The Foreign Service Journal, October 2022

20 OCTOBER 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL not taken any strong action to secure Mr. Marafa’s release. Because Mr. Marafa’s health has dete- riorated significantly during his decade- plus in prison, the case for his release is ever more urgent. Now in old age, he survived COVID-19 (unvaccinated) while in detention last year. He has gone almost completely blind, suffers from a serious heart condition, and desperately needs medical treatment unavailable in Cameroon. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has written many times lately, requesting the government of Cameroon “to provide Mr. Marafa with immediate access to the adequate and specialised medical care that may be required to preserve his sight.” So far, this call has not been heeded. Mr. Marafa has repeatedly said that he would be willing to go into exile abroad to obtain that treatment, implicitly abandoning any future political role at home. Marafa Hamidou Yaya. POSTWATCHMAGAZINE.COM Power Politics While Mr. Marafa was accused of cor- ruption, his only real crime was having told me, in confidence in 2006, that he “might be interested” in seeking Cam- eroon’s presidency one day, if ever the incumbent president, Paul Biya, were to leave office. My political section, then ably headed by current Ottawa Deputy Chief of Mission Katherine Brucker, naturally reported his comment in a periodic piece speculating on succession scenarios in a post-Biya era. Once that cable to Washington was released by WikiLeaks in 2010, Mr. Mara- fa’s revelation immediately became front- page news in Cameroon. This led directly to his arrest, and then to a classic “show trial” the following year. In Cameroon, where the near-nonagenarian Biya just marked 40 years in power, the whole suc- cession question is sensitive enough that Mr. Marafa’s otherwise unremarkable comment about possible higher politi- cal ambition deeply rattled the country’s delicate tribal and political balance. Evidently, Biya’s coterie of mostly southern, Christian supporters from the Beti tribe felt sufficiently threatened by the prospect of Mr. Marafa becoming president that they decided to sideline him permanently, and manipulated the country’s judicial system to do just that. Mr. Marafa is a northern Muslim, like the country’s only other president since independence, Ahmadou Ahidjo. After 40 years of political advantage under Biya, little bothers privileged southern- ers more than the thought of a north- erner regaining power. WikiLeaks happened on the Obama- Biden administration’s watch. Many officials in the current administration were serving in senior government posi- tions at the time and remain well aware of Mr. Marafa’s unjust incarceration. Thus, they should not need reminding of our government’s enduring responsibility to protect those harmed by this massive failure to protect confidences shared with us in good faith. Nonetheless, they have not taken action; nor have they even shown the intellectual curiosity to seek to find out how many other “Marafas” are out there, across the globe. Indeed, when I invited the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) to help gather the facts around this issue, they declined on the basis that WikiLeaks was “not an intel issue.” Basic Decency at Stake I continue to believe that basic American decency and a sense of loyalty and fair play compel us to pursue his case, and all others like it, until justice is truly served. Not only is it the right thing to do; it also would demonstrate to our friends and collaborators around the world—including many who were sufficiently shaken by WikiLeaks that they pointedly ceased even speaking to American diplomats—that, even after something as stupidly tragic as WikiLeaks is allowed to occur, America will live up to our responsibilities to friends affected by our mistakes. Additionally, I fear that the United States is losing the global public opinion battle around WikiLeaks. With Assange’s impending extradition and prosecution, now is the time to launch a far stronger effort to explain why this case matters, and why we are taking it so seriously. Specious arguments positing that he is a legitimate journalist standing up for press freedom and transparency sadly resonate with far too many global citizens, few of whom have an inkling of the harm done to Marafa and others like him. No doubt other friends who confided in the U.S. have met similar or worse