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cameroonThe stammerings of Cameroon's communications surveillancePROTEGE QVSylvie Siyam and Serge Dahowww.protegeqv.orgIntroductionThe Republic of Cameroon is a country in the westcentral Africa region. It is bordered by Nigeria, Chad,the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabonand the Republic of Congo.In this country of nearly 21,700,000 people, 1of which 1,006,494 are internet users 2 (representingroughly 5% of the population), according to theInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU), it isa real challenge to identify the presence of communicationsmonitoring by the state. Nonetheless,we know that under the guise of national securityand intelligence gathering, citizens’ computersand internet communications are spied on by thegovernment.This was demonstrated when MTN’s Twitter servicein Cameroon was shut down on 8 March 2011.Wary about the role played by Twitter and other socialnetworks in sparking an Egypt or Tunisia-styleuprising, the government blocked MTN’s Twitterservice 3 for security reasons during what were latercalled “hunger riots” in our country.Policy and political backgroundSince independence, Cameroon’s successive constitutionshave proclaimed its people’s commitment tohuman rights as set out in the United Nations UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights and the AfricanCharter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Our countryis also party to major international and regional humanrights conventions, including the InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).At the national level, the preamble to theconstitution declares the Cameroonian people’s1 countryeconomy.com/demography/population/cameroon2 www.internetworldstasts.com. According to the World Bank,internet users are people with access to the worldwide network.This may include users who access the internet at least severaltimes a week and those who access it only once within a period ofseveral months.3 MTN is a mobile telephone company that in March 2011 was thesole Twitter service provider in Cameroon.commitment to the freedom of communication andexpression.Many laws and decrees dealing with freedomof communication and expression and with telecommunicationsand communications exist inCameroon, some of which impact on surveillance:• Law N° 98/014 of 14 July 1998, which regulatestelecommunications.• Law N° 2004/016 of 22 July 2004 creating theNational Commission on Human Rights andFreedoms. The commission is an independentinstitution set up to promote and protect humanrights in the country. Though important, none ofits statutory provisions hint at the surveillanceof communication.• Law N° 2010/021 of 21 December 2010 governingelectronic commerce.• Law N° 2010/013 of 21 December 2010 governingelectronic communications in Cameroon.• Law N° 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 on cybersecurity and cyber crime. The latter “governs thesecurity framework of electronic communicationnetworks and information systems, definesand punishes offences related to the use of informationand communication technologies inCameroon.” While this law was hailed by someas a much-needed step in the right directionto curb Cameroon’s nascent or burgeoning cybercrimes industry, others have criticised it forbeing light on internet security and heavy onsanctions, particularly with regard to sanctioningonline expression.• Decree N° 2002/092/PR of 8 April 2002 creatingthe National Agency for Information andCommunications Technologies (ANTIC). TheANTIC was created to facilitate and acceleratethe uptake of ICTs in Cameroon so that they cancontribute to the development of the country.• Decree N° 2012/180/PR of 10 April 2012 assigningnew missions to the ANTIC, including theregulation of electronic security activities andthe regulation of the internet in Cameroon. Withthis decree, the ANTIC became the key actor interms of restrictions imposed by the governmenton the free flow of online information.• Decree N° 2013/0399/PM of 27 February 2013establishing the modalities of protection forelectronic communications consumers. Thisdecree clearly states that when it comes to electronicservices, the consumer is entitled to havehis or her protection kept private.“Weeding them out”:Evidence of surveillance in CameroonThere are few credible reports that the governmentmonitors email or other internet- related activitiesin Cameroon. However, as certainly as everywherethroughout the world, Cameroon’s administrationdoes spy on citizens’ emails to checkmate the activitiesof unscrupulous people capable of threatening itsinternal security. In 2009, the government launched acampaign aimed at capturing the personal informationof mobile phone holders, allegedly “to ban theunfair use of the mobile phone [in a way that can prejudice]law and public order and … citizens’ safety.”The government’s monopoly over all mobileand internet infrastructures through its sole, stateownedtelecom operator, CAMTEL (CameroonTelecommunications), facilitates communicationssurveillance. During an interview given to the onlinemedia outfit Cameroon-Info.Net, 4 Woungly Massaga,a Cameroonian dissident, stated his phoneshave always been tapped.On 19 March 2014, the general manager of theANTIC gave an interview to the government’s dailynewspaper Cameroon Tribune during which he furtherprovided details on how social networks andwebsites are watched in Cameroon. To deal with illintentionedpersons and the terrorist groups whouse social networks to recruit followers and spreadpropaganda, he said, “The ANTIC uses state-ofthe-arttools or cutting-edge tools to permanentlywatch social networks. This consists of browsingthe various profiles on the social networks to detectillicit content representing a potential threat for thenational security and the image of Cameroon, andto weed them out.” 5When it comes to websites, the ANTIC uses atechnical platform that scans web content usingkeywords to detect those inciting hatred, being4 Ngangué, Y. (2014, May 19). Interview de Woungly Massaga,Homme politique et nationaliste Camerounais: “Le Cameroun estune véritable bombe à retardement”. Cameroon-Info.Net. www.cameroon-info.net/stories/0,61441,@,cameroun-20-mai-2014-interview-de-woungly-massaga-homme-politique-et-nationalist.html5 Cameroon Tribune. (2014, March 29). [Interview] Cameroun: DrEbot Ebot Enow Directeur Général de l’Agence Nationale des TIC.Afro Concept News. www.afroconceptnews.com/2014/03/29/interview-cameroun-dr-ebot-ebot-enow-directeur-general-delagence-nationale-des-ticslanderous, or representing a danger for the state.Though it is still unclear which technologies areused to monitor telecoms activity in Cameroon, 6 theinterview shed light on the process that led to theshutting down of MTN’s Twitter service in Cameroonfrom the 8 to the 18 March 2011 during peacefulprotests. Prior to that, on 22 February 2011, Camerooniangovernment spokesperson Issa TchiromaBakary summoned journalists to his office for a mediabriefing in which he issued a warning directedat Cameroonians in the diaspora using social mediatools such as Facebook and Twitter to call fora march to end the 29-year rule of President PaulBiya. The protest was to coincide with an opposition-ledmarch in Douala to honour demonstratorskilled by security forces during February 2008 antigovernmentprotests.A coalition of organisations led by Privacy International,Access and the Electronic FrontierFoundation has outlined a set of 13 InternationalPrinciples on the Application of Human Rightsto Communications Surveillance. 7 These includeproportionality, competent judicial authority, dueprocess and user notification. Did the blocking ofMTN’s Twitter 8 service meet these requirements?At the time Twitter was blocked, only around 50people 9 were affected by the suspension of MTN’sservice – so was it worth blocking it? This raises theproportionality principle: was there a high degreeof probability that a serious crime was about to becommitted by MTN’s Twitter users?The principles state: “Determinations relatedto communications surveillance must be made bya competent judicial authority that is impartial andindependent.” Cameroon of course lacks a judicialmechanism to protect people from unlawful governmentsurveillance. As a consequence, no judicialwarrant was obtained to shut down MTN’s service.Another of the 13 Principles that was ignored bythe government is the “due process” principle thatrequires states to respect and guarantee individuals’human rights by ensuring that lawful proceduressurrounding communications surveillance are properlyrecorded and available to the general public.Cameroonian Minister of Communications and6 It is worth pointing out that the Chinese telecom giants ZTE andHuawei, major players in the African and global telecom industry,are CAMTEL’s telecom equipment suppliers in Cameroon.7 https://en.necessaryandproportionate.org/text8 The Twitter via SMS service offered by MTN Cameroon, one of threetelecommunications operators in the country, allowed anyone witha regular phone to punch in a code and start receiving tweets forfree.9 The deal between MTN Cameroon and Twitter was concludedon December 2010 when the smartphone adoption and internetpenetration rates were relatively low in Cameroon.94 / Global Information Society Watch cameroon / 95