Belgian authorities have arrested four people over suspected links to war crimes and crimes against humanity tied to Cameroon’s ongoing separatist conflict, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said in a press statement that since last summer it has been probing “possible crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Cameroon since 2020” following a tip from Norwegian judicial authorities. The investigation targets individuals in Belgium who are suspected of belonging to the leadership of the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF), an armed separatist movement.
Four suspects were picked up during coordinated searches in the town of Londerzeel, 20 kilometers north of Brussels, and Antwerp on Sunday, three of whom were placed in pre-trial detention. Prosecutors said “money is reportedly being raised for the armed struggle and for the purchase of arms and ammunition,” adding that “instructions for attacks and liquidations are said to be given from Belgium.”
Cameroon’s conflict pits French-speaking forces loyal to the government in the capital Yaoundé against English-speaking separatists seeking to create the breakaway state of Ambazonia in northwest Cameroon. The violence, which erupted in 2017 after protests over the perceived marginalization of the country’s anglophone regions, has killed at least 6,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Prosecutors said they continue to work with authorities in Norway and the United States, where parallel probes into suspected ADF members are underway. U.S. prosecutors indicted two alleged ADF leaders in Minnesota last September, accusing them of financing and directing attacks in Cameroon. In 2024, Norwegian authorities arrested prominent Ambazonian separatist figure Ayaba Cho Lucas in Norway on suspicion of inciting crimes against humanity.