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Latest update on Charles Atangana
The latest news story on Charles from Journalism.co.uk - thanks to Rachel McAthy.
Watch the video now - http://www.journalism.co.uk/5/articles/540188.php
Following the success of the nationwide, NUJ-led campaign to secure Charles Atangana’s release from Home Office detention, attention now turns to the detailed work of winning a judicial review of Charles’ case so that he is finally permitted to remain permanently in the UK as a refugee journalist who has fled torture, detention without trial and death threats.
Dozens of NUJ members and supporters held a protest outside the court hearing in London on Thursday 12th August when Charles was released on bail.
“There is something seriously wrong with the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK,” says Charles. Currently living at a bail hostel, the Cameroon-born journalist is again researching human rights abuses in his native country, but now using facilities at the NUJ’s Headland House Offices.
In the six weeks since he was arrested in Glasgow, where he has lived since fleeing Cameroon in 2004, Charles Atangana had been moved between three deportation centres – Pennine House in Manchester, Colnbrook removal centre in London and The Citadel immigration removal centre in Dover – and twice came within three hours of being forcibly repatriated by the UK government.
A string of recent reports have highlighted widespread human rights abuse by the authorities in Cameroon. The UN last month demanded urgent action to halt extrajudicial killings, end torture in detention and lift draconian restrictions on the media.
Charles is aware that the high profile campaign has made it impossible for the UKBA to try to deport him through the anonymous, silent, unreported bureaucracy which veils hundreds of other asylum seekers.
“This campaign has already done more than any others like it, I think, to help expose what goes on inside the UKBA,” he says. “Many of the people I met in the Colnbrook (next to Heathrow airport) and Dover removal centres have no lawyer or external supporters. The UKBA can pretty much do what it likes with people in that situation, and we must make sure that changes.”
NUJ General Secretary, Jeremy Dear said:
"Though this is just one step in the campaign to prevent Charles' deportation back into the hands of the regime that has already imprisoned and tortured him for his brave reporting of corruption at the heart of the Cameroonian regime, it is nonetheless a tremendous victory for all the trade unionists, campaign groups, politicians and individuals who have lent their support to the campaign so far. Our thanks go out to them.
"The campaign to stop his detention will now intensify - but now with Charles himself at the forefront of the campaign."
NUJ President, Pete Murray said:
"This is incredible news and I'm sure I speak for all Charles' friends in Glasgow when I say that we can't wait to see him again.
Winning bail for Charles gives us a 6-week window in which to bring the full might of the labour movement to bear to finally remove the threat of deportation now hanging over him."
Read a personal message from Charles here
Read messages of support for Charles here
There is still a great deal you can do to help prevent Charles being deported to Cameroon.
1. Make a donation
We are also asking individuals and trade union branches to send donations to Charles via the NUJ.
Charles has no money for even the most basic items, such as clothes and toiletries.
Please make cheques payable to the NUJ but make sure you state the money is for Charles Atangana and send to the NUJ Finance Department, Headland House, 308-312 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8DP
2. Send messages of support
Please email messages of support or reasons why you think Charles should be allowed to stay to campaigns@nuj.org.uk
We will let Charles know about your support and we may use messages sent to us in NUJ publicity materials.
Recent articles
The latest article on Charles by Jeremy Dear, Comment is Free -
A journalist in danger
The TUC are backing NUJ calls to stop Charles Atangana from being deported.
Here is their latest blog -
Building stronger unions: why asylum for Charles Atangana would help
Other things you can do:
Our best chance to help Charles is to keep putting pressure on the Home Office and we need to gain more support from Members of Parliament, Members of the European Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, community and faith groups, human rights and immigration/asylum campaign groups, other trade unions, councillors, celebrities and the media.
We need to put pressure on the UK authorities to make them realise that Charles is not alone and will not be forgotten.
The Home Secretary has wide discretionary powers as to whether he can stay in this country or whether he is forced to leave.
Please feel free to adapt it and use your own words and please send it to colleagues and friends, urging them to contact their own elected representatives too.
We want you to urgently contact:
- Theresa May, Home Secretary
- Damian Green, Minister of State responsible for Immigration- Your elected representatives via www.writetothem.com
Here is a model letter you can use Please feel free to adapt it and use your own words and please send it to colleagues and friends, urging them to contact their own elected representatives too.
Charles' Home Office reference number is A1227296
Contact the Home Secretary, Theresa May:
Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP Secretary of State for the Home Office
Fax: 020 8760 3132 (00 44 20 8760 3132 if you are faxing from outside UK)
Contact your elected representatives via www.writetothem.com
Please urge them to explore every possible avenue to keep Charles in the UK.
The NUJ wants Charles Atangana to be released and allowed to stay indefinitely in safety in Scotland.
Why Charles should be allowed to stay in the UK:
1. Charles has faced continued death threats while he has been in exile.
2. Cameroon is not safe for journalists:
- following a visit to the country in May this year, the Federation of African Journalists described Cameroon as "one of the worst jailers of journalists in Africa".
- The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has made numerous appeals to President Biya urging him to put an end to the harassment and abuse of journalists. The IFJ has strong evidence that in Cameroon there are arbitrary arrests and criminal prosecutions of journalists.
- In Cameroon allegations relating to the torture of journalists has recently soared, raising critical questions about the rule of law and democracy in the Cameroon.
- A number of prominent journalists are currently held in shocking conditions in prisons in the Cameroon. They were detained in the capital, Yaounde, following an investigation into allegations of corruption at the state-owned oil company.
- In April 2010 Bibi Ngota, a journalist and the editor of the bi-monthly Cameroun Express died in custody.
- Amnesty International’s 2010 annual report on Cameroon states: "Government opponents, journalists and human rights defenders were arrested, detained and tried for offences relating to criticism of the government or its officials.” The Amnesty International report also states “The government continued to muzzle critics of its policies, including journalists and human rights defenders."
- The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture have published a report entitled "Every morning, just like coffee. Torture in Cameroon" (2002) documenting some of the horrific torture that is routinely perpetrated in Cameroon. The Executive summary states: “You can expect to be beaten and ill-treated and kept in foul conditions. Stripped naked, you will be housed in a dark, airless, overcrowded cell with no toilet. The guards may jokingly call your daily excursions from your cell for a beating or torture session un petit café. It’s as regular as morning coffee. It may include beatings with truncheons, machetes and rifle butts, often on the soles of the feet. You may be tortured with electricity or suspended in some excruciating position.” The report also states “The prevalence of torture in Cameroon was such as to warrant a country visit from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture in 1999. He describes the use of torture in Cameroon as ‘widespread and systematic.’ The Home Office concurs with his assessment.”
3. Charles’ threatened deportation is taking place at a time when there is no political oversight.
Politicians in England and Scotland are now on holiday. The NUJ wants Charles’ deportation delayed until there is an opportunity for elected representatives to properly consider the merits of his case.
4. Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary said: "Charles Atangana is a brave journalist and trade unionist who should not be sent back to face continuing persecution in Cameroon."
We strongly believe that the life of Charles Atangana will be seriously at risk were he to be deported back to the Cameroon. We are therefore asking you to support Charles Atangana and help us to stop the forced deportation.
Charles Atangana – background information
Charles Atangana is a well respected journalist, specialising in economics and current affairs. Charles claimed asylum in the UK in 2004 and has lived in Scotland while his case was being processed.
Whilst in Glasgow, Charles has played a significant role in the local community - as a volunteer with the Citizens Advice Bureau in Parkhead, as a member of the National Union of Journalists and an activist with the Maryhill Integration Network.
After waiting for almost 18 months for a decision, he received a refusal letter and was forcibly removed from Glasgow and moved to Colnwood detention centre near London. Charles fled the Cameroon after he was set upon by President Biya’s security forces, arrested, stripped naked, beaten up and detained for forty days.
Related documents:
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture report 'Every morning, just like coffee. Torture in Cameroon' (2002) report summary and full report PDF
