Loam, Togo – After a great deal of protest in the capital of the West African country, the streets have been cleared, barricades have been cleared and a strange hanging on Togo. But below the surface, anger simrets, security forces are deployed at the main intersection, and many are afraid that the storm is over.
From June 26 to June 26Thousands of people went to Lomi’s streets to protest Constitutional reform These critics say that President Fure Gen Singh enables him to remain in power indefinitely. Years Year Year Leader-1, since 2005, who ruled the Years for 38 years-they have recently been sworn in as the Council of Ministers. It was a powerful executive role with no deadline under the newly adopted parliamentary system.
The protest was rapidly and violently suppressed.
According to local civil society groups, at least four people were killed, injured in a dozen and more than 60 people were arrested. Online moving video shows, showing street chase and men in plaincloths pulls citizens away.
But in one country, political fatigue and fractured opponents broke in the past week.
Dignity
Most observers Constitutional improvement: They indicate a break for generations.
“These young people are not just protesting the new incident,” said Togoli journalist and essayist Pap Koudjo. “They are rejecting 58 -year -old political heritage from the father to the son, who did not bring anything without poverty, suppression and humiliation.”
Most of the protesters were under 25 years of age. Many never knew another leader. They have frequently grew up with blackouts, collapsed infrastructure, unemployment and narrow freedom. Constitutional changes, which removed the deadline from the new executive role and directly eliminated the presidential election, was a red line.
The government tried to control the damage. A high 12.5 percent electricity price – another source of anger – was quickly withdrawn. Activist singer Amaron, whose arrest, was forced to be forced to rag.
But both movements did not create unrest.
“Amaron’s arrest was a trigger,” said Paul Amagakpo, a political analyst and president of the Tambarma Institute for Governance. “But the real story is that this rule has lost the ability to negotiate and institutionalize the crisis. It is completely dependent on military power.”
He pays attention to the sign of insecurity in the state. Former Defense Minister Marguret Gun has a rare statement, protesting the leadership of violence and the leadership of Gn Singh, suggesting that fracture may exist at a higher level of security equipment.
“An organizational zero is zero,” Amonagakpo said. “After two months of transition to the fifth republic, the country does not have a government yet appointed,” he added.
Civil society fills the vacuum
Perhaps saying more than his own protests, he led by him. Not a traditional opposition party, which has been weakened by cooperation and deportation for years, but diesfora, civilian community workers, artists and unknowable citizens.
“Opposition people are over – physically, political and economically,” Kaudjo said. “After the dialogue and betrayal agreement that failed after several decades, young people have entered.”
As the protests grow, after a more organizational sound. Many civilian organizations issued strong statements to demand “unpleasant use of power” and demand for an independent examination of death and disappearance. Although not leading the unity, these groups echo the growing alarm about the government’s response and the incense of the civil space.
The West African Media Foundation warned that other international observers echoed the feeling of free expression in Togo.
Crackdown is part of a large, intuitive system, to the researcher of Amnesty International, Fabian offers.
“What we see is not a different event – this is the beginning of the oppressive architecture,” the offer told Al Jazir. “We have documented the patterns of uncontrollable arrest, beatings, torture and punishment – all now become normal.”
Amnesty says that families are still searching for loved ones at the time of protest. Some did not find information about their whereabouts or legal status.
“This is not just about the protest management. It is about systematic rejection of fundamental rights,” said the Offner.
He further said that the government’s claim that “unauthorized” is an abuse of international law. “The peaceful assembly does not require earlier approval. Whenever it is illegal, it systematically prevents it.”
Amnesty is demanding an independent inquiry into death, public list of detainees and complete transparency from the plaintiffs. But the offer also addressed more uncomfortable truths: international peace.
He said, “Togo has become a diplomatic blind place.” We need more strong, more talkative investments from the African Union, Eco -, UN and Chief Bilateral partners. Their peace increases the cycle of repression. They must speak and work. ”
Even the Catholic bishops of the country, traditionally, warned of the rare statement of “the dangers of suppressed frustration”, and asked for “honest, unanimous and constructive dialogue”.
The unrest of Togo reflects a wide range of West Africa, the observers record, where the youth-led movements are challenging not only on the ballot box but also on the streets, social media and global unity networks.
From the recent crowd in Senegal to the popular uprising at Burkina Faso, young people are known as non -response, outdated or democratic to their agency. In Togo, the protest can be home -made, but they are part of a wide regional pulse demanding responsibility and renewal.
The government has kept your line
“It was not a peaceful assembly – it was an attempt to interfere with the public order,” said Public Service Minister Gilbert Bawara and a senior personality of the Unirious Government Party.
Bawar rejected that security forces systematically abused and “if there are some terrorists, they should be examined on the basis of rumors, not rumors.” He said that the government was open to communication, but only “visible, structured communicators”, not an unknown call from abroad.
He defended the recent constitutional changes and argued that he followed the legal process. “If anyone disagrees, they can petition, they can participate in elections. These are the foundations of democratic society,” Bawara told Al Jazir.
But critics argue that such routes are widely symbolic under the current government. The government party has dominated the institutions, controls security forces, and the opposition has moved aside by arrest, deportation and cooperation, many people see the political sports grounds basically.
Analyst Paul Amagakpo said, “There are democratic forms.” But they are hollow. The rules may exist on paper – elections, assembly, petition – but the power in Togo is not contested at the same foot. It is caught and saved by forced, customer and constitutional engineering. ”
Amagakapo said that the recent tactics of the rule indicate that it is more concentrated on optics than investing.
“The government has announced its own peaceful march on July July,” he said. “But this manifests something deeply: they don’t listen. They are responding to social and political grief by giving PR and per-sponsor.”
The moment of counting
What comes next is uncertain. The protest has been reduced so far, but the heavy presence of security forces and internet recession has constantly showing anxiety.
Analysts have warned that if unrest is spread over Loam or if cracks are wide in security equipment, the country will face a thorough crisis.
“We are still not in a revolutionary situation,” said Amagakpo. “But we are deeply torn. If the government refuses to confess it, the price can be higher than their imagination.”
This message is clear to youths who are leading the protest: they are no longer ready to wait.
“There is a divorce in the generation who knows its rights and knows about the reign stuck in the Survival mode,” Kaudjo said. “Something has changed. It depends on whether it will improve or suppress.”
