security forces in Bamenda. In the trials for the 200, Amnesty International and the SCNC found substantive evidence of admissions through torture and force. The raid and trial resulted in a shutdown of SCNC activities and Fossung taking a low profile. In response to this, in April 1998 a small faction elected Esoka Ndoki Mukete, a high-ranking member of the Social Democratic Front, as the new chair of the SCNC. The decision was opposed by Fossung and the powerful SCNC-North America and the result was paralysis of the organisation. The divisive council remained over much of 1998 and early 1999 until October 1999 when the government found multiple members guilty in the 1997 trial. Although the faction led by Fossung opposed a unilateral declaration of independence, the faction led by Mukete became more assertive. While Mukete was officially travelling abroad, a small group took over Radio Buea and proclaimed the establishment of Southern Cameroons as an independent and legal political force. Mukete's role in the SCNC was reduced and multiple members, including the leadership were arrested. In 2000, the SCNC resolved the leadership dispute by electing Frederick Ebong Alobwede the new chairman and considered him the first President of the Southern Cameroons. 2001−present Repression of the group increased significantly in 2001 when the organisation was declared illegal and clashes with police at a demonstration resulted in multiple deaths. As a result, multiple international offices and branches of the SCNC have opened and engaged in political activities. In 2001, a group of exile-SCNC-members founded a so-called "South Cameroon's Embassy" in the German town of Frankfurt. The group boycotted the 2002 municipal elections in Cameroon and the 2004 presidential election. The government has continued with "arbitrary and unlawful" detention of members, often with mass arrests at peaceful gatherings. In 2006, a faction formally declared the Republic of Ambazonia and a military wing known as the Southern Cameroon Peoples Organization (SCAPO) begun activity. In 2007, this group claimed responsibility for an attack on the Cameroonian military in Bakassi. International recognition remained limited although the group became part of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization in 2006. In 2009, the African Union (AU), with support from Muammar Gaddafi, began considering efforts regarding the SCNC call for independence. However, in late 2009, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights rejected the SCNC's petition and slowed the efforts by the group in the AU. The