Cameroon says 25 Boko Haram suspects died in custody
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Cameroon acknowledged on Friday that more than two dozen Boko Haram suspects died in custody late last year, but a government spokesman denied the country's army was carrying out regular human rights abuses in its crackdown on the Nigerian Islamic extremist group.
The 25 suspects were found dead in their cell one day after being arrested in December, Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in a press conference Friday evening. They were part of a group of 56 detainees, and the cause of their deaths is still being determined, he said.
"I can already state here that at this stage of investigation, no evidence has been established to corroborate that these persons were deliberately killed," Bakary said.
He added that a senior military official had been removed from his post and was being investigated over the deaths, though he did not identify this person by name.
