Peter Henery Barlerin made these statements in a Press release following his recent visit at the Unity Palace. He said, the statement was related to upcoming Presidential elections in Cameroon.

He told the press that, the ongoing Anglophone crisis was also on the agenda in which he said the month of April has been the bloodiest and that things are not getting better. He said, “I discussed with the President our view that the two sides in the conflict are simply not listening to each other.

On the side of the government, there have been targeted killings, detentions without access to legal support, family, or the Red Cross, and burning and looting of villages.”

The US Ambassador to Cameroon also condemned excesses on the part of Separatist fighters saying, “On the side of the separatists, there have been murders of gendarmes, kidnapping of government officials, and burning of schools.  People on both sides of the conflict have engaged in speech that dehumanizes the opposite side. We continue to call on both sides to stop the violence immediately.  I asked the President to use his leadership to encourage both sides to listen to each other.” 

Peter Barlerin concluded by saying that, “One cannot have a dialogue until both sides are willing to listen to the other’s point of view.”

Both men also discussed on Boko Haram activities in the far North region with the Ambassador saying, “I congratulated the President on our joint efforts to fight Boko Haram and the Islamic State in the Far North.  I told him I appreciated the Minister Delegate for Defense’s assurances that U.S. equipment would only be used in the fight against Boko Haram and the Islamic State.  I also stressed that U.S. law prevents us from training or working with units against whom credible allegations of gross violations of human rights have been lodged.”

He also welcomed the recent press communiqué that there would be a full investigation of alleged torture of a prisoner by Cameroonian forces and that the guilty would be punished.