Repression of Gen Z in Togo: 48 activists must be urgently released

Lomé–Geneva, October 22, 2025: Since June 5, 2025, at least 133 young Togolese activists who have spoken out or gathered peacefully to voice civic demands have been arbitrarily arrested - 48 of whom remain in detention. Twenty national and international civil society organizations are now calling for their immediate and unconditional release and expressing deep concern over the closing civic space in Togo since the establishment of the Fifth Republic.

Officially enacted on May 3, 2025, the Fifth Republic allowed Faure Gnassingbé, the former President of the Republic who completed his fourth five-year term on that same day, to become “President of the Council of Ministers,” a position with no term or power limits. Protests against this regime change by the opposition and civil society have been silenced through a ban on demonstrations, as well as intimidation and detention of those who dared to speak out. The incommunicado detention and acts of torture inflicted on engaged artist and cyberactivist “Aamron” on May 28, 2025, in retaliation for his criticism of the government on social media, marked the beginning of a youth-led uprising for social justice and dignity in Togo.

On June 5-6 and again on June 26-28, 2025, hundreds of young Togolese took to the streets to express their discontent. These peaceful demonstrations were met with brutal repression, the OMCT Africa Litigators Group recorded at least five extrajudicial executions, 21 cases of torture, and 105 arbitrary arrests - 18 of which led to 12-month prison sentences (with 11 months suspended), reviving painful memories of the bloody crackdown on the 2017 protests in Togo.

Since these events, Togolese authorities have focused on preventing and punishing any form of dissent, particularly from Generation Z: restrictions on social media access and internet connectivity, criminalization of “likes” on online platforms by the Prosecutor près le Tribunal de Grande instance (despite the Togolese Penal Code providing no legal basis for this), bans and violent repression of attempted protests, and targeted hunts for young activists, including through infiltration of their relatives’ WhatsApp accounts. The twenty signatory organizations have documented at least 133 short-term enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests of activists since the beginning of the demonstrations up to the date of this statement, in addition to daily judicial harassment, threats, and intimidation. Illegal arrest methods have included failure to present a warrant or provide reasons for arrest. Several activists reported being subjected to torture and ill-treatment - including sexual violence - during custody, being denied access to medical care and visits from lawyers and family, and being prevented from notifying their relatives of their detention.

Despite repeated condemnations from civil society and United Nations special procedures since the start of the year, the Togolese government has taken no steps to release arbitrarily detained defenders, to open independent investigations into rights violations, to respond to citizens’ social demands, or to ensure their free participation in the social, economic, and political life of the country, all essential to peace and democracy, as Mr. Faure Gnassingbé himself stated at the Lomé Peace and Security Forum II.

The signatory organizations therefore firmly condemn the criminalization of young activists and demand their immediate and unconditional release, in accordance with Togo’s national, regional, and international obligations regarding freedom of expression and assembly, in particular Articles 5 and 9 of the annex to the new Togolese Constitution, Articles 9 and 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Articles 19 and 22 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Signatories: 

• Organisation mondiale contre la torture (OMCT), dans le cadre de l’Observatoire pour la protection des défenseur·e·s des droits humains 
• Fédération internationale pour les droits humains (FIDH), dans le cadre de l’Observatoire pour la protection des défenseur·e·s des droits humains
• Synergie des Élèves et Étudiants du Togo (SEET)
• Katutu civil rights center
• International Rehabilitation Council for Torture victims (IRCT)
• Tournons La Page Togo (TLP Togo)
• Front Citoyen Togo Debout
• Novation Internationale
• Centre de Documentation et de Formation sur les Droits de l’Homme (CDFDH)
•  ACAT Togo
•  Coalition Togolaise des Défenseurs des Droits Humains (CTDDH)
•  Institut des Médias pour la Démocratie et les Droits de l’Homme (IM2DH)
•  Front Line Defenders (FLD)
•  Ligue Ivoirienne des Droits de l’Homme (LIDHO)
•  Réseau Ouest Africain des Défenseurs des Droits Humains (ROADDH/WAHRDN)
•  Tournons La Page (TLP)
•  Tournons La Page Bénin (TLP Bénin)
•  Justice pour les prisonniers politiques et les prisonniers de liberté publiques (JPP/JPLP)
• Ligue Togolaise des Droits de l’Homme (LTDH)
• Tchala Lao-Dja Songdou Kibalo (frère d’Aamron)