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Meanwhile Amnesty International (AI) said at a news conference in Paris on Tuesday that it had decided to intensify its campaign against impunity in Togo. "It is time that those responsible for human rights violations be brought to justice," AI said.
It added in a news release that "hundreds of extrajudicial executions and other human rights violations have been carried out in Togo but until today these crimes have been left unpunished by the Togolese authorities." It asked the French government to demand that Lome end reprisals against
and harassment of human rights defenders.
It also urged countries that have ratified the UN convention against torture to "bring to justice members of the Togolese regime suspected of crimes of torture and disappearances" who are present on their territory.
It also called on the Togolese exile community to compile information and lodge complaints against those responsible for human rights violations.
AI published a report in early May which accused Togo's government of hundreds of political killings, disappearances and torture during the 1998 elections. The government denied the allegations and said it would sue the human rights organisation.
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