CIVICUS discusses protests for democracy with a Togolese human rights defender who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Young Togolese people have taken part in unprecedented protests against President Faure Gnassingbé’s constitutional manoeuvring to extend his family’s 58-year dynastic rule. The arrest of rapper Aamron sparked the 6 June Movement, mobilising a generation that has never known democracy but refuses to accept authoritarian control. Despite brutal repression, the youth-led campaign has grown into a broader civic movement demanding genuine democratic change. International pressure and regional intervention could prove crucial in determining whether protests mark the beginning of Togo’s democratic transition or another episode of repressed dissent.

What’s the political situation in Togo?

We are currently experiencing political deadlock and a seizure of power. In March 2024, the constitution was unilaterally amended without a popular referendum, despite a referendum being required by law. As a result, Togo transitioned from its Fourth to its Fifth Republic. This enabled the government to circumvent presidential term limits enshrined in the 1992 Constitution, a provision that was achieved following large-scale popular mobilisation.

Under the new constitution, all prerogatives were transferred to the President of the Council, who now holds executive, legislative and even some judicial powers. Meanwhile, the President of the Republic has become a merely ceremonial figure. This is a covert means for our longstanding leader, Faure Gnassingbé, to remain in power after serving as president for 20 years, despite people having long called for a change at the top.

The amendments were passed without any meaningful public debate or regard for procedures. The lawmakers who voted for them were at the end of their terms of office and lacked the legitimacy to determine the country’s future. People discovered overnight they were living under a new republic without having been consulted.

Today, more than three months after Faure was sworn in as President of the Council, there is still no government in place. This shows the depth of the institutional crisis we’re in. People feel betrayed and deprived of their fundamental democratic rights.

Why did you mobilise?

We took to the streets because we are tired of being treated like idiots. We wake up one morning and are told that the country has become a Fifth Republic, as if Togo were a private shop. No referendum, no consultation, just a small group of lawmakers reaching the end of their term who decided, in the middle of the night, to change the constitution so Faure could remain in power for life. It was a constitutional coup disguised as reform.

For 20 years, we were promised improvements. But what we’re seeing today is poverty wages of under US$100 a month amid skyrocketing prices. We are left to starve while a handful of people continue to monopolise all the wealth. Even official investigations have shown that dignitaries have stolen public money, and instead of being punished, they are promoted.

Then there was the Aamron affair. Aamron is a rapper who simply told the truth: that people are hungry. In retaliation, over 50 security officers came to his home, arrested him, shaved his head, tortured him and locked him up in a psychiatric hospital, claiming he was crazy. This is how they treat those who dare speak out. This kind of abuse is what set the powder keg alight.

The diaspora called for protests to be held on 6 June, Faure’s birthday, and then on 26, 27 and 28 June. Hundreds of people came out despite being afraid, and repression was brutal: seven dead, including a 15-year-old boy who had just graduated, several people disappeared and over 80 arrests. Togolese people will never forget this.

The protests continue because we refuse to be silenced and we refuse to starve while our future is stolen from us. The regime wants to crush us, but we no longer want to live on our knees.

What are your main demands?

Our demands are clear: a return to the 1992 Constitution, respect for presidential term limits and an end to coups disguised as reforms. We demand accountability for the crimes committed, including deaths, disappearances, arbitrary arrests and torture such as that inflicted on Aamron. Those who order such atrocities must be brought to justice, not promoted to higher positions.

We also want tangible measures to make life bearable again. With a minimum wage of under US$100 a month, people are being left to starve. Meanwhile, millions are flowing into the pockets of the regime’s dignitaries. We demand an effective fight against corruption, the publication of anti-corruption institution reports and legal proceedings against those who plunder the state.

We demand respect for fundamental rights: freedom of assembly, press freedom, trade union rights and the right to vote for people in the diaspora. We are not taking to the streets for fun, but because everything else has been taken away from us. Unless these demands are taken seriously, people’s anger will continue to grow.

What role do you expect the international community and regional organisations to play?

The first thing we expect is for them to break their complicit silence. The African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and some international partners are turning a blind eye. They are fully aware of the situation in Togo: the deaths, disappearances, torture and violations of the constitution. Yet they are doing nothing. Their silence is killing people because it gives the regime the freedom to continue its abuses with impunity.

We demand that ECOWAS apply its own rules. It has a protocol on democracy and good governance that prohibits unconstitutional changes. So why impose sanctions on some countries after military coups but allow a constitutional coup in Togo go unpunished? This double standard is unacceptable. We demand the Togolese state is held accountable, violations are publicly condemned and sanctions are imposed targeting leaders and their accomplices, not the public.

The African Union and the United Nations must also stop hiding behind empty rhetoric. They must send missions, demand accountability, protect human rights defenders and closely monitor repression. International donors such as the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank must make their aid conditional upon tangible progress in transparency, good governance and respect for human rights. They cannot continue to finance a regime that starves its people and tramples on their freedoms.

Finally, we call for solidarity from civil society around the world. When Togolese activists cry out, their voices are all too often stifled. However, if their voices resonate everywhere, those in power will no longer be able to ignore them. Nothing will change as long as the interests of the powerful remain untouched.