CCPR/C/83/D/1134/2002 Page 4 Views under article 5, paragraph 4, of the Optional Protocol 1. The author of the communication is Mr. Fongum Gorji-Dinka, a national of Cameroon, born on 22 June 1930, currently residing in the United Kingdom. He claims to be victim of violations by Cameroon1 of articles 1, paragraph 1; 7; 9 paragraphs 1 and 5; 10, paragraphs 1 and 2 (a); 12; 19; 24, paragraph 3; and 25 (b) of the Covenant. He is represented by counsel. 2 Facts as submitted by the author 2.1 The author is a former President of the Bar Association of Cameroon (1976-1981), the Fon, or traditional ruler, of Widikum in Cameroon’s North-West province, and cla ims to be the head of the exile government of “Ambazonia”. His complaint is closely linked to events which occurred in British Southern Cameroon in the context of decolonization. 2.2 After World War I, the League of Nations placed all former German colonies under international administration. Under a League of Nations mandate, Cameroon was partitioned between Great Britain and France. After World War II, the British and French Cameroons became United Nations trust territories, the British part being divided into the United Nations trust territory of British Southern Cameroon (“Ambazonia”) and the United Nations trust territory of British Northern Cameroon. The “Ambas” were a federation of sovereign but interdependent ethnocracies, each under a traditional ruler called “Fon”. In 1954, they were unified in a modern parliamentary democracy, consisting of a House of Chiefs appointed from among the traditional leaders, a House of Assembly elected by universal suffrage, and a government led by a Prime Minister appointed and dismissed by the Queen of England. 2.3 French Cameroon achieved independence in 1960 as the Republic of Cameroon. While the largely Muslim British Northern Cameroon voted to join Nigeria, the largely Christian British Southern Cameroon, in a United Nations plebiscite held on 11 February 1961, voted in favour of joining a union with the Republic of Cameroon, within which Ambazonia would preserve its nationhood and a considerable degree of sovereignty. The United Kingdom allegedly refused to impleme nt the plebiscite, fearing that the Ambazonian Prime Minister would come under communist influence and would nationalize the Cameroon Development Cooperation (CDC), in which Britain had invested £ 2 million. In exchange for a license to continue exploiting CDC, the United Kingdom allegedly “sold” Ambazonia to the Republic of Cameroon which then became the Federal Republic of Cameroon. 2.4 On 8 October 1981, the author was asked to secure bail for five Nigerian missionaries accused of disseminating the teachings of a sect without a government permit. At the police station, he was arrested and detained together with the missionaries. A few months later, he was charged with the offense of fabricating a fake permit for the sect to operate in Cameroon. 1 The Covenant and the Optional Protocol entered into force for the State party on 27 September 1984. 2 The communication was submitted by the author personally. However, by letter dated 4 August 2004, Ms. Irene Schäfer presented an instrument executed by the author making her counsel of record.