ABIDJAN: Amnesty International called Thursday for an independent investigation into allegations that Togo’s security forces killed, tortured and kidnapped people in a violent crackdown on anti-government protests last month.
Ruled for 58 years by leader Faure Gnassingbe and his late father, Togo has been rocked in recent weeks by rare protests in the capital, Lome, against electricity price hikes, arrests of government critics and a constitutional reform consolidating Gnassingbe’s grip on power.
At least seven people have been killed, dozens wounded and more than 60 arrested, according to civil society groups.
Amnesty International said it had interviewed victims and witnesses who described a series of abuses by security forces at banned protests in late June.
According to witnesses, “men identified as security forces carried out unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, acts of torture and other ill-treatment, and several cases of abduction,” said Marceau Sivieude, the rights group’s interim director for west and central Africa.
“These cases must be independently and transparently investigated as a matter of urgency,” he said in a statement.
At least six people are still reported missing after the protests, said Amnesty, which also condemned the alleged torture of protesters at another series of demonstrations in early June against Gnassingbe, 59, who took power in 2005 after the death of his father.
Authorities said Sunday that two bodies found in a lagoon after the protests were victims of drownings.
A lawyer for victims, Darius Atsoo, told the rights group the number of people detained in connection with the protests was unknown.
As of Monday, at least 31 were still in custody, he said.
