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afrol News, 10 January - As the small, West African dictatorship Togo is approaching national elections, international human rights groups fear political violence and killings again might come to dominate the following months. A "Human Rights Manifesto for Togo" has been launched. The Togolese legislative elections are scheduled for 10 and 22 March 2002, traditionally meaning hard times for human rights in the country. After the results were announced in the June 1998 presidential election, hundreds of people, including members of the military, were killed by the security forces. Corpses were washed up on the beaches of Togo and neighbouring Benin for days afterwards. Arbitrary detentions, torture and ill-treatment followed. Following the contested results of the 1999 boycotted by the opposition, the Togolese authorities, as a result of international pressure, agreed to dissolve the National Assembly and to organise new elections in March 2000. Despite the presence of facilitators from France, Germany, the EU and the Francophonie who have, since 1998, been mediating in the political crisis, obstructions and delays due to political differences have undermined the holding of the ballot. The Commission électorale nationale indépendante (CENI), National Independent Electoral Commission, finally announced in January 2001 that the elections would be held in October. However, in early October the CENI announced another postponement to March 2002. Togo is experiencing one of the roughest human rights climates on the African continent. Some democratic changes were put in place in Togo in the early 1990s as a new constitution, approved in a referendum in 1992, opened the way to political pluralism and a degree of freedom of expression. However, it has so far failed to prevent serious human rights violations from continuing, especially not during the last two elections. Human rights groups therefore are on alert before the March elections. Amnesty International today launched the 'Human Rights Manifesto for Togo' and called on all political parties in Togo to "publicly commit themselves to safeguarding the human rights of all Togolese." Amnesty is however not believed to obtain any response from the ruling party of President Gnassingbé Eyadema, as the human rights group in 1999 had published its report 'Togo: Rule of Terror' - heavily denounced by the government, but followed up by Joint Commission of Inquiry set up by the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Amnesty's popularity rating within the Togolese government has been rather low after that. However, the human rights group today stated, "The conduct of the elections will also have an important impact on Togo's international reputation, including on foreign aid which was suspended in 1993, after elections were marred by irregularities and human rights abuses." The holding of the election indeed earlier was welcomed by the European Union (EU), which last year approved to aid the Togolese government help organising the elections, thus planned for October 2001. According to an earlier statement, "The European Union considers that these elections are vital to the tranquillisation of the political climate in Togo." EU relations with Togo had been tense over the failure to democratise the country and the EU acknowledged the importance of a free election process to the Togo-EU relationship, saying it would mark a step "towards a normalisation of the relations with Togo." Togo's financial cooperation with the EU has been on ice since 1993. As the EU had offered a pro-forma offer to the Togolese government to aid in its election, the formal Togolese application for such support had been welcomed by EU President Romani Prodi last year as "a first step in a process of democratisation in Togo." Thus, any successful elections in Togo could mean that the economically important EU-Togolese relationship could improve. The EU gives considerable development aid and trade facilities to the signatories of the Lomé [Togo's capital] Treaty if they comply with basic demands. Still, the general human rights situation is Togo seems to remain disastrous. According to Amnesty, hundreds of civilians and military personnel have been victims of extrajudicial executions over the last decade. "The suspected perpetrators of these abuses enjoy total impunity. The Togolese government is yet to open an independent, impartial and effective inquiry to shed light on past abuses, especially the massacres of 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1998," Amnesty says. - Torture and ill-treatment continue to be practiced in police custody, prisons, and other places of detention such as military barracks, the human rights group says. "Several detainees have reportedly died as a result of ill-treatment in the past decade. Conditions in many prisons and detention centres are life-threatening and amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment." The Togolese government has repeatedly promised to respect human rights and has signed and ratified a number of international human rights treaties. Yet, international support at this moment seems to depend on how the Togolese March election is carried out - or on how many people die. Sources: Based on afrol archives and Amnesty
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