RIGHTS-BENIN: Watchdog Group Confirms Corpses Washed On The Beach

By Ali Idrissou-Toure Reprint | | Print |

Michee Boko and Ali Idrissou-Toure

COTONOU, Jul 22 1999 (IPS) - A confirmation by a leading Beninois rights group that more than 100 dead bodies have been spotted along the coast of Benin and Togo strengthens Amnesty International’s claims of state involvement in the murder of dissidents and army personnel.

The London-based human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, claims in a May report, titled “Togo: State of Terror”, that hundreds of people were summarily executed by the dreaded secret police, during Togo’s presidential election campaign in June 1998.

“Bodies were found on the beaches of Togo and Benin, and corpses were seen floating in the Atlantic Ocean during at least four days off the coast of Benin”, the report alleges.

At the end of a six-week investigation, the League for the Defence of Human Rights of Benin says the bodies have, indeed, been discovered off the Benin coast, validating the accusation which has pitted Amnesty International against the Togolese government.

According to the League, fishermen acknowledged having seen “some 60 corpses being tossed about by the waves.”

“The bodies resembled a troupe of floating sheep. They were clothed only in their underwear”, it says.

“The local community organised many funeral ceremonies required by local customs prior to burying the bodies washed up by the water”, says the League’s chairperson, Julien Togbadja, who supplied photographs to back up their claims of the graves.

“We’ve seen the graves where they were buried; there are many corroborating accounts and some revelations too; there were so many individuals checking things out during our probe that we had no problem confirming Amnesty International’s contentions”, says Togbadja.

The report says the League gathered information in every Beninois village on the Atlantic coast where bodies might have washed up or been seen drifting in the waters nearby. The investigators questioned everyone who might have been able to provide reliable information, it says.

Togbadja, however, acknowledges that the investigation had not been easy, as local people were wary of reprisals and intimidation from Beninois and Togolese authorities, and were not immediately eager to cooperate.

The league says the discovery of the bodies dates back to 1993, a year marked by political crisis in Togo and an influx of Togolese refugees in Benin and to 1998, during the June presidential election.

The Togolese government challenged the Amnesty International report and initiated a lawsuit against its secretary-general, Pierre Sane.

Beninois Defence Minister, Pierre Osho, has also refuted the report, claiming that local Beninois officials have not been made aware of any bodies washed up on their beaches.

The state-run Beninois Commission on Human Rights only mentioned, in its July 6 report, bodies of victims drowning, due to accidents. However, the League argues that some of the bodies were discovered and buried in the presence of local authorities.

Togbadja says Beninois officials have also been invited to Togo, where they were received by head of state Gnassigbe Eyadema. After their discussion, Togbadja claims, the officials denied on Togolese television that bodies had washed up along their coasts “for a sum of 30,000 CFA francs each”.

One US dollar is equal to 550 CFA francs.

The League has demanded to be included in the proposed international commission of inquiry, which will, among its brief, open up the graves and try to match buried objects with the belongings of those washed up on shore.

The commission will also “search the files of the secret police in both Benin and Togo…and do a breakdown of Togolese servicemen. In particular, it will match the number of Togolese army personnel stationed in Lome before and after the 1998 presidential elections.”