuses at Salak, a remote outpost near Cameroon’s borders with Nigeria and Chad. The detentions and torture are said to have been carried out by the Rapid Intervention Battalion — Cameroon’s army elite unit — which has long partnered with U.S. Special Forces in training and advising exercises.

Certain units of the Rapid Intervention Battalion are already banned from receiving U.S. military assistance due to “credible information” implicating them in human rights abuses, U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon, Michael Hoza, told Amnesty in a letter. The State Department has confirmed civilian deaths and torture at the hands of those units.

The Salak military base has undergone new construction over the past several years, satellite photos show. 

One former detainee at the base told investigators that he saw “white men in Salak many times and I heard them talking in English. I think they were Americans. Everyone said they were Americans.”  

Another man, who was held at Salak for several months in 2016, said he “saw white men there on several occasions. Most of the time, I saw them from [the holes of] windows of my cell.”

Last month, President Trump sent a letter to Congress detailing American troop deployments around the world. The letter said 300 U.S. troops remain deployed in Cameroon, “supporting United States airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations in the region.

The deployment was begun in October 2015 by President Barack Obama, with most troops heading to a base near the town of Garoua, where they operated drones conducting surveillance of the border region to sniff out Boko Haram fighters.

 

Photo Credit: Reinnier KAZE/AFP/Getty Images

Paul McLeary was a staff writer at Foreign Policy from 2015-2018.

More from Foreign Policy

Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.
Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.
Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.
A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine

The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi
Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi

The Masterminds

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.