Source : Météo Sahel Juin 2025

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In Togo, the Haute Autorité de l'Audiovisuel et de la Communication (HAAC) suspended the broadcasting of Radio France Internationale (RFI) and France 24 for three months on Monday June 16, 2025. The French media are accused of repeated breaches of journalistic rigor and disinformation. HAAC attests that "several recent broadcasts have relayed inaccurate, tendentious or even contrary to established facts, undermining the stability of republican institutions and the country's image". The suspension follows media coverage of the crackdown on demonstrations on June 5 and 6. 

The demonstrations denounced the arrest of dissidents, rising electricity prices and constitutional reform. The demonstrations were broken up by the police using tear gas, and resulted in a number of arrests. The Front Touche Pas À Ma Constitution (TPAMC), made up of members of civil society and the opposition, declared that it "condemns in the strongest possible terms the massive and arbitrary arrests carried out on June 5 and 6" and "orders the release of all political detainees".

Violent clashes 

Further mobilizations took place on June 26, 27 and 28. Despite the government's warning of sanctions against any form of "civil disobedience or revolt by the people, a source of disturbance to public order", young people returned to the streets. Small groups of demonstrators blocked streets, burned tires and set up barricades across the capital.

According to Togolese civil society organizations, the demonstrations left seven people dead and dozens injured. However, the authorities have yet to provide any official feedback. They have described the allegations as "unfortunate attempts at recuperation", and state that forensic analyses have established drowning as the cause of death. Further demonstrations are scheduled for Tuesday July 1, the start of campaigning for the municipal elections to be held on July 17.

NGOs warn of the Togolese regime's authoritarian excesses

The Observatory for the Protection of DefendersHuman Rights  es and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) are sounding the alarm over the violence and exactions perpetrated by the forces of law and order⋅. FIDH denounces "excessive and disproportionate use of force". It also highlights certain "procedural flaws" in the arrests made. Arrests and detentions deemed arbitrary were recorded for some fifty demonstrators e⋅⋅ during the events of June 5 and 6. 

For example, the committed rapper Tchala Essowè Narcisse, known as Aamron, who had broadcast comments deemed virulent against President Faure Gnassingbé and incited demonstrations, before being arrested and interned in a psychiatric center for "aggravated depression". According to those close to him, the diagnosis was wrong, and they protested at the irregular incarceration procedure due to the lack of an arrest warrant. The rapper was one of the initiators of the protests in early June. He was finally released on Saturday June 21. 

Meanwhile, on June 17, Amnesty International called on the authorities to investigate allegations of torture. Statements denied by the government, which advocates the legitimate application of the "rule of law" and would condemn any act of abuse if complaints were made. However, testimonies gathered by Amnesty International attest to the contrary. "We were lying on the ground; there were six or seven agents around us. They poured water over us and beat our buttocks with cords", say detained demonstrators. Indeed, for several months now, human rights conditions seem to have been deteriorating in Togo. 

Despite these accusations, the Minister of Territorial Administration declared, following the June 28 demonstrations: "I would like to congratulate our fellow citizens for their good behavior and also the professionalism of our security forces and above all reassure them that the government will take all necessary measures to protect Togolese citizens."

In the light of these recent events, it is appropriate to describe the human rights situation in Togo as worrying. Although the authorities deny any abuses, it is clear that freedoms of expression, press and demonstration have been curtailed in recent months. Despite the sanctions, Togo's young people remain more than mobilized, and support from civil society is widespread. The revision of the Constitution, which is widely contested, has led to sharp tensions between the government and the opposition.