HUMAN RIGHTS-TOGO: Bodies Wash Up On Beaches

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

LOME, May 27 1999 (IPS) - Photographs of bodies washed up on beaches and on the banks of a lagoon in Lome between May 13-17 have appeared in several independent Togolese newspapers.

“Reporter des Temps Nouveaux”, a weekly, showed in its May 21 edition the bloodied body of a young woman washed up on the beach in the middle of Lome. The body of a man and a woman were fished out of a lagoon west of the capital.

The daily paper “Crocodile” also ran photographs of the bodies. State-run media have, however, remained mum on the issue.

The publication of the photographs have made people in Lome even more nervous than usual, especially after the London-based, non-governmental organisation, ‘Amnesty International’ published a report questioning the role of Togo’s government in the disappearance of hundreds of individuals.

The report, titled “Togo: State of Terror”, issued on May 5, details hundreds of illegal executions during and after the June 1998 presidential campaign.

According to the report, corpses were seen floating on the high seas and were found on the beaches of Togo and neighbouring Benin for at least four days.

The Togolese government, which has denied the charges, has arrested three human rights activists who it claims supplied Amnesty International false information.

A coalition of opposition parties and trade union leaders organised a demonstration on May 21, which drew thousands of Togolese to the streets to demand the unconditional release of the three ‘prisoners of conscience’, arrested after publication of the Amnesty International report.

The coalition, in a press statement distributed in Togo, demanded the establishment of an international inquiry commission to investigate the allegations of human rights abuse in Togo.

Amnesty International has also demanded the release of the three human rights activists.

“We demand the immediate release of these individuals, as well as formal reassurance to the safety of all human rights activists in Togo”, the organisation declared.

The Togolese government has described Amnesty International’s report as “a web of lies”. As a result, an Amnesty International delegation, which included its secretary general, Pierre Sane, was denied entry into Togo after travelling from Accra, Ghana to the Togolese border.

The Secretary of State in Charge of Security arrived at the border to inform the members of the group they were not welcome in Togo. Sane and his party, who all had valid entry visas, were supposed to have had a meeting with Togo’s head of state, Gnassingbe Eyadema.

Unconfirmed reports say the Togolese government prefers to resolve its differences with Amnesty International in court. A contingent of lawyers is being assembled to defend the Togolese government against the group, according to sources close to the president.