Following the submission of a comprehensive 1,035-page report, the French government has acknowledged its role in violent colonial-era atrocities in Cameroon. President Emmanuel Macron conveyed this recognition in a letter to Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, accepting France’s responsibility for a brutal war that suppressed the country’s independence movement.
The joint Franco-Cameroonian commission, announced in 2022, was tasked with investigating the period from 1945 to 1971. Its historians concluded that French colonial forces committed widespread violence and later supported the repressive regime of the newly independent Cameroonian state. The repression led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the assassination of independence leader Ruben Um Nyobè.
For many years, the official French narrative downplayed the violence of its colonial ventures. However, a new generation of historians and activists, many from former colonies, has successfully challenged this polished version of history. This, combined with growing anti-French sentiment across the Sahel, has created pressure for Paris to reckon with its past.
This acknowledgment is a major step, but activists and experts say it must be followed by concrete actions. Cameroonian singer Blick Bassy, who co-led the commission, highlighted the urgent need to locate mass graves, address land disputes stemming from that era, and organize national mourning. He also called for this history to be taught in French schools to ensure it is never repeated.