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Cameroon

Stony Brook University professor Patrice Nganang was released Dec. 27 after being detained in Cameroon for three weeks. Photo from the Free Patrice Nganang Facebook page

A writer, poet and professor is enjoying freedom once again.

Cameroon police detained Patrice Nganang, professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at Stony Brook University, as he was leaving the country for Zimbabwe at Douala International Airport early in December. The detainment came after the Cameroonian-native and United States citizen published an article on the website Jeune Afrique. In the piece in question, the professor was critical of Cameroon President Paul Biya’s administration’s approach to the ongoing instability in Anglophone regions of Cameroon. Many have criticized the government’s response to citizen’s protests regarding marginalization in the regions

Robert Harvey, a distinguished professor at SBU, said Nganang’s wife Nyasha notified him Dec. 27 of her husband’s hearing suddenly being changed from Jan. 19 to the morning of the 27th and that he was released and all charges dropped.

“No doubt all the pressure mobilized from various sectors helped,” Harvey said.

Dibussi Tande, a friend of Nganang’s for 10 years and one of the administrators of the Facebook page, Free Patrice Nganang, which has gained more than 2,200 followers, echoed Harvey’s sentiments.

“It is a feeling of relief and pride in the amazing work done by a global team of human rights activists, journalists, civil society organizations, friends, family, etc., to bring pressure to bear on the government of Cameroon to set him free,” Tande said.

In a phone interview after his release, Nganang agreed that the pressure from outside of Cameroon, especially from the United States, played a part in his being set free earlier and being treated well while in prison. He even was given meals from outside of the jail and didn’t have to eat prison food.

“The pressure not only led to my early release, it was also such that it gave me a better condition in jail so it made it possible for me to have a more humane condition,” Nganang said.

Among the charges Nganang faced were making a death threat against the president; forgery and use of forgery, due to the professor having a Cameroonian passport despite being a U.S. citizen, as the country does not recognize dual citizenship; and illegal immigration due to not having the proper papers as a U.S. citizen.

Dedicated to writing about the conditions in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, Nganang said he was in the country for two weeks interviewing people. He said those in the western and English-speaking region of Cameroon must adhere to a 6 p.m. curfew, and the border to Nigeria is locked. He feels as a writer it’s his job to travel to the country and let people know what is going on there.

He said he always understood he might be arrested one day, “because of the kind of work I do. I’m very critical, I’m outspoken, I write editorials, etc. I’ve expressed my opinions freely for 20, 30 years. So I have always been prepared to face justice at a certain point because Cameroon is obviously a tyranny.”

According to a statement from a spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), the congressman’s office had been in contact with the U.S. Department of State, Nganang’s family and Stony Brook University administrators during the professor’s detainment.

“In the face of an increasingly oppressive government, Professor Nganang has worked tirelessly for a better future for his country and family,” Zeldin said. “As Professor Nganang fights for the freedom of all Cameroonians, we fought for his. I look forward to his safe return home to his loved ones and the Stony Brook University community.”

Nganang is on leave from the university this academic year to attend to family business in Zimbabwe and to pursue a fellowship at Princeton University in the spring. During Nganang’s detainment, through a U.S. embassy representative, he sent a message to Harvey asking him to let his former students know that he hadn’t forgotten about their letters of recommendation.

Nganang said when he arrived at the airport in Washington D.C., he was greeted by a crowd of people, and he was given a ride home to Hopewell, New Jersey. The professor said he was grateful for the help he received from elected officials and representatives of the U. S. Embassy, and the support of his family, friends and neighbors. When he arrived home, he found friends at his house shoveling the driveway and filling his refrigerator.

“Coming out of jail after four weeks of a harsh ordeal and facing such an outpouring of love — my phone hasn’t stopped ringing since then because all my neighbors are concerned — guess what, it made a difference,” Nganang said.

Updated to include quotes from Patrice Nganang Jan. 4. 

Stony Brook University professor Patrice Nganang has been detained in Cameroon. Photo from Stony Brook University's website

By Rita J. Egan

A Stony Brook University professor discovered firsthand the difference between freedom of speech in the United States and in the country of Cameroon in Central Africa.

On Dec. 6, Cameroon police detained writer, poet and professor Patrice Nganang as he was leaving the country for Zimbabwe at Douala International Airport, according to a press release from PEN America, an advocacy group that fights for writers’ rights to freedom of expression. The detainment came after the Cameroonian-native and U.S. citizen published an article on the website Jeune Afrique. In the piece in question, the professor was critical of Cameroon President Paul Biya’s administration’s approach to the ongoing instability in Anglophone regions of Cameroon.

Stony Brook University administration officials were notified of the detainment immediately, according to the university.

“Stony Brook University is aware of the situation, and we are working around the clock with the appropriate authorities and elected U.S. representatives to help facilitate the safe return of Professor Nganang,” university president Dr. Samuel L. Stanley Jr. said in a statement.

Nganang is one of a number of writers who recently have been questioned, detained or imprisoned by police in Cameroon after commenting unfavorably on political or human rights issues, according to PEN America.

“Detaining an important independent voice like Patrice Nganang, who has used his writing to investigate the consequences of violence, is indicative of a movement by the government to silence all political criticism and dismantle the right to free expression,” said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, PEN America director of Free Expression at Risk Programs. “We condemn Nganang’s detention and call on the Cameroonian authorities to release him unharmed immediately.”

According to writer Dibussi Tande, one of the administrators of the Facebook page, Free Patrice Nganang, on Dec. 11 a prosecutor postponed the decision to determine if there was enough evidence to proceed to trial until Dec. 13. On the same day, Nganang’s lawyer Emmanuel Simh was notified that the charge of contempt for the president was dropped. Tande said as of Dec. 11 the three remaining charges are for making a death threat against the president; forgery and use of forgery due to the professor having a Cameroonian passport despite being a U.S. citizen as the country does not recognize dual citizenship; and illegal immigration due to not having the proper papers as a U.S. citizen.

Tande said Nganang has been in isolation in the offices of the judicial police in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé. A representative of the U.S. Embassy visited Nganang Dec. 11.

“This is essentially a political witch hunt by folks in government who want to punish him for his decade-long activism on behalf of democracy and the downtrodden in Cameroon,” Tande said. “However, with negative international attention that his arrest has brought on Cameroon, some elements in government think it would be better to simply expel him from Cameroon on grounds that he entered Cameroon illegally.”

Robert Harvey, a distinguished professor at SBU, said it was a relief when the contempt charge was dropped, and he remains hopeful. The embassy representative contacted him with a message from Nganang. He wanted his former students to know that he hasn’t forgotten about their letters of recommendation. Harvey said Nganang was on a leave of absence this semester to attend to family business in Zimbabwe.

“He’s a popular teacher,” Harvey said. “He’s impassioned; he’s effective.”

On his SBU profile page, the professor wrote that his intellectual work covers scholarly activities, writing and essayistic interventions.

“I investigate the diverse ramifications of violence, and I am particularly interested in what is commonly referred to as the ‘colonial archive’ (pictures, books, instruments),” Nganang’s profile said. “I have published and lectured extensively on this topic. I have also published on numerous topics related to postcolonial African literature, theaters and cultures.”

This article was updated Dec. 12 to include quotes from Free Patrice Nganang Facebook administrator Dibussi Tande and Dec. 13 to included quotes from SBU distinguished professor Robert Harvey.