Togo
Women and social rights in Togo criticised

afrol News, 6 May - Togo has hit the news for systematic human rights violations in terms of torture and extrajudicial killings. Now, the UN Committee on Human Rights (UNHCHR) also criticises the country for not taking women's rights and social and economic rights seriously. Togo has not been willing to provide information.

Mr. Eibe Riedel, the UN Rapporteur on Togo, on Friday said the Commission on Human Rights had sent a Commission of Inquiry to Togo, and its report said it had found gross and massive violations of human rights there, including instances of torture, rape, and disappeared and murdered persons. 

On Friday, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights reviewed the situation in Togo, in absence of a submitted national report as required by the Committee. The Committee had requested that a government representative be present, but Togo chose not to send anyone. Togo became a State Party to the Covenant in 1984, but has not yet filed its initial report, the UNHCHR reports.

Speaking on subjects of concern, Mr. Riedel said the situation of women in the society was very bad, particularly with relation to education, pension benefits and inheritance.

- There is discrimination on ethnicity, particularly the discrimination between southerners and northerners, Mr. Riedel informed the Committee. "There are ethnic clashes. Trafficking in women and children is a problem. Some children are sold into servitude when they were as young as two years old. There is an alarming increase in the rate of AIDS cases."

The Togolese Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of ethnic group, regional or family origin, sex, religion, social or economic status, or personal, political, or other convictions. International observers however agree that the government does not provide effective redress for discrimination complaints.

According to US governmental sources, discrimination against women and ethnic minorities is a significant problem in Togo. "Members of President Eyadema's Kabye ethnic group and other northern ethnic groups dominate much of the public sector, especially the military," according to a US government report on Togo.

The report also states that women "experience discrimination, especially in education, pension benefits, and inheritance as a consequence of traditional law. A husband legally may restrict his wife's freedom to work or control her earnings." Under traditional law, which applies to the vast majority of women, a wife has no maintenance rights in the event of divorce or separation and no inheritance rights upon the death of her husband. 

According to the UN Rapporteur, there are however "a few positive aspects that can be recognized." One of them was a technical cooperation project that had been started with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to strengthen the rule of law.

Several international human rights organisations in March called on the UNHCHR and the international community to "turn principles into practice" in the case of Togo. The UN earlier in a report had concluded that there was "a situation of systematic violations of human rights in Togo," and the organisations demanded that the UN should act upon its own recommendations.

The Secretary General of Amnesty International, Pierre Sane, especially called on the UN to appoint a Special Rapporteur on Togo and to create a witness protection program. The UN operates with special rapporteurs in several countries where a long history of severe human rights violations are known, but so far not in Togo. The rapporteurs monitor the human rights situation of a country and file annual reports to the UN.

Focus on Togolese human rights abuses have increased over the last years. Although systematic violations are known from the time current President General Gnassingbe Eyadema came to power in a military coup in 1967, the 1998 election (which were supposed to mark the beginning of democratisation) turned attention on Togo. Extrajudicial killings were documented by Amnesty International's 1999 report 'Togo: Rule of Terror', which again initiated UN/OAU investigations, proving Amnesty's allegations. The Togolese government continues to dismiss these charges, but with this independent documentation, human rights groups have been able to the keep pressure up. 

Sources: Based on UNHCHR, US govt., Amnesty and afrol archives

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