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Connecting Human Rights and the Environment in Cameroon: Successes, Limitations and Prospects

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Human Rights and the Environment under African Union Law

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Abstract

The concept of the human right to a healthy environment represents the most pragmatic and cognitive approach to ensure environmental protection from a rights-based perspective. Yet, human rights approaches to environmental protection seem to be poorly developed in some domestic jurisdictions like Cameroon, where there seems to be inadequate protection of the environment, when analyzed from a rights-based paradigm. This chapter assesses the potential successes, limitations and prospects of using human rights norms, principles and standards to ensure environmental protection in Cameroon. Based on the assessment, it is argued that Cameroon’s legal framework is characterized by limitations and therefore appears to be insufficient, inadequate and ineffective. Consequently, the government has a responsibility to address these shortcomings, if it is truly committed to proactively protect the environment and other rights-based entitlements of people.

This chapter is an adaption of a 2019 publication by The Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa. The research of this chapter was done during the author’s postdoctoral tenure at the University of the Free State.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    AS Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: International Student’s Edition (8th edn, OUP 2012) 17.

  2. 2.

    Alan Boyle ‘Human Rights and the Environment: Where Next’ (2012) 23 EJIL 613.

  3. 3.

    See for example Principle 1 of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment of 1972 and art 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 1981.

  4. 4.

    See the dissenting opinion of Justice Weeramantry in the case of Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Project (Hungary v Slovakia) [1997] ICJ Rep at 92. Also see Sumudu Atapattu, ‘The Right to a Healthy Life or the Right to Die Polluted? The Emergence of a Human Right to a Healthy Environment under International Law’ (2002–2003) 16 TELJ 65; Phillipe Sands, Principles of International Environmental Law (2nd edn, CUP 2003); Patricia Birnie, Alan Boyle and Catherine Redgwell, International Law and the Environment (3rd edn, OUP 2008); Dinah Shelton, ‘Human Rights, Environmental Rights and the Right to Environment’ (1992) 28 SJIL 103; Fatma Ksetini, Special Rapporteur for Human Rights and the Environment, Final Report to Commission on Human Rights, Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities: Human Rights and the Environment, UN Doc E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/9, 6 July 1994; Donald Anton and Dinah Shelton, Environmental Protection and Human Rights (CUP 2011); Wolfgang Sachs, ‘Environment and Human Rights’ (2004) 47(1) Development 42; Dinah Shelton ‘Human Rights and the Environment: Substantive Rights’ in Malgosia Fitrmaurice, David M. Ong and Panos Merkouris (eds) Research Handbook on International Environmental Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2010) 265.

  5. 5.

    Stockholm Declaration 1972 ILM 11:1416.

  6. 6.

    The Framework Principle on Human Rights and the Environment by Resolution 28/11 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Environment/SREnvironment/Pages/FrameworkPrinciplesReport.aspx accessed 3 March 2019.

  7. 7.

    For details see Principles 1–16 of the Framework on Human Rights and the Environment https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Environment/SREnvironment/Pages/FrameworkPrinciplesReport.aspx accessed 3 March 2019.

  8. 8.

    Also see J.G. Merrills ‘Environmental Protection and Human Rights: Conceptual Aspects’ in Alan Boyle and Michael Anderson (eds) Human Rights Approaches to Environmental Protection (OUP 2003) 25; Boyle (n 2).

  9. 9.

    Erin Daly and James R. May ‘Bridging Constitutional Dignity and Environmental Rights Jurisprudence’ (2016) 7(2) JHRE 218, 219.

  10. 10.

    Also see Michael R. Anderson “Human Rights Approaches to Environmental Protection: An overview” in Alan Boyle and Michael Anderson (eds) Human Rights Approaches to Environmental Protection (OUP 2003) 3.

  11. 11.

    Also see the World Health Organisation Report of 2008 “Human Rights-Based Approach to Health and the Environment. Report of a Regional Seminar Bangkok, Thailand, 20–21 August 2007 at 1.

  12. 12.

    Anna Grear and Louis J. Kotzé ‘An Invitation to Fellow Epistemic Travellers – Towards Future Worlds in Waiting: Human Rights and the Environment in the Twenty-First Century’ in Anna Grear and Louis J. Kotzé (eds) Research Handbook on Human Rights and the Environment (Edward Elgar 2005) 1.

  13. 13.

    Ibid.

  14. 14.

    Bridget Lewis, “Environmental Rights or a Right to the Environment? Exploring the Nexus between Human Rights and Environmental Protection” (2012) 8(1) MJICEL 36; Anderson (n 10). Also see Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment 12: The Right to Adequate Food, UN Doc E/C.12/1999/5 (12 May 1999); Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment 15: The Right to Water, UN Doc E/C.12/2002/11 (26 November 2002); Jan Glazewski Environmental Law in South Africa 2edn (LexisNexis, 2005) 76.

  15. 15.

    Anderson (n 10). Also see Principle 1 of the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment of 1972.

  16. 16.

    Ibid.

  17. 17.

    Ibid.

  18. 18.

    Lewis (n 14).

  19. 19.

    Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Project (Hungary v Slovakia) [1997] ICJ.

  20. 20.

    At para 92.

  21. 21.

    Lewis (n 14) 39.

  22. 22.

    Ibid.

  23. 23.

    Werner Scholtz ‘Human Rights and the Environment in the African Union Context’ in Anna Grear and Louis J Kotzé (eds) Research Handbook on Human Rights and the Environment (Edward Elgar, 2015) 405.

  24. 24.

    The Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC) and the Centre for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) v Nigeria, Communication No 155/96 www.cesr.org/downloada/AfricanCommissionDecision.pdf accessed 15 May 2019.

  25. 25.

    In other cases such as DRC v Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, Communication 227/99 (2004), paras 87 and 95, and Sudan Human Rights Organisation v Sudan, Communication 297/05 (2009) para 20, the African Commission had the opportunity to develop an interpretation of the term ‘people’.

  26. 26.

    Scholtz (n 23) 407.

  27. 27.

    SERAC (n 24) para 52.

  28. 28.

    Ulrich Beyerlin ‘Aligning International Environmental Governance with the ‘Aarhus Principles’ and Participatory Human Rights’ in Anna Grear and Louis J Kotzé (eds) Research Handbook on Human Rights and the Environment (Edward Elgar, 2015) 340; Karen Morrow ‘Sustainability, Environmental Citizenship Rights and the Ongoing Challenges of Reshaping Supranational Environmental Governance’ in Anna Grear and Louis J Kotzé (eds) Research Handbook on Human Rights and the Environment (Edward Elgar 2015) 212.

  29. 29.

    For a detailed understanding of the relevant provisions of these rights and their use and application in promoting environmental governance, see Alan Boyle “Human Rights and the Environment: Where Next” in Ben Boer (ed) Environmental Law Dimensions of Human Rights (OUP 2015) 213–218. Also see Jean-Claude N Ashukem “A Rights-Based Approach to Foreign Agro-Investment Governance in Cameroon, Uganda and South Africa (North-West University, 2016) 158–161; S Kravchenko, “The Aarhus Convention and Innovation in Compliance with MEAs’ (2007) CJIELP; Jonas Ebbesson “The Notion of Public Participation in International Environmental Law (1997) Yale Book of International Environmental Law; Jonas Ebbesson “The EU and the Aarhus Convention: Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters’ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2016/571357/IPOL_BRI(2016)571357_EN.pdf accessed 3 March 2019.

  30. 30.

    See Article 45 of the Constitution.

  31. 31.

    See the Preamble of the Constitution. Also see s 9(e)(ii) of Law No 96/12.

  32. 32.

    Law No 96/12 of August 5, 1996, relating to Environmental Management in Cameroon (Law No 96/12). S 1 (k) defines the environment as: all the natural or artificial elements and bio-geochemical balances they participate in, as well as the economic, social and cultural factors which are conducive to the existence, transformation and development of the environment, living organisms and human activities.

  33. 33.

    See s 1 of Law No 96/12.

  34. 34.

    See s 9(e) (ii) of Law No 96/12.

  35. 35.

    Ss 2(1)–2(2) of Law No 96/12.

  36. 36.

    See s 39(1–2) of Law No 96/12.

  37. 37.

    See s 9(a–f). These principles include: the principle of precaution, the principle of preventive action and correction, the polluter pay principle, the principle of liability, the principle of participation and the principle of substitution.

  38. 38.

    S 10(1) (i).

  39. 39.

    See ss 10 and 13 of the Law No 96/12.

  40. 40.

    S 10(2) of Law No 96/12.

  41. 41.

    S 14(1–2) of Law No 96/12.

  42. 42.

    Ashukem (n 29) 442; Jean-Claude N Ashukem ‘Access to Environmental Information in the Context of Development Activities in the Legal Framework of Cameroon’ (2017) 50 VRU 442.

  43. 43.

    George Devenish, A Commentary on the South African Bill of Rights, (Durban 1991) 439.

  44. 44.

    Some of these instruments are the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 1981, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of 1992; Agenda 21; and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992.

  45. 45.

    Ashukem (n 29) 442; Ashukem (n 41) 442; Carlyn Hambuda and Rachel Kagoiya (eds.), Freedom of Information and Women’s Rights in Africa. A Collection of Case Studies from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia (UNESCO 2009) pp. 18–19.

  46. 46.

    S 7(1) of Law No 96/12. Also see s 9(e).

  47. 47.

    Ashukem (n 29) 443.

  48. 48.

    See s 7(2) of Law No 96/12.

  49. 49.

    S 10(1)(vii) of Law No 96/12.

  50. 50.

    Ashukem (n 41) 444.

  51. 51.

    Law No 2003/006 of 21 April 2003 lays down Safety Regulation Governing Modern Biotechnology in Cameroon (Law No 2003/006).

  52. 52.

    See ss 35 and 12(3) of Law No 2003/006.

  53. 53.

    Ashukem (n 41) 448

  54. 54.

    S 9(e)(i–iii) of Law No 96/12.

  55. 55.

    See ss 72(i–iv) of Law No 96/12.

  56. 56.

    Decree No. 2013/0171/PM of February 14, 2013, lays down rules for conducting Environmental and Social Impact Studies (EIA Regulations) in Cameroon. The regulation was adopted under Article 9. Also see s 17 of Law No 96/12.

  57. 57.

    Christopher Tamasang “Environmental impact assessment under Cameroonian law” in Oliver C. Rupple and Emmanuel D. Kam Yogo (eds) 1 st edn Environmental Law and Policy in Cameroon: Towards Making Africa the Tree of Life (NOMOS), 2018 280.

  58. 58.

    Ordinance No 76/166 of 27 April 1976 lays down the Management of State Lands in Cameroon (Ordinance 76/166).

  59. 59.

    Law No 94/01 of 20 January 1994 lays down Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife Regulations (Law No 94/01).

  60. 60.

    S 2(1) of Law No 96/12.

  61. 61.

    See s 1 of Law No 94/1.

  62. 62.

    See s 1 of law No 94/1.

  63. 63.

    S 23 of Law No 94/12.

  64. 64.

    S 35 of Law No 2003/006.

  65. 65.

    Ashukem (n 29) 243.

  66. 66.

    W Bray ‘Locus Standi in Environmental Law’ (1999) 22/1 CILJSA 34.

  67. 67.

    S 8(1) and (2) of Law No 96/12.

  68. 68.

    [2009] Unreported decision No CFIB/004M/09

  69. 69.

    Jean-Claude N Ashukem ‘Exploring the Effectiveness of the Rights-Based Approach to Environmental Governance in Cameroon: What Could be Learned from South Africa’ (2019) 50(1) CILJSA 64–65.

  70. 70.

    Ibid. 65.

  71. 71.

    Ibid. 45; 64–67.

  72. 72.

    Ashukem (n 67) 68.

  73. 73.

    Ibid. n 66. See for example the 21 years and still counting years of the incomplete of section 7 (2) of Law No 96/12 relating to the conditions and procedures of access to information. Also see the glaring avoiding of explicit provisions for the public participation in the 1994 Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife Law to enable concerned citizens and individuals to effectively engage and participate in forestry-related decision-making processes.

  74. 74.

    Ibid.

  75. 75.

    These are the Bayang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, Korup National Park, Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve and the Bakossi National Park.

  76. 76.

    For details on this, see Greenpeace “Herakles Farms in Cameroon: A showcase of bad palm oil production” https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/wp-content/uploads/legacy/Global/usa/planet3/PDFs/HeraklesCrimeFile.pdf accessed 5 April 2019; “Palm Oil Plantation Cuts Core from Cameroon’s Biodiversity” (2012) https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/palm-oil-plantation-cuts-core-cameroon%E2%80%99s-biodiversity accessed 5 April 2019; “Cameroon’s Biodiversity Hotspot in Grave Danger as Palm Oil Conglomerate Quits Sustainability Group” (2012) http://wwf.panda.org/?206114/Cameroon-biodiversity-hotspot-in-grave-danger-as-palm-oil-conglomerate-quits-sustainability-group accessed 5 April 2019.

  77. 77.

    Also see s 14(2) of Law No 96/12.

  78. 78.

    See s 7(2) of Law No 96/12.

  79. 79.

    Ashukem (n 29) 449; 435–450.

  80. 80.

    Jean-Claude N Ashukem “Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making in Cameroon: Myth or Reality? in Kameri-Mbote and others (eds) Law/Environment/Africa (NOMOS 2018) 357–373.

  81. 81.

    Ibid. 365. Also see Ashukem ‘Included or excluded? An Analysis of the Application of the Free, Prior and Informed Consent Principle in Land Grabbing Cases in Cameroon’ (2016) 29 PELJ 20; Freudenthal E, Lomax T and Venant M “The BioPalm Oil Palm Project” in Colchester M and Chao S (eds) Conflict or Consent: The Oil Palm Sector at a Crossroad (2013, Forest Peoples Programme) 350; 345.

  82. 82.

    Ibid. Wodschow and others (2016:7).

  83. 83.

    For more details on the flaws in the system of public participation in Cameroon, see Ashukem (n 78).

  84. 84.

    Ashukem (n 78) 366.

  85. 85.

    Concession-based forest management is the allocation of a portion of a forest to a foreign large-scale timber company for the purpose of harvesting timber produce. Also see Alain Karsenty ‘Overview of Industrial Forest Concessions and Concession-Based Industry in Central and West Africa and Consideration of Alternatives’ (2007) 1–45; Dieudonne Alemagi and Robert A. Kozak, ‘Illegal Logging in Cameroon- Causes and the Path Forward’ (2010) 12(8) FPE 554–56.

  86. 86.

    See http://eeas.europa.eu/archives/delegations/cameroon/documents/eu_cameroon/note_information_apv_cameroun_en.pdf accessed 13 May 2019.

  87. 87.

    Astrid Wodschow, Iben Nathan and Paolo Omar Cerutti ‘Participation, Public Policy-Making, and Legitimacy in the EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement Process - The Cameroon Cas’ (2016) 63 FPE 5; Sophia Carodenuta ‘Local Participation from VPA to REDD+ in Cameroon’ 2014 ETFRN News 55, 119.

  88. 88.

    Ibid., Wodschow et al.

  89. 89.

    Ibid. 7–8.

  90. 90.

    Phil Rene Oyono, Charlotte Kouna and William Mala ‘Benefits of Forest in Cameroon: Global Structure, Issues involving Access and Decision-Making Hiccoughs’ (2005) 7 FPE 357, 362.

  91. 91.

    Dieudonne Alemagi, Reem Hajjar, Zac Tchoundjeu and Robert A. Zozak ‘Cameron’s Environmental Impact Assessment Decree and Public Participation in Concession-Based Forestry – An Explanatory Assessment of Eight Forest-Dependent Communities’ (2013) 6(10) JSD 8, 8.

  92. 92.

    FAO ‘Website on Participatory Forestry’ (2012) http://www.fao.org/forestry/participatory/en/ accessed 13 May 2019.

  93. 93.

    Robert A. Kozak, W.C. Stetic, H. W. Harshaw, T.C. Maness, and S.R.J. Sheppard ‘Public Priorities for Sustainable Forest Management in Six Forest-Dependent Communities of British Columbia’ (2008) 38(12) CJFR 3071–3084.

  94. 94.

    Ashukem (n 29) 244.

  95. 95.

    Also see Boyle (n 2) 613.

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  1. Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

    Jean-Claude N. Ashukem

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  1. Research Institute of Environmental Law, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Michael Addaney

  2. Department of Public Law, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa

    Ademola Oluborode Jegede

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Ashukem, JC.N. (2020). Connecting Human Rights and the Environment in Cameroon: Successes, Limitations and Prospects. In: Addaney, M., Oluborode Jegede, A. (eds) Human Rights and the Environment under African Union Law. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46523-0_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46523-0_13

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-46523-0

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