Lawyers in Cameroon launched a three-day strike on Wednesday, leaving some courtrooms deserted, in protest against police brutality that they claim is increasingly targeting their profession.
The Cameroon Bar Association condemned what it described as “physical violence, barbarity, and other humiliating treatment” inflicted on lawyers by the police. The council’s president, Mbah Eric Mba, highlighted two recent incidents, including a viral video showing officers assaulting a lawyer. Another lawyer was reportedly kidnapped by police last Friday after protesting rights violations against his clients.
Several courtrooms in the capital, Yaoundé, were empty as a result of the strike, an AFP journalist reported. The Bar Association has vowed to take legal action over the abuses.
This is not the first time Cameroonian lawyers have taken a stand. In November, they protested after a colleague was hospitalised following a police detention in Douala.
Cameroon’s 92-year-old President Paul Biya, in power for 42 years, has been accused of suppressing dissent, with activists and human rights groups warning of increasing repression ahead of the October 2025 presidential election.
