Le régime juridique des étrangers au Cameroun

Second Part :

The INSTITUTIONALIZATION IN FACT OF the VIOLATIONS OF the RIGHTS FROM ABROAD

The expatriates very often make vis-a-vis multiple attacks set up in universal value in Cameroun. They constitute, indeed, a kind of « institution » with the direction where Emile DURKHEIM^85(*) hears it, i.e.  « any manner of making having a certain stability, regularity, lasted ». Also, we speak about « the institutionalization in fact of the violations of the rights from abroad ». The second reason which justifies the heading of our analysis holds in what the violations do not exist ex nihilo^86(*) because they are generally the consequence of several phenomena. Consequently, the effectivity of the condition of the expatriate remains hypothetical in Cameroun (Chapter 1) because of many factors (Chapter 2).

CHAPTER 1 : DEMONSTRATIONS

The category from abroad the most protected by the texts of national law gathers especially the people who satisfied the conditions of entry and stay.^87(*) However, no one can deny only in each country, one very often finds foreigners who did not comply with these regulations. Not being therefore of « submen », they must of this fact of enjoying a minimum of rights. Moreover, profiting from a specific statute, the refugees and the stateless people are protected by particular Conventions.

For better determining hard realities than know these various categories from abroad, we divided them into two groups : on the one hand, traditional foreigners (Section 1) and on the other hand, foreigners with exceptional statute (Section 2).

SECTION 1 : TRADITIONAL FOREIGNERS

They are the expatriates described as regular, who, contrary to irregular, respected and continue to respect the standards in particular defining the entry and the stay on the territory. As much it seems easy to take stock of the state of the rights of the expatriates in regular situation (paragraph 1), as much it appears complex to perceive the violations that the clandestine immigrants in Cameroun undergo (paragraph 2).

Paragraph 1 - Problems from regular abroad

As we saw previously^88(*), Cameroun counts approximately a million and half from regular abroad. In order to make a practical analysis of the violations of which they are the object, we carried out an investigation by questionnaire^89(*) whose results make it possible to classify the attacks at the entry and the exit (A) like those during the stay (B).

A) Difficulties encountered at the entry and the exit

It is a question of studying the violations for which the State is responsible with respect to the foreigners, although the nationals also suffer from it ; we will also put forward the legal and factual consequences which result from it. For that, the apprehension of the major problems (1) and minors (2) whom meet these immigrants in Cameroun proves to be necessary.

1) Major attacks

Cameroun constantly violates the provisions of the law of 1997 fixing the conditions of freedom of movement of the people and does not respect the contents of bilateral conventions which exonerate certain nationals of the outside of the obligation to present visas of entry. Indeed, it arises from the card of examination that 52,63% from questioned abroad complain about the corruption^90(*) which prevails at the entry on the own territory, by ways terrestrial and maritime; in the same way, 56,45%, as regards the entry by air. In addition 62,50% the non-national ones complain about the ambient corruption during the exit by ways terrestrial and maritime and 66,66% at the exit by air. Moreover, 24,19% of immigrants complain about administrative slownesses of the authorities charged to sign and deliver the visas (which it is about the personnel of the diplomatic missions and consular of Cameroun abroad or of the airport authorities). They estimate that actually, these authorities expressly use of these slownesses for purposes to hold to ransom them.

The situation is such as the administrative authorities concerned require expatriates the illicit payment of additional financial services. In addition, the exempted foreigners of the presentation of the visa of entry are also constrained there with the risk to see themselves refusing the access to the territory. The agents of the frontier station located in the zone of Amchidé are quoted, on a purely illustrative basis, like famous authors of such exactions. In other countries however, such practices do not exist any more. For example, in stop of July 03, 1980 Regina C/S. Pieck, Business 157/79, the Court of Justice of European Communities (CJCE) has estimated that, when the State is member of a community which requires the exemption of visa, it must conform to it^91(*). One should not besides be astonished by the extent of the corruption, such as it rises from our card of examination. Indeed, in 1999, the classification of Cameroun to the index of perception of the corruption by Transparency International made of them the most corrupted country in the world^92(*) . Moreover, in the investigation of the world barometer of the corruption, carried out by this ONG^93(*), the surveys raised that according to the opinion of 14% Cameronian, the police force is the second most which corrupted structure of the State.

90% from abroad think that the State is the author of the exactions which are inflicted to them and 10% point finger the Cameronian company. With our opinion, the responsibility should be exclusively charged to the State. Indeed, article 5 of the draft prepared by the Commission of the International law (TDCI) lays out : « is regarded as a fact of the State according to the international law, the behavior of any body of the State having this statute according to the national law of this State, in so far as, in fact, it acted as this quality »^94(*). In the species, the administrative authorities intern which violate the rules governing immigration and the emigration, are agents of the executive power acting as quality of bodies of the State. Also, their acts are ascribable for him. In this case, Cameroun is responsible for the violation of the international law of the humans right applicable the abroads. Indeed, according to William SCHABAS^95(*), the right of the rights of the person aims at the same time the individual and the community ; its subjects are protected not only in their relationship with the thirds, but also in their relationship with the State. Always according to the author, they are the effects « vertical and horizontal » of the rights.

So the situation from regular entering and outgoing abroad is far from being enviable. It undergoes, of the remainder, other forms of less serious attacks.

2) Minor attacks

They are the practices which carry obstacle to the legal personality of the man because they violate his honor and his dignity protected by articles 16 from the PIDCP and 5 of the African Charter of the humans right and of the people. Going in the same direction, the preamble to the Cameronian constitution of 1996 affirms that each one must be treated with humanity in any circumstance.

Realities are however contrary because it comes out from our investigations relating to the entry and the exit that, respectively, 19,35% and 33,33% from abroad complain about multiple annoyances in the international airports of Nsimalen and Douala. It is in fact about the arbitrary behavior of the airport police force as well as discourtoisie of the personnel of the airports. The investigations also reveal that this personnel does not ensure any assumption of responsibility of the immigrant passengers who are abandoned with themselves on arrival. These problems constitute a considerable attack with freedoms of the human person. The regular foreigner however observed the conditions of entry and exit in Cameroun ; but the State rather chooses to marginalize it.

The difficulties of the expatriates also prevail during all their stay.

* ⁸⁵ DURKHEIM (Emile), quoted by CHAMPAGNE (Patrick), sociology, Toulouse, Milan, 1998, p.5.

* ⁸⁶ Latin formula meaning  : «  from nothing  »

* ⁸⁷ Cf First Part, Chapter 2, Section 2, Paragraphe1 (beginning).

* ⁸⁸ Cf First Part, Chapitre1 (beginning).

* ⁸⁹ Cf Appendix 2, the survey questionnaire and results of the card of examination. We make a point of specifying that the investigations were carried out into a sample of one hundred people.

* ⁹⁰ The corruption is a penally accused behavior by which are requested, approved or received offers, promises, gifts or are present at ends of achievement or abstention from an act, obtaining favors or particular advantages. The corruption is known as passive when it is the fact of the corrupted  ; it is active when it is the fact of the corrupter. To see on this subject GUINCHARD (S) and MONTAGNIER (G) (Dir.), Lexicon of the legal terms, 14th edition, Paris, Dalloz, 2003, p. 171.

* ⁹¹ ANDERSON (R), «  The maintenance of law and order and the crossing of frontiers  », IN  ERGEC (R), SPREUTEL (J), DUPONT (L) and ANDERSON (R), Maintenance of law and order and human right, Brussels, Bruylant, 1987, pp. 259-294.

* ⁹² For more precise details, to consult http://www.globalcorruptionreport.org/download_fr.htm.

* ⁹³ Available on www.Transparency.org/survey/index.html/barometer.

* ⁹⁴ DIPLA (Haritini), «  The responsibility for the State for violations of the humans right - problems of charge  », IN  Publications of the Foundation Marango Poulos for the humans right, Series n°1, Paris, Pedone, 1994, p.17-32.

* ⁹⁵ SCHABAS (William A.), Precis of international law of the rights of the person, Quebec, Yvon Blais Inc, 1997, p.1.