Amnesty International has urged Thursday for an independent investigation into allegations that security forces in Togo killed, tortured, and kidnapped individuals during a violent crackdown on protests last month.
Togo, ruled for 58 years by leader Faure Gnassingbe and his late father, has recently experienced rare and intense demonstrations in the capital, Lome. Citizens have protested against rising electricity prices, the arrest of government critics, and a constitutional reform seen as tightening Gnassingbe’s grip on power.
According to civil society groups, at least seven people have been killed, dozens wounded, and more than 60 arrested during the unrest. Amnesty International reports having interviewed victims and witnesses who described a series of abuses by security personnel during banned protests in late June.
Witnesses allege that security forces carried out unlawful killings, made arbitrary arrests and detentions, subjected protesters to torture and ill-treatment, and abducted several individuals, said Marceau Sivieude, the group’s interim director for West and Central Africa. He emphasized the urgent need for independent and transparent investigations into these claims.
Amnesty also notes that at least six people remain missing following the protests. The organization condemned the alleged torture of protesters during earlier demonstrations in early June against Gnassingbe, who assumed power in 2005 after his father’s death.
Authorities have dismissed some of the allegations, stating that two bodies found in a lagoon after the protests were drownings. A lawyer representing victims, Darius Atsoo, told Amnesty that the number of detainees linked to the protests remains unknown. As of Monday, at least 31 individuals are still in custody.
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