Cameroon
Practice Relating to Rule 106. Conditions for Prisoner-of-War Status
According to Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (1992), combatants “wear a uniform, a distinctive sign and carry arms openly. They distinguish themselves from the civilian population.”
Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (2006), under the heading “Combatants”, states: “He must distinguish himself from the civilian population while he takes part in an attack or an operation preparatory to an attack.”
The manual, under the heading “Combatants”, also states: “He wears a uniform, [shows] a distinctive sign [and carries] a weapon openly. He thus distinguishes himself from the civilian population.”
Cameroon’s Disciplinary Regulations (2007) states:
Article 30: Definition
Members of armed forces in organized units, franc-tireurs detached from regular units, commando detachments and isolated saboteurs, as well as the members of voluntary militias, self-defence groups and organized resistance formations are lawful combatants.
It is sufficient that those units, organizations or formations have a designated commander, that their members wear a distinctive sign, notably on their clothing, that they carry their arms openly and that they respect the laws and customs of war.
These combatants, if they are captured, must be considered prisoners of war.
Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (1992) states that participants in a
levée en masse are recognized as combatants.
Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (2006) states that “civilians who spontaneously take up arms in a
levée en masse generally qualify as combatants”.
The manual, under the heading “Prisoners of War”, also states:
People who, surprised by the enemy within a territory originally not occupied, [take up arms and] respect the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law in the course of a
levée en masse, may fall within this category.
Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (2006), under the heading “Combatants”, states:
He must distinguish himself from the civilian population while he takes part in an attack or an operation preparatory to an attack. But, in a situation in which for reasons related to the nature of hostilities, a combatant cannot distinguish himself from the civilian population, he retains his status as combatant if he carries his arms openly:
a) during each military engagement;
b) for as long as he is visible to the enemy when he takes part in a military deployment.