Togo protests against Faure Gnassingbé leave seven dead in Lomé
Civic rights groups say at least seven people have been killed during a crackdown on protesters who are calling for Togo's leader, Faure Gnassingbé, to step down and release political prisoners.Reports say dozens more people were injured - some severely.It comes weeks after Gnassingbé - who was president for two decades and whose family has ruled the country for 58 years - was sworn into a new post of President of the Council of Ministers, which has no official term limits.The Togolese government has now threatened legal action against the protest organisers, describing the demonstrations as a "campaign of disinformation and hatred" that was orchestrated from abroad.
Demonstrations have been banned in the West African country since 2022, with the authorities citing "security reasons".Three days of demonstrations by online activists and youth-led movements began in the capital, Lomé, on Thursday, before taking a violent turn on Friday and Saturday.Tear gas was fired by anti-riot police at protesters, who pelted them with stones and other missiles.Some determined anti-government protesters engaged security forces in street battles in several areas considered to be opposition strongholds, including Bè, where police chased demonstrators into their hideouts.A coalition of 23 Togolese civil rights groups - known as the "National Platform for Civic Space and Development Effectiveness" - has asked the authorities to carry out investigations into the bloody police repression.They condemned what they described as "the use of disproportionate force against peaceful demonstrators", adding that "peaceful protest is a fundamental right, recognized both by the Togolese Constitution and by international instruments ratified by our country".By Sunday calm had returned to most of Lomé, with shops reopened at the main central market at Assigamé and businesses operating as usual.The recent change of regime orchestrated by the Togolese leader continues to fuel resentment. In addition to the new post which he can keep for life, constitutional reform in Togo has ended presidential elections, and introduced a parliamentary system.Last month's arrest and psychiatric detention of the Togolese rapper Narcisse Essowè Tchalla, also known as Aamron, acted as a catalyst for public outrage, culminating in over 50 arrests during protests earlier this month. Though most have been released, at least three people remain in custody.
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BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Togo protests against Faure Gnassingbé leave seven dead in Lomé
Civic rights groups say at least seven people have been killed during a crackdown on protesters who are calling for Togo's leader, Faure Gnassingbé, to step down and release political say dozens more people were injured - some comes weeks after Gnassingbé - who was president for two decades and whose family has ruled the country for 58 years - was sworn into a new post of President of the Council of Ministers, which has no official term Togolese government has now threatened legal action against the protest organisers, describing the demonstrations as a "campaign of disinformation and hatred" that was orchestrated from abroad. Demonstrations have been banned in the West African country since 2022, with the authorities citing "security reasons".Three days of demonstrations by online activists and youth-led movements began in the capital, Lomé, on Thursday, before taking a violent turn on Friday and gas was fired by anti-riot police at protesters, who pelted them with stones and other determined anti-government protesters engaged security forces in street battles in several areas considered to be opposition strongholds, including Bè, where police chased demonstrators into their hideouts.A coalition of 23 Togolese civil rights groups - known as the "National Platform for Civic Space and Development Effectiveness" - has asked the authorities to carry out investigations into the bloody police condemned what they described as "the use of disproportionate force against peaceful demonstrators", adding that "peaceful protest is a fundamental right, recognized both by the Togolese Constitution and by international instruments ratified by our country".By Sunday calm had returned to most of Lomé, with shops reopened at the main central market at Assigamé and businesses operating as recent change of regime orchestrated by the Togolese leader continues to fuel resentment. In addition to the new post which he can keep for life, constitutional reform in Togo has ended presidential elections, and introduced a parliamentary month's arrest and psychiatric detention of the Togolese rapper Narcisse Essowè Tchalla, also known as Aamron, acted as a catalyst for public outrage, culminating in over 50 arrests during protests earlier this month. Though most have been released, at least three people remain in custody. You may also be interested in: New post for Togo leader could see him rule for lifeKenya protests are 'coup attempt', says ministerDisbelief as Nigeria urges prayer to end food shortages Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Belarus: After five years in jail, opposition figure Tikhanovsky speaks out
Sergei Tikhanovsky has barely spoken for more than five that time he was held in solitary confinement in a high security Belarusian prison for daring to stand up to a the former opposition blogger is free, and words stream out of him so quickly that his thoughts sometimes struggle to keep up."The restriction on speaking was the hardest thing," Sergei confided when we met in Vilnius very soon after his surprise release."When you can't say or write anything, you can't talk to anyone and you're just trapped in a cell – that's the toughest thing – not the restriction on movement."Sergei is now in enforced exile, freed along with 13 other political prisoners after a senior US delegation paid a rare visit to the authoritarian ruler of Belarus, Alexander I ask about the reunion with his family, Sergei lifts a hand to his face and daughter was only four when he was arrested."She didn't recognise me," he manages eventually, after a long pause. "Then she threw herself into my arms and we hugged for a long time."Sergei's transformation since his arrest is in 2020 he was stocky and bearded. Now the face beneath his close-shaven head is gaunt. He says he's lost almost 60kg (132 pounds) in jail, where he spent endless weeks in punishment cells."Physically I'm half the size and half the weight," Sergei says. "But my spirit is not broken. Maybe it's even stronger.""Before I'd only heard of the crimes of this regime, but now I've seen them first-hand and we have to fight that."Until last week, Sergei Tikhanovsky was one of the most prominent political prisoners in of the 2020 presidential election he developed a big YouTube following by filming candid interviews about people's complaints and he tried to register to run himself, waving a giant slipper and calling on Belarusians to "Stop the Cockroach!"."I was using the chance to show that it's impossible to win democratically in Belarus," Sergei explains. "I wanted to show that the elections are fake, and they arrested me."When his wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, went on to run in his place she attracted huge crowds. After Lukashenko claimed another implausible victory, those crowds became a mass protest which soon became mass arrests. In prison, Sergei was constantly singled out for ill treatment like the other high-profile figures – "the ones they think are most dangerous, or who they want to destroy", as he puts it."For the last two-and-a-half years I was in total isolation. I didn't get a single letter in almost three years. For almost three years they didn't let me have any phone calls," he wasn't even allowed to see a priest."They'd say: you will die in prison. We are going to keep extending your time and you won't get out."To make matters worse, Sergei was frequently sent to a punishment cell - for a mark on the wall or a stray cobweb."Those cells could be three-by-two metres, including a hole in the floor for a toilet," he recalls. "No mattress, no sheet and no pillows."He would get up every hour through the night to keep warm with sets of squats and sit-ups, then lie on the wooden bunk until his arms and legs seized up, and he had to start the exercises all over cope, he had to empty his brain of all thoughts of family and friends."You have to put that to one side," he says. "Because if you think about how they are and what's happening to them, you won't survive."It was last August when Sergei started to think he might be getting when the deputy prosecutor began touring prisons and "seriously recommending" that political detainees "write to the dictator and request his pardon" as Sergei puts was suddenly keen on looking merciful and several dozen were and the other big names, like Viktor Babaryka and Maria Kolesnikova, were never on any he never entertained the idea of confessing, even to get back to his children."I am no criminal," he explains. "So that would be a betrayal of all who support me."Then last week the United States stepped special envoy Keith Kellogg travelled to Minsk to intercede for American citizens in prison, he emerged with Sergei, Lukashenko, the meeting with Kellogg was a big win has been ostracised by Western countries since he suppressed the peaceful protests in active support for Russia in invading Ukraine has isolated him still further."Now Lukashenko could show some co-operation was starting, a dialogue with the US," Sergei says, explaining what Lukashenko got for freeing some prisoners."That was the price: the start of contact with him. Because no-one had been engaging." Sergei wants nothing more than for all the other political prisoners to be released, too. There are more than 1,000 in tears, he describes meeting an "old man" recently who turned out to be a young friend, aged beyond recognition by prison."I'd give anything to get them all out," Sergei says. "I think we should pay any price. But I don't want them to drop all sanctions."Sergei's wife, now the leader of the opposition, is overjoyed to have him back with her and their children. But Svetlana tells me she i's wary of the next US move."We cannot soften the sanctions until repressions fully stop," she argues. "For 14 people released, 28 more were detained immediately in Belarus. For Lukashenko, there is no change in policy."Sergei's first week of freedom has passed in a whirl of activity. He has met politicians, made speeches and written to Donald Trump with his thanks. He has also been catching up on lost time with his children – as well as all the news he has missed in what about his ambitions? The last time he and Svetlana were together she was a housewife and he was the political one. So could there be tensions? "I don't have any claims to her role," Sergei insists. "I don't need that. I just need a democratic Belarus."
Daily Mail
2 days ago
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Iran moves female dissidents to 'hellhole' detention centre after Israeli airstrike on notorious prison
Iran has moved its female prisoners into a 'hellhole' detention centre following an Israeli airstrike on the country's infamous Evin jail. Israel struck Tehran's most notorious jail for political prisoners on Monday, the day before a ceasefire deal was agreed on, bringing an end to a 12-day war. Inmates have now been moved to Qarchak prison, The Telegraph reports, which is a former livestock facility-turned detention camp around 40 miles south of Tehran. Activist groups have frequently raised concerns over Qarchak, which is known for carrying out torture and other human rights violations. There is also no proper sewage system or access to clean water, it is reported. Many women arrested during the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests were locked up in Qarchak, and several are still being held there. One woman described being moved from Evin to Qarchak following the Israeli strike in an audio recording. 'The American and Israeli bombing didn't kill us, but the Islamic Republic has brought us to a place where it's practically killing us,' the woman said. 'They've brought us to a place where humans don't live. It's a gradual death.' The woman also called the detention centre a 'real hellhole' and described being crammed into a small quarantine ward with other inmates where 'the stench of filth' is everywhere and the food inedible. Between 1,500 and 2,000 women are held at Qarchak throughout most of the year. Each hall was designed for fewer than 100 people, but they typically home over 150. The prison is also infested with cockroaches, rats, water bugs and lizards, and medical care is very limited. Despite the lack of adequate healthcare, prisoners are often given tranquilisers. Most inmates at Qarchak are women from marginalised and vulnerable backgrounds, and also holds children up to the age of four with their mothers. Male inmates are understood to have been taken from Evin to Fashafoyeh prison outside the capital following the Israeli strike. The transfer of the inmates to the infamous prison comes as Iranian authorities have launched a wave of arrests following the fragile ceasefire, detaining hundreds on espionage charges, as the weakened government becomes increasingly paranoid. The conditions in Evin prison were also dreadful. The detention centre was known for holding political prisoners of the Islamic Republic, including foreign nationals, such as British citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratclife, who was freed in 2022. Women locked up in Evin prison were 'interrogated for 10 to 12 hours every day' and threatened with beatings and even executions, multiple sources once told the BBC. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe said about her time at Evin: 'I spent nine months in solitary confinement with very little access to anything. Being claustrophobic, solitary was a horrific experience.'
