Texte juridique · Legal Framework for the…

Cette présentation expose le cadre juridique international et national camerounais pour la prévention et la répression de la culture du cannabis. Au niveau international, elle mentionne les conventions des Nations Unies de 1961, 1971 et 1988 ratifiées par le Cameroun, ainsi qu'un accord bilatéral avec l'Espagne. Au niveau national, elle détaille la Loi n°97/019 du 7 août 1997 sur le contrôle des stupéfiants, qui punit sévèrement la culture, le trafic et la consommation de cannabis. La…

THIRD PRESENTATION

By Mr. BIKELE NOAH Lambert (MINJUSTICE)

Introduction

All nations of the world are currently experiencing the unprecedented and illicit development of the production, trafficking and use of drugs and psychotropic substances. Cameroon is facing the same struggle. Cannabis is one of the most widely produced and consumed drugs in Cameroon with a wide trafficking network. And the consumption of this drug is wreaking havoc among the youth. It is important to note that the cultivation and trafficking drug, especially cannabis, significantly increases delinquency and violence and causes damage to persons and property.

Thus, to effectively combat this scourge, Cameroon readily cooperates at the international level and has adopted internal laws to suppress drug-related acts.

I. At the International Level

The fight against the cultivation, marketing, trafficking, possession and consumption of cannabis requires cooperation with the international community. Thus, the United Nations (UN) took the bull by the horns by setting up an office on Drugs and Crime.

Government regularly attends sessions of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and regularly sends in questionnaires and forms which provide data on the nature and extent of the trafficking of drugs, especially cannabis.

Between 1961 and 1988, the UN submitted three international conventions for adoption by Member States which make up the body of international legal rules for fighting this global scourge now considered as organized crime.

These include:

The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, ratified by Cameroon on 15 January 1962 and amended by the 1972 Protocol.
The Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 ratified by Cameroon on 5 June 1981.
The United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs adopted on 19 December 1988 and ratified by Cameroon on 28 October 1991. This Convention is the first to provide a legal framework to effectively fight the multifaceted aspects of drug trafficking which has developed today into an international criminal activity.
In January 2011, Cameroon signed a Bilateral Agreement with Spain which covers collaboration and sharing of materials and information on the trafficking of drugs.

II. At the Domestic Level

A National Committee for the Fight against Hard Drugs has been created in 1992;
Thematic meetings on drug trafficking were held in different Ministries;
Campaigns were conducted to raise awareness, advocate, impound, and destroy cannabis farms on a large scale.
Customs officers, policemen, and gendarmes were provided with modern and frequently updated equipment to effectively detect and suppress drug trafficking.
The country’s main airports have also been provided with improved equipment for better control.
On 12 November 2014, an Inter-ministerial Committee for the Fight against Hard Drugs was created.
An action plan for 2015-2016 was drafted and adopted by the Committee.

Committed to fulfilling international commitments and participating in the struggle at the global level, on 7 August 1997, Cameroon adopted a national law in accordance with international conventions.