RIOTING IN THE FRENCH CAMEROONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00418R000800040007-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 15, 2003
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: July 27, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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COUNTRY French Cameroons
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
This material contains information affecting the Na-
tion$lManse of the United States within the mean-
ing of the Espionage Laws, Title 18, U.S.C. Secs. 793
and 794, the transmission or revelation of which In
any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law.
PN`= ' I'D bE&N-T-I A- L
Rioting in the French Cameroons
REPORT NO.
OATE..DISTR.
25X1 27 July 1955
25X1
25X1
NO. OF PAGES
25X11
REFERENCES 25X'
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
1. Press reports on the riotin in the French Cameroons in May 1955
25X1
2. Attachments are unclassift4diiiahen, dbta~h dLfr> mtth sr-c versaheibt.
Attachments (7 pages in English4 translation, and 4 pages in French)
25X1
Distribution of Attachment:
OCD
C -O N-F-I D-E-N-T-I-A.L
MOTE: Washington distribution indicated by "X"; Field distribution by "#".)
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` RIAASL. iTION
RADIO PHASSE, Organe d'Information du Cameroun
Published by the idministration, Service d'Information, Yaounde
Number 1272, 27 May 1955
The Disorders .Tormented by the UPC
CALM HAS BPEN RIZ4STABLISBED EVERYWHERE
Powerful Forces for Maintenance of Order are on the Spot
Curfew is still maintained today, 27 May
The movement of agitation started several months ago by UPC has just
reached its climax. Douala and the Mungo Region were the theater of violent
incidents provoked, outside the bounds of all claims of a social and political
nature, by the program of rabble rousing of Communist agitators.
At Douala, during the day of 25 May there were incidents marked by the
attempts of manifestants to take possession of the prison. Seditious groups
gathered in various quarters and had to be dispersed by force. Europeans
moving about the city in cars, or coming out of curiosity to the scene of
the disorders were attacked. Curfew, declared during the evening, was ob-
served without incident.
This morning the systematic search of the Bassa quarter, from whence the
outbreak got its start, brought about the arrest of forty individuals found
to be in possession of machettes, knives, cudgels, among them the leader of
armed groups of the UPC of the quarter. The responsible persons of UPC seem
to have been outdone by their troops and are in flight.
There has been a declaration of the existence of armed groups and re-
bellion. Important forces for the maintenance of order are on the spot.
In the Mungo region, where the first troubles broke out at Mbanga as
a result of an inflamatory speech of the President of UPC, Moussie (sic)
F.LIX, the agitation spread to Loum and Nkongsamba. Order was reestablished in
these three localities after violent demonstrations. The forces for the
maintenance of order are sufficient for the job.
As a whole, for the regions which form the theater of action.,
has been eA " Id*orl 6 4/9"29 J~ Dp83t601fl g 0 f -8 (
garde du service d'ordre) from Mbanga, and five mane. es ants rom ouala.
About fifty wounded had to be hospitalized.
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Attachment I
Page 2
Participating in these disorders were only the troops (sic) of UPC, brought
to fanatical pitch by the leaders who wanted at any price to get back their
authority, compromised by a series of spectacular checks to their power.The
population remains perfectly calm and in several areas cheered the forces
which arrived to put a stop to the terror and violence. Confirming the fai-
lure of past Communist attempts in in union (sVdical) matters, the workers
failed to back the UPC: all public services and private enterprises are
functioning normally.
An incident broke out Thursday morning, 26 May, at the market of
Yaounde between Bameleke merchants belonging to opposing union factions.
The services of public order maintenance made several arrests. Some demon-
strators then carried their assault to the central Commissairiat of Police
to attempt to liberate these arrested.
During the scuffle which resulted, there was one death among the
curious and two or three wounded. Legal investigations were immediately
initiated. The curfew, proclaimed to prepare for any eventuality, was
observed without incident.
This morning manifestations were formented at Yaounde. The nublic
order services had to break up a column of manifestants which was marching on
the center of the city. Two deaths and several wounded persons are to be
regretted.
important public order forces have arrived at Yaounde from A.E.F.
by plane.
Curfew will be enforced tonight at 1900 hours until 0600 hours.
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TRANSLATION
FRANCE EQUATEUR, 28 May 1955
THE INCIDENTS AT DOUALA
Douala -
25X1
reached Yaounde, the incidents at Douala on 23 and 24 May broke out on
the occasion of a meeting held in the populated quarter of this city by
adherents of Rassemblement Democratique Africain (RDA).
A violent riot was provoked by members of the UPC (Union des Pop-
ulations du Cameroun), the Communist line party which considers Douala
its political fief. The Police force had to intervene and make arrests.
Aroused by the militants of the UPC, troublemaking elements of the pop-
ulation, some of whom were carrying firearms, attacked the commissariat of
police and the prison.
Forces for the maintenance of order quickly got the situation in hand.
Considering the turn taken by the incidents, some agitators of UPC fled
from Douala and took refuge in neighboring regions, where they alarmed the
population with false reports. As a precaution to prepare for any eventual-
ity, reinforcements came in from neighboring territories, being brought in by plane.
The population, it should be added, remained perfectly calm. All
services and private enterprises are functioning normally.
STAT
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W.W WO-4
?t I dCII. . A` AT IA-VAIA
DOUAU -
reti ed T os :*,
the sa et of a ss
a4b" AlwAs of VAOSS"Ifte"
A vi:e).at- riot we p
e tIMID du .),
its politer 'fief
ArOU004 by the militants Q:
ui*t , sow Ot i**t were c urr I rig
p i a *ad tt* prism.
Considoriar,
from 'amau
p>pliat'.
ity? reintcrcan
The iL3*tiic , it shot be #Ad
servis s private enter rises arc r4nstiorsin craw:
STAT
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TRANSLATION
EEANCE_EQUATEUR, 29 May 1955
Editorial on the front page:
WHAT IS GOING ON AT DOUAL&?
Travellers arriving from Douala make it easy for us to believe that
trouble has broken out in the Cameroons.
With the lack of detail which goes with distance, numbers sometimes are
raised and, if certain people name a figure of 200 dead there is the possibil-
ity of exaggeration.
Several Europeans may be among the victims and a curfew is said to
have been put into effect at Douala, where the authorities are said to have
quickly restored order.
At the root of the riots is said to be the UPC (?inion des Populations du
Camerouns), which, on the occasion of labor conflict, is said to have tried
to bring pressure on the workers hostile to the idea of a strike.
We hardly know anything beyond this, the news being fairly confused.
But the facts appear to be, unfortunately, as reported.
How can such events occur immediately after the harmony which showed
up on 15 May, at the opening of the Wouri Bridge?
How is it that Mr. TEITGEN was not informed of the situation or the
state of mind of the Cameroons, so as not to make a speech which now makes
a false note?
Has there not been, since the departure of Mr. SOUCHDAUX, a clear
desire on the part of the Rue Oudinot to give the levers of control over
to functionaries chosen more for their experience outside the Cameroons
than for their familiarity with the country?
Is it not time to revise such a conception and to investigate to see
if there are not, somewhere in Africa,'
administrators of high rank who
know well the neighbor Territory, and might well have a different outlook,
and probably a better one, as to the measures to be adopted to bring back
calm and prosperity.
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Our opinion in the matter would perhaps not be listened tdi ..
Bt we are in the front seats, it would be best to take this into account.
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COPY
RADIO PRESSE, Organe d'Information du Cameroun
Published by the 1 idministraticn, Service d'INformation, Yaounde
Numero 1273, 1 June 1955
APR S LES DES ORDEES FOMENTES PAR L' U . P . C .
IL TAUT ACHEVER D'APAISER LES ESPRITS
CONNEA DOUALk, LE COUVRE-FEU EST LEVE A YAOUNDE DEPUIS MARDI
A DOUAIA
Un incendie a eclat'e dans la nuit du 26 au 27 mai a Douala, 9'22 heures
(locale)., au siege de la permanence du parti U.P.G. dans le quartier africain
de New Pell.
Cet incendie allum4 par les partisans de 1'U.P.C. qui auraient, semble-t-il
invit6 les habitants a` quitter leurs paillotes, ravagea rapidement le lieu-dit
Komando, soit une trentaine de cases, avant que les pompiers et les pelotons
de gendarmes, accourus immediatedLent, puissent intervenir. On ne deplore
aucune victime.
Les toits en nattes des cases rapprochees de ce village resseri4, sans
voie de penetration, brulaient comme des torches. Le quartier avait'ete
desert6 sans doute sur consignes par l'ensemble de ses habitants, Seuls
une vi!taine d'Africains furent surpris par l'incendie mais purent den'Cenager
sous les flamm`eches leur mobilier.
Le Haut-Commissaire se reedit aussitot sur les lieux ou devaient titre
arretes par anti patrouille surveillant la voie ferree proche, toots suspects
tapis daps les hautes herbes voisines.
Les rumeurs les plus fantaisistes avant circul'e sur 1'Emeute de Douala,
on precise maze le nombre des victimes s''eleve e tine dizaine dont deux -Europeans,
N01. Dol et Zimmerman, une vmgtaine de vfhicules ont ate endommages dont six
incendies.
Au plus fort de 1'emeute 2.000 individus environ y ont prix part sur une
population totale de 100.000 times. Encore s'agissait-il uniquement des 'e-
ments douteux d'origine Bamil'eke et Bassa, surexcitgs par les leaders de
1'U.P.C. qui ont du reste prix la fuite de`s les 26 et 27 mai. Des mandate
d'arret ont ate' lances centre lee principaux responsables. Trois d'entre
eux, parmi lee plus importants, ont deji 'ate arretes.
A DouA1Vr6Ye @&fWe@13@ 4/ l f -99~ finer
Yaounde, a rassemble mardi matin dans le quartier de New-Bell, centre des
'emeutes du 25 mai. les notables. chefs de euartiers et chefs de f4mille,, pour,
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dune part, leur faire le bilan des 6venements des derniers jours daps tout
le Cameroun et, dtautre part, leer demander de contribuer a l'apaisement des
esprits.
Devant 200 auditeurs qui repr6sentaient toute la population de New--Bell,
Mr. Roland Pr6, qutaccompagnait notamment le d?pute Douala 1iianga Bell, a bier
precise que seuls les quelques vrais responsables des troubles seraient 1'objet
de poursuites judiciaires.
Le plan de reformes administratives et dturbanixme deja entrepris serait
poursuivi.
A Ngamb4, pres d'Edea, le president du mouvement de l'Evolution sociale
camerounaise et quelques-uns de ses antis furent agresses $ coups de fusil par
le leader de 1'fJ.P.C. Kingue Abel, actuellement en fuite.
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RADIO P1 SSE, Organe d'Information du Cameroun
Pulished by the Administration, Service, d'Information, Yaounde
Numero 1273, 1 juin 1955
declare le Haut-Commissaire
"de demande a tous, de quelque horizon qu'ils viennent, de ne pas ser
servir des 6vdnements, qui viennent de troubler le Cameroun it des fins poli-
tiques ou personnelles. C'est en dcartant toute preoccupation de ce genre
que nos efforts pour assurer dsfinitevement 11apaisement des esprits seront
lee plus efficaces", diclara notamment ce jour au reprLsentant de 1'A.F.P.,
le Haut-Commissaire Roland Pr's et, poursuivant: "Des maintenant le calme
est d'ailleurs partout revenu dans le Territoire."
A la question lui demandant ce qu'il pensait des rrecents 6venements, le
Haut-Commissaire rgpondit:
"I1 s'est agi en fait d'une tentative d'emeute generalisge, organis'ee
sciemment dans la partie du Territoire o3 11U.P.C. a implants see comitds de
base: Mungo, Douala, Sanaga-Maritime, Yaound4. Cette tentative fut pr6-
parse par une campagne systematique de fausses nouvelles selon lesquelles
1'Administration saccageait lee villages, incendiait lee quartiers africains
et tuait ou blessait lee Camerounais. Cette campagne d'excitation fut d?
velopp6e partout sur lee m&mes themes.
"Avan) d'en venir a cette epreuve de force, nos adversaires communistes
avaient deja essays une campagne d'agitation sociale qui atteignit son point
culminant aver lee deux tentatives de grave des fonctionnaires et des tra-
vailleurs du batiment, cette dernibre destirfee a empecher la conclussion de
conventions collectives et la creation d'un climat social detendu.
"Leurs echecs rgpdtes sur ce plan social devaient lee determiner a tenter
l'aventure de 1'emeute."
Le Haut-Connnissaire pr?cise alors que cette explosion de violence avai
ate tout d'abord machinee pour le passage du ministre de la France d'outre-mer,
male que lee agitateurs reculerent alors devant la volont''e -6clatante manifestge
par l'ensemble de la population de fe'ter l'amitie franco-camerounaisea l'ecca-
sion de 1'inauguration du pont sur le Wouri, grande tape de 1'equipment de
ce pays. L'U.P.C. remit done sea projets a plus tard. Les documents saisis
sur lee e i ~d a a 120~~~D -4~3c`r' [ 9r' 0 ~ ~$~0~~~1- s de
huit jours et declenches a 1'heure voulue par le guet-apens de Mbanga dont un
gendarme eur6p6en et un garde camerounais furent lee premieres victimes.
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ATTACHMENT V
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Constatant alors slue le mal fait au Cameroun letait cependant mondre
que la criminelle determination des meneurs aurait pu le faire craindre,
Le Haut-Commissaire d4clara:
"Nous devons tous conjugeer nos efforts pour faire revenir le calme.
Une partie infime de la population a particip'e aux troubles. Seuls les
dirigeants de 1'U.P.C., les seuls vrais coupables, seront poursuivis.
truant h ceux qui se sont laiss6 simplement egarer par une propaganda de
mensonges et de violences verbales, nous leer tendons la main, car it furent
tromp6s plus clue coupables. Que chacun se souvienne que ce n'est pas dans
la violence que se construit un pays rnais dans l'amour de ses concitoyens
et le respect des personnes.
"Plus que jamais, poursuivit avec force M. Roland Pr?, notre objectif,
comme le ministre Teitgen l'a encore affirm6, est de donner a` tous les
Camerounais la possibilit'e de participer a la gestion des affaires publiques,
de doter le Territoire des institutions de base qui leur permettront de
s'exprimer et de prendre leurs responsabilite`s afire qu'aucune 16nergie no
se laisse s4duire par les violences de langage et les oppositions steriles."
En terminant, is Haut-Commissaire rendit homnmage au sang-froid et au
d6vouement de tous les fonctionnaires du Cameroun, administrateurs et service
d'ordre particuli'~rement. Il dit enfin combien la raison et is calms dont
firent preuve ltensemble des representatrs de la population, parlementaires,
conseillers territoriaux, conseillers municipaux, chefs de quartier, leur
d6termination d'oublier devant ces 6vdnements toutes rivalittes, avaient
contribue A lui faciliter la tache.
STAT
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AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE INFORMATION BULLETIN, 1 June 1955
INCIDENTS IN THE CAMEROON
Disorders Provoked by the U.P.C. Resulted in 20 Deaths and 80 Wounded
DOUALA, June 1 - About 20 dead, of whom 2 were Europeans, 80 wounded,
of whom 3 were Europeans, and many arrests are the results of 5 days of
disorder in the Cameroon.
An incident which occurred Sunday last (May 22) at M'Benga started the
trouble when a gendarmerie patrol was overtaken by numbers of people who
attended a meeting of the U.P.C. (Communist) which was marked by an inflamma-
tory speech of the president of the U.P.C. During the scuffle, a European
gedarme and several African soldiers were seriously wounded. One of them
died as a result of his injuries. This incident was like a trickle of oil
spreading throughout the area known as the "Fertile Crescent", which com-
prises the countries Mongo, Douala, Edea and Yaounde.
Several places became gradually theaters of violent outbreaks, excited
in the villages by committees of the U.P.C. and in the cities by the workers'
syndicates of the C.G.T. Monday night at Douala a meeting of the R.D.A.
was disturbed by partisans of the U.P.C. who transformed the meeting into
an open fight.
But it was Tuesday when disorders of the gravest sort were provoked.
Police posts in Newbell, the African quarter of Douala, were attacked simul-
taneously by rioters armed with sticks and machetes. At the end of the alter-
noon, a prison in the same quarter was attacked. Police, in order to disen-
gage themselves, were obliged to have resort to arms, killing 5 rioters and
wounding many others. A captain of the gendarmerie was wounded by the dis-
charge of a shotgun by a rioter.
During this time in the entire African city of 100,000 inhabitants,
European cars were attacked and stoned. Sixteen cars were burned and their
occupants molested and injured by machetes. Several Europeans were wounded,
2 of them seriously. One of these, M. Dol, died in the hospital.
The rioters were not satisfied with this. The following morning about
a thousand of themq led bthe P tr' et throu h a olice barri-
cade in ord ??p 8'i i4i5 ie 2 4 / B P 41 Oo0 0~ 0WiAich
2 of the rioters were killed and 10 wounded. A curfew was then decreed.
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ATTACJ NT Y
Page 2
Thursday at Yaounde an altercation between shopkeepers was quickly
exploited by agitators who continued to spread alarming rumors provoking
wildly excited groups of people.
The High Commissioner of the Cameroon, then in Douala, in the face of
the wide extension of these troubles called for numerous reinforcements
of troops and gendarmerie, which were brought from F.E.A. by planes belong-
ing to private companies which were requisitioned for the purpose.
Fire at the U.P.C. Headquarters in Douala
On the night of May 29, a fire broke out in the headquarters of the
U.P.C. An inquiry has established that the fire was caused by U.P.C. members.
A fifth of the African quarter of Newbell, where the headquarters were
situated, was destroyed. Two hundred houses were burned before the fire
department could intervene. As soon as the fire broke out in the head-
quarters, the native quarter was deserted and almost all of the inhabitants,
it is believed, were put on notice by members of the U.P.C. Only about 20
Africans were surprised by the fire, but they were able to get out of their
houses before they were completely destroyed. A patrol then guarding the
railroad nearby arrested 3 suspects.
Order is Today Established in Douala and in the Whole of the Cameroon
In Douala and in the Cameroons, order is being restored slowly. Movie
houses have reopened their doors. The streets of the African euarte of
Douala, traditionally lively and colorful, have this morning assumed their
traditional aspect, and no longer does one see wide streets of houses with
their blinds closed and patrolled by military police fully armed. The
functionaries of the Administration can for the first time since the begin-
ning of the incidents circulate individually in these quarters.
All Other Political Parties in the Cameroon Have Disavowed the
Violence of the U.P.C.
It is learned that various elements of the parties "Independants
Camerounais", "Evolution Sociale Camerounaise" (with a tendency toward the
S.F.I.O.), the "Bloc Democratique Camerounais" (the party of M. Aujoulat),
have expressed the desire to form a national front, grouping those parties
together who disavow the violence and systematic anti-European attitude of
the U.P.C.
Origin of the Troubles
In the,~F~~Fras~b(iF~-I~~O#t18#~~$t the
series of eats o ese s ew days in the Cameroon is the result of
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ATTACUMENT V1
Page 3
a campaign of agitation carried on during the past 4 months by the U.P.G.
This agitation was intensified during the recent visit of the Minister of
Overseas Territories from Paris and was scheduled to have reached its height
during the forthcoming visit of the Trusteeship Mission of the U.N. The
U.P.C. and its affiliates -- C.G.T., the Union of Cameroon Women, and the
Democratic Organization of Cameroon Youth -- are organized along the lines
of Communist organizations: they comprise a central political bureau, vil-
lage committees and action committees of syndicates in urban centers. Sixty
committees existed in Newbell, the African quarter of Douala.
It is generally considered that the extension of the campaign of agita-
tion was designed to be a reply to the vast political reform recently under
taken in the territory and capable.of cutting the grass from under the feet
of the principal objectives of the U.P.C.
The High Commissioner, M. Roland PRE, stated to the press that the
organization of rural bodies destined to enlarge popular participation in
local administration, the recent conclusion of a collective bargaining ar-
rangement among those in the building trade, as well as the settlement of
the conflict among local functionaries, has resulted in a weakening of the
position of the U.P.C. This party has tried to play upon the sentiments of
the population, taking as a pretext any occasion to organize meetings and
formulate violent and extreme demands, going so far as to accuse the High
Commissioner and the local administration of "cannibalism."
Gendarmerie and troops are at present spread out in sufficient number
in the territory. The High Commissioner has the situation in hand. It
is believed that several leaders of the U.P.C., notably Ruben NYOM,IE, have
fled and found refuge in Nigeria.
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