© IRIN
At least 40,000 people fled political violence in Togo surrounding the April 2005 presidential election. Many remain in camps in Ghana and Benin.
LOME, 19 Jan 2007 (IRIN) - More than 100 Togolese have begun lodging complaints with the judiciary so it will investigate violence surrounding presidential elections two years ago that left hundreds dead and triggered the exodus of some 40,000 people to neighbouring Ghana and Benin.
The plaintiffs have united through a collective of Togolese anti-impunity organisations and are seeking redress from security forces, militia members and others, according to the London-based human rights group Amnesty International.
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TOGO: President pledges quick parliamentary polls, but is the country ready?
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© IRIN
President Faure Gnassingbe was sworn in after a disputed election in April
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LOME, 23 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - After being voted into office five months ago amid street violence and claims of electoral fraud, Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe has pledged to hold transparent parliamentary polls as soon as possible.
But even the government admits it will be difficult to first overcome the trauma lingering after last April’s disputed poll, which sent 40,000 people fleeing across the border, few of whom have returned home.
“We have the firm intention of organising legislative elections as soon as possible, but in conditions acceptable to all political actors,” Gnassingbe said this week in a radio interview in New York, where he had been attending his first UN General Assembly as head of state.
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Posted by admin on Friday, September 23 @ 14:45:58 EDT (1885 reads)
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TOGO: Law passed to crack down on child traffickers
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© IRIN
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LOME, 4 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Togo’s parliament this week unanimously passed a law slapping tough punishment on child traffickers, their accomplices and in some cases the parents of victims.
The move comes some two months after the US State Department warned Togo and a handful of other countries to take action against trafficking or face sanctions.
At present there are no legal means to punish traffickers in Togo, according to aid workers in the country.
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Posted by admin on Thursday, August 04 @ 16:03:19 EDT (1749 reads)
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TOGO: UN report says at least 400 people died in political violence
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© IRIN
This Togolese opposition supporter fled his country after the violence that followed April's presidential poll
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LOME, 26 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - Between 400 and 500 people were killed and thousands wounded in Togo during political violence earlier this year and state authorities must shoulder most of the blame, the United Nations said on Monday.
In a long-awaited report, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, referred to "the massive nature and gravity of human rights violations as evidenced by the high number of victims -- between 400 and 500 dead and thousands wounded."
Previous estimates of the death toll had ranged from the Interior Ministry's 69, to Western diplomats saying that more than 100 people had been killed and the Togolese League of Human Rights putting the number of dead at more than 800.
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Posted by admin on Monday, September 26 @ 14:25:47 EDT (1837 reads)
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TOGO: Tough times for dependents of thousands who fled post election violence
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© IRIN
Thousands of young men fled to Benin and Ghana following the April polls
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ATAKPAME, 16 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - Nearly five months after election violence in Togo, thousands of opposition supporters remain exiled in Benin and Ghana, making life difficult for the dependents they left behind.
In this central Togolese town of Atakpame, Father Seraphin Abokitse currently provides food handouts to 550 people struggling to make ends meet since the family breadwinner fled Togo in the violence that followed controversial polls in April.
"We don't talk about displaced people anymore," said Abokitse, explaining that all of the 2,300 people who fled to nearby hills had returned "but there are still 550 people who have been abandoned by their parents or husband to whom we give rice, oil and soap."
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Posted by admin on Friday, September 16 @ 23:07:21 EDT (1688 reads)
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