Changes from resolution motion to resolution motion joint

AddedD. whereas Tsi Conrad, Mancho Bibixy, Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka and Thomas Awah Junior are journalists who reported on the situation in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, including on abuses perpetrated during the armed conflict and ongoing civil unrest; whereas Amadou Vamoulké, a journalist in poor health, was sentenced to 32 years in prison for his independent management of the state broadcaster;

Removed1. Regrets that the Cameroonian government utilises anti-terror, anti-state, and "false news" charges, in addition to criminal defamation legislation, to detain and convict journalists; furthermore, it is observed that the government often employs military tribunals to prosecute journalists, thereby circumventing the right to a fair trial and appeals process that is guaranteed under international law as the cases of Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka, Mancho Bibixy, Thomas Awah Junior, and Tsi Conrad.;

AddedE. whereas the journalists Martinez Zogo, Jean-Jacques Ola Bebe, Samuel Wazizi and Anye Nde Nsoh were killed between August 2019 and May 2023, and serious questions about accountability remain unanswered;

Removed2. Calls for the release of individuals who have been arbitrarily detained for exercising their fundamental right of freedom of expression or association, jailed without substantial evidence, or without due process;

AddedF. whereas the EU is Cameroon’s leading trade partner;

Removed3. Calls on the diplomatic missions to key EU Member States, to actively engage to ease the restrictions against journalists, including visiting journalists in detention, and maintaining active contact with their families and colleagues;

Added1. Condemns the structural violations of journalists’ human rights by the Cameroonian authorities, calls on those authorities to ensure that press freedom is respected, particularly in the run-up to Cameroon’s 2025 presidential elections, and urges them to immediately and unconditionally release Amadou Vamoulké, Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka, Mancho Bibixy, Thomas Awah Junior and Tsi Conrad and ensure, in the meantime, that their basic rights are upheld and that they have access to medical treatment;

Removed4 Calls the Cameroonian authorities to put on end practices of incommunicado detention and to repeal or amend the Suppression of Acts of Terrorism Law that disproportionately targets opposition leaders and allows death penalty sentences for peacefully protesting;

Added2. Calls for the EU and the Member States to raise cases of detained journalists with the Cameroonian authorities; calls for the EU to use its diplomatic and economic leverage to achieve tangible improvements in human rights in Cameroon;

Removed5. Calls for the EU and its Member States, as key development partners, to raise individual cases, human rights concerns with the Cameroonian authorities;

Added3. Urges the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States’ diplomatic missions to actively respond to restrictions against journalists, including by ensuring comprehensive observation of trials, visiting journalists in detention and maintaining active contact with marginalised or at-risk journalists and with their families and colleagues;

Removed6. Express concern that press freedom, liberty of expression and journalist safety in Cameroon has been in decline for more than a decade, noting that is a fundamental pillar of a free society, which is also under pressure in European society;

Added4. Urges the Cameroonian authorities to end their practice of trying civilians in military courts, which does not comply with international law, and to stop abusively invoking terrorism, anti-state and ‘fake news’ charges in cases against journalists;

Added5. Reiterates its call on the Member States to support a UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission to Cameroon, particularly in light of the conflict in the North-West and South-West Regions;

Added6. Calls on the Member States to facilitate humanitarian visa applications for Cameroonian journalists at risk of persecution;