A video supposedly showing popular Cameroonian singer Simon Longkana Agno, widely known as Longue Longue, being tortured has sparked widespread outrage in the country.
The artist, known for producing hits about bad governance, colonialism, and other social issues, claimed the video was recorded after his arrest in 2019, but this is the first time it has been made public.
Longue Longue shared it himself, but it remains unclear why it has only surfaced now or how he obtained it.
Cameroonian authorities have not yet commented on the matter.
Caution: This article includes a picture and descriptions of torture
In the video, Longue Longue’s hands are handcuffed behind his back, and he is seated on the ground in his underwear while the soles of his bare feet are struck with a flat machete.
Despite his desperate pleas for the beating to cease, the men, claimed by Longue Longue to be security agents, persist.
The BBC has been unsuccessful in verifying the video. Attempts to reach out to the singer have been futile.
On his Facebook page, he stated that he was arrested for his “freedom of thought” and vowed to file legal complaints in both Cameroon and France.
[Longue Longue]
He was detained in 2019 after posting a video alleging that longtime President Paul Biya had manipulated the 2018 election.
The artist asserted that opposition leader Maurice Kamto of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) was the rightful winner of the polls.
At the time, the Constitutional Council dismissed Kamto’s request for a re-run due to alleged rigging.
The opposition leader is among those who have decried the apparent torture and called for an investigation into the incident.
“The CRM strongly condemns this state barbarity and demands the urgent opening of an inquiry to arrest and promptly bring the perpetrators of these inhuman acts before the courts,” Kamto stated in a release on X.
He added that the video was “reminiscent of the horrific treatment” opposition activists faced during the crackdown in 2019 when hundreds of his supporters were detained.
Renowned Cameroonian human rights lawyer Akere Muna described Longue Longue’s treatment as a “stark reminder of the depths of depravity to which humanity can descend.”
Rights groups have censured the government for fostering an atmosphere of impunity for members of the country’s security forces.
They have also accused the authorities of suppressing dissent in anticipation of next year’s presidential election.
More Cameroon stories from the BBC:
[Getty Images/BBC]
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