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afrol News, 16 August - The government of Togo has issued a statement calling allegations made by Amnesty International "tendentious" and "without a serious basis." The human rights watchdog on Tuesday had denounced "a wave of repression against politicians and journalists" in Togo. Amnesty had demanded the release of Claude Améganvi, President of the Togolese Labour Party and coordinator of the anti-impunity movement 'Which Solution for Togo'. Améganvi was arrested by security forces on 6 August - accused of "diffusion of false news and disrupting law and order" - and is held at the Lomé prison. Other activists of the movement have also been arrested in a push that Amnesty calls "a wave of repression" in a statement released on 13 August. Améganvi was arrested together with the publishing editor of the newspaper 'Nouvel Echo', Julien Ayi, after publishing an article on the private fortune of the Togolese President, Gnassingbé Eyadéma and one of his sons. Also Basile Agboh, editor of the weekly 'Aklekle le Scorpion' was arrested earlier this month after publishing an article about the President's son, Ernest Gnassingbé. The Togolese government says the group was making "tendentious allegations" that were "without a serious basis." According to the official statement, the government had read the "outrageous" Amnesty allegations "with consternation and indignation." According to the government statement, editor Ayi "during his interrogation" had stated that "the untrue document was compiled by Mr. Améganvi ... and they were thus detained for slandering and diffusion of false news." The Head of one the world's poorest states thus had made it on the top-500 list of the world's richest persons, according to the estimates of the US journalists. The Togolese government questioned the methods used by Forbes' investigation team and therefore had urged the national press not to make mention of the findings. The private newspapers were urged to withdraw the "untrue" story. It was further "revealed" that the real force behind the story had been one of Togo's most prominent opposition politicians. According to the government statement, this was "not the first time" Amnesty had "launched unjustified campaigns against Togo." The human rights group also underlines it is spending much time on the small, West African nation. During the last decade, the group has appealed for the release of tens of journalists and launched several campaigns to fight extrajudicial killings, torture, impunity and other human rights violations in Eyadéma's Togo. Togo has been ruled by President General Gnassingbé Eyadema since 1967, when he came to power in a military coup. Although opposition political parties were legalised following widespread protests in 1991, Eyadema and his Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) - strongly backed by the armed forces - have continued to dominate the exercise of political power. According to a US government report, basically all types of human rights violations are frequent in Togo.
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