Extradition as a mechanism to combat trans-national criminality: a cameroonian perspective

• Author: Samgena D. Galega
• Position: Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Yaounde II, Cameroon
• Pages: 198-221

EXTRADITION

AS

A

MECHANISM TO COMBAT

TRANS-NATIONAL CRIMINALITY:

A CAMEROONIAN PERSPECTIVE

SAMGENA D. GALEGA*

INTRODUCTION

Little is known about extradition law in Cameroon. Amongst laymen as

with lawyers, one may be surprised to notice that this subject is perceived as

mostly one to be encountered in textbooks than in everyday life. This is the case

notwithstanding that quite a handful of requests have been made in recent years

concerning some fugitives from neighbouring African countries and Europe

who were resident in Cameroon. This apparent ignorance about the subject is

not surprising, considering that it is a branch of International Law which is not

taught in most law degree programmes in Cameroon. Extradition ("rendition"

as the expression is known in the UK and the Commonwealth contexts), refers

to a process by which a State (the requesting State), makes a request to another

State (the requested State), to deliver a person to stand trial for an offence of

which he or she is accused, or to serve a sentence already imposed for an offence

of which that person has been convicted.

It follows from the definition above that an extradition request may only be

made by a sovereign State. It may be based on an extradition treaty between the

States concerned, or on the principles of reciprocity or comity of nations.

The importance of extradition within the global context of combating

criminality cannot be over emphasised. The recent upsurge in crimes with

an international complexion such as drug trafficking, money laundering,

international terrorism, genocide/genocide-related offences and crimes against

humanity, is attaining alarming proportions. Hence, there is the need for

* Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Yaounde II, Cameroon. I am grateful to Justice George Gwanmesia,

Secretary General in the Ministry of Justice and former Judge of the Supreme Court of Cameroon and also

to the Criminal Law Unit of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, for providing me with some useful

documentation for this article. I am particularly indebted to Professor J. Hatchard and Kim Prost, my main

sources of inspiration for this paper.

concerted international action and resolve to apprehend criminals wherever

they may try to seek refuge. It is within this background that the INTERPOL

recently held a meeting in Yaounde, Cameroon, to seek ways and means of

fostering that objective.1 Because of the sudden awareness of the importance

of the subject in the wake of contemporary global security concerns {viz.

transnational criminality manifested in sophisticated forms of terrorism),

a meeting was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat in Accra, Ghana,

to discuss the development of a curriculum for a course on international co-

operation to combat crime.2 The objective of this was to teach and enhance

understanding of the underlying principles of international co-operation in

this field in law schools and amongst the actors involved in the fight against

international criminality.

The aim of this article is twofold: namely, to present an evaluative analysis

of the core requirements of extradition law and practice and the factors

obstructing the request for surrender in International Law in general, while

at the same time providing an insight into how those principles operate

in the Cameroonian context, with a focus on the difficulties inherent in

their application.

BACKGROUND TO THE LAW OF EXTRADITION IN CAMEROON

Extradition is a time-honoured practice whose roots may be traced as far

back as the years before the birth of Christ, when treaties relating to it were

signed between oriental monarchs. A case in point is the treaty of peace, alliance

and extradition, concluded in 1280 BC between Ramses II, Pharaoh of Egypt

and Hattushilish, King of the Hittites.3 But by all accounts, this is a fairly

recent development in Cameroon. In fact, not until the arrival of the former

European colonial masters was this concept or practice recorded in the annals

of Cameroon's history.

1 The 71st General Assembly of the ICPO-INTERPOL held in Cameroon's capital Yaounde, from 21-24

October 2002.

2 Participants at this meeting, which was held in Accra between 1-2 February 2001, came from Nigeria,

Tanzania, Ghana and Cameroon. This writer was Cameroon's representative at the meeting. Professor John

Hatchard, General Secretary of the Commonwealth Legal Education Association, was in attendance and

Kimberly Prost, Head of the Criminal Law Unit of the Commonwealth Secretariat, chaired the meeting:

see John Hatchard (ed.), Directory of Commonwealth Law Schools 2003/2004 (London, 2003), 19. It was

resolved that a course on the efforts to combat international criminality be introduced in the programme of

law schools in Commonwealth countries. The course has already been introduced in the LLB programme

of the University of Buea and efforts are currently underway to implement this in Cameroon State

Universities.

3 Grolier (ed.), The New Book of Knowledge (1978), Vol. 18,270.