Cameroon: Notices to appear issued by the General Delegation for National Security (Délégation générale à la Sûreté nationale, DGSN), including the issuing procedure; the content and appearance of the notices to appear, and whether it is the same at all police stations in the country; possibility of obtaining a fraudulent notice to appear (2012-October 2013)

1. Overview of the DGSN and Notices to Appear

The website of the international police agency Interpol states that the General Delegation for National Security (Délégation générale à la Sûreté nationale) is the official name of the national police in Cameroon and that the Delegate General for National Security (Délégué général à la Sûreté nationale) is the chief of the national police in the country (Interpol n.d.). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, the senior counsel of a law office that specializes in criminal law and has offices in Yaoundé, Douala and N'knonsamba, similarly indicated that the DGSN is the [translation] "headquarters of the national police in Cameroon" (Lawyer 8 Oct. 2013).

The lawyer stated that, in Cameroon, notices to appear may come from the national police or the gendarmerie (ibid. 10 Oct. 2013). The lawyer explained that [translation] "notices to appear ... are issued in police stations and at the highest level in provincial delegations of the national police" (ibid. 8 Oct. 2013).

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, the Executive Director of New Human Rights (Nouveaux droits de l'homme, NDH) Cameroon, an NGO [translation] "that is non-profit and whose primary mission is to promote, defend and increase human rights wherever they are abused" (Say NO - UNiTE n.d.), also stated that, in addition to the DGSN, "other entities are authorized to issue notices to appear. They are, in particular, the decentralized units of the Secretary of State for Defence (Secrétariat d'État à la Défense) responsible for the gendarmerie (brigades, companies and legions of the gendarmerie)" (NDH-Cameroon 22 Oct. 2013).

However, the executive director added the following:

[translation]

In addition, other police forces that do not fall under the DGSN also issue notices to appear. They are the services of the External Research Branch (Direction générale à la recherche extérieure, DGRE), which is the secret police or the intelligence service (Service de renseignement) of Cameroon. Lastly, in exceptional cases, notices to appear may be issued by the Military Security (Sécurité militaire); in this case, the person concerned must be a uniformed person or the matter must concern a person in uniform (ibid.).

2. Procedures for Issuing Notices to Appear

The lawyer and the Executive Director both stated that all notices to appear must be signed by a judicial police officer (NDH-Cameroon 22 Oct. 2013; Lawyer 10 Oct. 2013). The Executive Director added that the signature is also [translation] "accompanied by the police seal and name stamp of the signatory" (NDH-Cameroon 22 Oct. 2013). The lawyer also stated that [translation] "in all cases, the judicial police is acting under the direction of the public prosecutor" (10 Oct. 2013). According to the lawyer, judicial police officers include

officers and non-commissioned officers of the gendarmerie

police constables (gendarmes), even acting, in charge of a brigade or a police station

police commissioners

police officers (Lawyer 10 Oct. 2013).

The lawyer explained that a notice to appear includes an acknowledgement of receipt that must be detached and given to the recipient, who must then sign and return it to the judicial police officer (10 Oct. 2013). However, the Executive Director stated that, although [translation] "certain organizations, like the central services of the DGSN, issue notices to appear with acknowledgements of receipt," "this is not generalized and is not within the scope of the Criminal Procedure Code (Code de procédure pénale)" (NDH-Cameroon 22 Oct. 2013).

According to the lawyer,

[translation]

[it] is best if the notice to appear is issued by a judicial police officer, but in practice, the notice to appear is often sent even to the complainant to be delivered to their adversary, to the head of the neighbourhood, to any person likely to reasonably deliver it (10 Oct. 2013).

The Executive Director also stated [translation] "that, in general, following a complaint, the judicial police officer issues a notice to appear that is delivered to the complainant so that they ... may deliver it to the accused" (NDH-Cameroon 22 Oct. 2013). She also stated that the people accused [translation] "most often refuse to fill out the acknowledgements of receipt when they are delivered" (ibid.).

The Executive Director added that,

[translation]

[n]ormally, there should be no arrest or warrant before a third notice to appear is ignored. This procedure is not always followed in practice, and often after the first notice to appear, the judicial police officer decides to arrest the accused (ibid.).

3. Content and Appearance of Notices to Appear

The lawyer stated that the content of the notices to appear [translation] "has been harmonized for the entire territory" (10 Oct. 2013). The Executive Director also stated that the [translation] "notice to appear forms generally have the same information" (NDH-Cameroon 22 Oct. 2013). However, she added that [translation] "their format and even often their quality depend on the issuing services" (ibid.).

According to the Executive Director,

[translation]

[i]n some cases, generally at the police stations, they are mainly pre-printed forms that are filled out by hand .... In some centralized services in the DGSN, these forms are filled out directly on the computer .... (ibid.).

The lawyer stated that the notices to appear are prepared in French and in English to take into consideration the two national languages of Cameroon (10 Oct. 2013). The executive director stated,

[translation]

The constitutional rule is such that, like all official legislation, ... notices to appear must be bilingual. Thus, in an Anglophone area, they start in English and the French follows, and in Francophone areas, the English follows the French. However, some units waive this bilingualism rule (NDH-Cameroon 22 Oct. 2013).

The lawyer provided a sample of a notice to appear, which is attached to this Response.

4. Fraudulent Notices to Appear

The lawyer stated that, in Cameroon, [translation] "cases of fraudulent notices to appear are insignificant: when a notice to appear is fraudulent, an actual criminal procedure would never occur." However, he added that his lawyer's office had already been hired by some foreign authorities to authenticate some Cameroonian police notices to appear that seemed to be fraudulent.

The Executive Director stated,

[translation]

Citizens do produce fraudulent notices to appear for various purposes.

Very often, fraudulent notices to appear are almost identical to the real notices to appear, except that they are not registered with a police station or issuing service.

The only means of distinguishing a real notice to appear from a fraudulent one, when requested to do so by the immigration services of certain countries, is to use our contacts within the police to verify the genuineness of the notice to appear issued (NDH-Cameroon 22 Oct. 2013).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Lawyer. 10 October 2013. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

_____. 8 October 2013. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Interpol. N.d. "La police camerounaise." [Accessed 25 Sept. 2013]

Nouveaux droits de l'homme (NDH) Cameroon. 22 October 2013. Correspondence from the executive director to the Research Directorate.

Say NO - UNiTE. N.d. "Nouveaux Droits de l'homme Cameroun." [Accessed 23 Oct. 2013]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: A representative of a law office in Douala and a law professor at Walter Sisulu University in South Africa were unable to provide information within the time constraints. Representatives of two other law offices in Yaoundé and in Douala were unable to provide information for this information request. Attempts to contact the High Commissioner for the Republic of Cameroon in Canada, the Commission indépendante contre la discrimination et la corruption, three lawyers, and representatives of three other law offices in Bafoussam, Doulala and Yaoundé were unsuccessful.

Internet sites, including: AllAfrica; Bonaberi.com; CamDroit; Camer.be; Cameroon-Info.Net; Cameroun Link; Cameroun Online; Droit-Afrique.com; ecoi.net; Factiva; HG.org; Journal du Cameroun; Mboa.Info; NATLEX; Ordre des avocats au Barreau du Cameroun; PanaPress; Republic of Cameroon - Services du premier ministre; Réseau camerounais des organisations des droits de l'homme; United Nations - Refworld.

Attachment

Cameroon. N.d. "Convocation." Copy provided to the Research Directorate by a lawyer.