REDHAC regains access after 11 months of closure amidst legal battles

After 11 months of closure, the Network of Human Rights Defenders in Central Africa (REDHAC) has finally regained freedom of its premises. The organisation regained freedom of it premises on Monday, October 6, 2025.

The seals affixed since December 2024 were lifted, in accordance with a decision of the Littoral Administrative Court issued on September 17.

The court ruled that the closure of the headquarters, ordered by the prefect of Wouri Sylyac Marie Mvogo, no longer had any legal basis.

Since December 9, 2024, the organisation's offices had remained inaccessible, following a prefectural measure extended indefinitely without a new text.

On the same day, at the Douala-Bonanjo Court of First Instance, proceedings resumed in the case opposing REDHAC and the administration, after several postponements due to the prefect's absence.

According to Alice Nkom, this decision does not repair everything, but it restores faith in justice. "We have suffered an intolerable abuse in a State governed by the rule of law. But today, we prove that peaceful resistance and legal remedies always triumph in the end."

KNews gathered that judicial reports are still to be drawn up to assess the material and symbolic damage caused by this closure, which she describes as a sinister episode. The premises will soon be renovated before the actual resumption of activities.

With the October 12 presidential election just days away, the organisation promises a calm but vigilant participation. Its members intend to resume their missions of training, observation, and defense of public freedoms on the ground.

It should be noted REDHAC was suspended in December 2024 by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, for "illicit financing" and other reasons that were never clearly established.

The organisation had always rejected this accusation, seeing it as a political maneuver to silence it.

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