Cameroon: "Some of the people sentenced to death go crazy"

I have been in prison for nearly 15 years. Here, those of us who are sentenced to death are separated from other prisoners. We sleep on planks. Our cells do not have showers. At night, we relieve ourselves in buckets, which are then emptied in the morning by an inmate. When morning comes, we can come and go freely within the prison. We can exercise, read, move about. But as men condemned to death, we face discrimination. Some of us have been abused.

Sentencing us to death makes us men without rights. We no longer have the right to live.

They give us rice, peanuts, and beans, but it is up to us to figure out how to cook them. Here, you mustn’t get sick, because even if they take you to the prison infirmary, you have to pay to see a doctor. The pharmacy is low on supplies, and it is very difficult to be transferred to a hospital.
Some of the people sentenced to death go crazy. Others end up convincing themselves that they are guilty even if they are innocent.

I have been in prison for ten years, or so. Here, we can be separated from the other inmates, but I choose to stay outside of the block reserved for those sentenced to death. I share my cell, which is about 2 by 3 metres, with two other prisoners. We sleep on wood planks. Everyone has to bring their own mattress. When it rains, the prison is flooded, and during the dry season, it is very hot. There are no latrines in the cell. We must buy our own toothbrushes and toothpaste. There is water, but it’s up to the inmate to buy soap. We eat twice a day, corn and peanuts. It is a very poor diet.
If a prisoner on death row gets sick, he is taken to the prison infirmary. The head doctor examines him and prescribes medication.

Woe to the inmate who doesn’t have money to buy medication—he will die.

Those sentenced to death are rarely sent away for treatment. Recently, a man sentenced to death was ill. His case was worrisome and required serious medical treatment. We notified the administration, but since the man was sentenced to death, he was left without treatment. When the administration finally agreed to send him out for treatment, it was too late. He had passed away. Prison can drive a man crazy.

I have been incarcerated in Maroua Prison since October 2014. There is an infirmary here, but the pharmacy is poorly stocked. Our children are incarcerated with us, and when they get sick, it is very difficult. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is there to help us. Three people sentenced to death have already died since I arrived here.
We are kept apart because we are considered enemies of the nation. Yet, we are Cameroonians who have done nothing wrong. Our parents came to visit us once. When they heard that other visitors had been arrested, tried in court, and convicted as terrorist accomplices, they never came back.

I don’t come to the prison very often for fear of being arrested and suffering the same fate as my father in prison. I come once a month just to visit him. We are often hassled and insulted. We are called terrorists and enemies of the nation. Sometimes, we have to pay the guards 2000 FCFA to be able to enter the prison and they always stay there during our visits.
Since my father was sentenced to death, my family has fallen apart. My mother fled the village for fear of retaliation or of being arrested following the roundups by the BIR¹. Our poverty has worsened because my father was the family provider. My sister’s engagement was broken off by her fiancé because he no longer trusts us. My brothers and sisters are no longer going to school.