ORCID
- Nelson Agbor: 0009-0008-7832-5071
Abstract
ABSTRACTTitle: In what ways do political factors and relations of power interfere with the legal protection of human rights in Cameroon?In November 2016, a socio-political crisis erupted in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, mainly due to the marginalisation of English-speaking populations in these two regions. This crisis has since metamorphosed into an armed conflict between government forces and armed separatist groups operating in these warring regions. The conflict has resulted in severe human rights abuses committed both by the government forces and armed separatist groups operating in these regions. The conflict, also known as the Anglophone crisis, began due to the harsh approach the Cameroonian government forces took in dealing with the peaceful protests of lawyers and teachers’ trade unions. This thesis aims to address the following research question: In what ways do political factors and relations of power interfere with the legal protection of human rights in Cameroon? The thesis presents a legal and political analysis of the situation to address this research question, with a primary focus on human rights violations and the failure to effect reform. The thesis employs a mixed-methods approach to achieve this objective, combining legal analysis, textual analysis, immersive fieldwork, and semi-structured interviews, all underpinned by a theoretical framework informed by political theory. Many have argued that the crisis has degenerated due to the authoritarian approach the Cameroon government has taken in handling it since November 2016; this research elaborates on this and explains (using the concept of neopatrimonialism) exactly how the political and legal systems have been unable to accommodate legal and political reforms. The thesis aims to contribute original knowledge by first filling the existing gaps in the literature about the crisis, providing substantial new empirical evidence, and offering a precise application of the neo-patrimonial concept to demonstrate how political dynamics interact with legal structures to the detriment of fundamental human rights and national cohesion. The research also proposes recommendations for legal and political reforms, a permanent crisis resolution, and a return to peace.
Awarding Institution(s)
University of Plymouth
Supervisor
Piers Von Berg, Karen Treasure, Patrick Holden
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Date
2026
Embargo Period
2026-01-26
Deposit Date
January 2026
Additional Links
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Agbor, N. (2026) In what ways do political factors and relations of power interfere with the legal protection of human rights in Cameroon?. Thesis. University of Plymouth. Available at: https://doi.org/10.24382/5x8x-k306
