Togo protest turns bloody, 7 killed

 

 Togo opposition leader told a press conference, Saturday night, that police fired into the crowd as they demonstrated against the ruling party. Tikpi Atchadam, President of the Togolese Pan African National Party said, “Police shot and killed seven … </s> LOME (Reuters) - Two protesters were killed and 13 others wounded in Togo on Saturday when security forces opened fire to break up demonstrations against the ruling Gnassingbe family dynasty, the security ministry said.

President Faure Gnassingbe has been in power in the West African country since the death in 2005 of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who had been at the helm for 38 years.

Wearing the red colors of the opposition PNP party, chanting and singing “50 years is too long!”, thousands of demonstrators in the capital Lome called for the reinstatement of the constitution limiting terms that Eyadema introduced in response to protests in 1992.

Security forces fired tear gas to disperse them.

But in a parallel protest in Sokode, 210 miles (338 km) north of the capital, clashes erupted and Togolese forces used live bullets.

The security ministry said that apart from the casualties among protesters 12 gendarmes had also been wounded.

“We do not understand our little Togo,” said demonstrator Ali Boukari. “The father Eyadema was in power for 38 years, his son will soon have done 15 years. All we are demanding is a term limit and they shoot (tear gas) at us.”

The 1992 constitution brought in notional multi-party democracy after decades of dictatorship, and limited presidential terms to two, but ten years later lawmakers amended it to enable Eyadema to run for another term - a common pattern in Africa.

Then, when he died, the military effectively tore up the constitution by installing his son as interim president, instead of the head of the national assembly, as was legally required.

The protests that followed Faure Gnassingbe’s first election victory in 2005 triggered a violent security crackdown in which around 500 people were killed.

“We are protesting against the arbitrary nature of governance and denial of freedom to assemble,” PNP leader Tikpi Atchadam said. </s> Togo’s Security forces are still trying to quell anti-Gnassingbe protests that erupted in the capital Lome, Saturday, with parallel demonstrations in Sokode, Togo, and Ghana’s capital Accra.

So far two protesters have been reported killed and 13 others wounded after the security forces opened fire to break up demonstrations against the ruling Gnassingbe family dynasty.

The demonstrators are demanding the country’s return to its 1992 Constitution which allowed multi-party democracy with a limited Presidential term of office; as many of them sang and chanted “50 years is too long”.

They also accuse the President of superintending over corruption in the country.

President Faure Gnassingbe has been in power since 2005 when his father, Eyadema Gnassingbe, died. His father had ruled the country for 38 years.

But the demonstrators say they are demanding “good elections with real results”, according to Civil Society member and Coordinator of the National Platform for Social Universities, Prof. David Dosseh.

Though the demonstrations were started by the main opposition PNP, CAP 2015, a coalition of five smaller opposition parties, and another coalition of six other smaller opposition parties, have both expressed support for the demonstrations.

“The military is said to have been deployed with many checkpoints erected following this support in fears that the demonstration may escalate in the coming hours”, Prof Dosseh said.

President Faure Gnassingbe is however yet to speak on the demonstrations and the killings. </s> Ho, Aug. 20, GNA - Nine persons, two civilians and seven security personnel are reported to have lost their lives in fresh political protests at Atakpame-Sokode in the Republic of Togo on Saturday.

The security clashed with hundreds of civilians demonstrating against changes in the Togolese Constitution, which they claim allowed presidents to remain in power 'forever' until voted out.

Two civilians were earlier shot dead allegedly in an attempt by the security to dispel the demonstrators.

The civilians reacted by burning security vehicles and killing seven security men.

Sources close to the Border Security Committee (BODSEC) told the Ghana News Agency that some demonstrators were picked by the police for questioning.

Similar protests took place worldwide, with demonstrators calling for the country to go back to its 1992 Constitution, which gave presidents two terms of four years to be in office.

Meanwhile, the country's main frontier, Lome-Aflao Border remains opened with no disruption in socioeconomic activities. </s> At least two people taking part in protests in the southwestern Iranian town of Izeh, 450 kilometers southeast of Tehran, were killed overnight, a local MP told ILNA news agency. This brings to at least four the number of fatalities in the ongoing protests. Thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators have taken to the streets across Iran since Thursday. The anti-government protests were prompted mostly by discontent over economic hardship and alleged corruption. </s> A non-governmental rights group in Nicaragua says it has confirmed that 63 people died during days of protests over social security changes that convulsed the country last week.

The Permanent Commission on Human Rights adds that at least 15 other people are missing. Director Marcos Carmona accused authorities Thursday of "a massacre" against student protesters and the Nicaraguan people.

The government did not immediately confirm, deny or otherwise comment on Thursday's report. Its most recent official death toll of 12 was announced Monday.

The rights group said it has also counted over 160 people wounded by gunfire, including nine who lost an eye and two who were left paralyzed.

President Daniel Ortega's government has scrapped the overhaul that sparked the protests and agreed to talks with different sectors of society. </s> (CNN) Dozens of people were killed and many others were injured when armed men attacked two villages in central Mali, the government said Tuesday.

In what the authorities are calling a "terrorist" incident, gunmen attacked the villages of Gangafani and Yoro in the Mopti region of Mali near the border with Burkina Faso, killing at least 38 people, according to an early government estimate.

The government responded to the Monday attack by sending a military unit to the area to investigate the incident and track down the perpetrators.

In a separate attack, a military patrol was ambushed by armed men in Banguimalam, according to the government statement. </s> Organizers of anti-government marches in Congo say security forces shot dead at least four people and wounded dozens more in Sunday’s nationwide protest against President Joseph Kabila’s extended rule.

The Lay Coordination Committee on Monday announced that people were killed in Kinshasa, Mbandaka and Kisangani. Church organizations have been staging demonstrations against long-delayed elections, and the international community has criticized Congolese security forces for violent crackdowns on the protests.

Kabila was meant to leave office in December 2016 but elections have been repeatedly postponed. Congo’s government now says the vote will be in December.

The United Nations mission in Congo says 47 people were wounded in Sunday’s protests and more than 100 were arrested. It calls on Congolese authorities to carry out credible investigations. </s> Anti-government protests in Haiti have brought thousands to streets and left nine dead and dozens injured this week.

Demonstrators, angry over rising prices and corruption, have demanded that President Jovenel Moise set down.

Protesters have attacked the presidential palace and attempted to block road access to the airport, and, despite calls from the international community for a dialogue, the violence and crisis seem to be escalating.

Al Jazeera’s Manuel Rapalo is in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Two people are killed and 13 wounded during an anti-government protests in Togo.