Overview

• Protesters took to Lomé’s streets between June 26 and 28 to demand President Gnassingbe’s resignation over rising living costs and constitutional reforms that eliminate presidential term limits.
• Human rights and civil society organizations report that security forces made over 60 arrests and used excessive force, including arbitrary detentions, beatings, torture, looting, and property destruction.
• Bodies of seven demonstrators, including minors, were found in Be lagoon, Akodessewa lake, and Nyekonakpoe with rights groups rejecting government claims that the deaths were accidental drownings.
• Dozens more protesters were wounded during the security crackdown, and Amnesty International has denounced alleged torture of detainees.
• Critics warn that the crackdown following President Gnassingbe’s assumption of unlimited presidential powers intensifies fears of democratic backsliding in Togo.