UN human rights office welcomes Togolese report on violence against detainees

The United Nations human rights office today welcomed the release of an independent report in Togo that examines allegations that members of the West African country’s intelligence agency tortured individuals accused of taking part in an attempted coup d’état in 2009.

Togo’s national human rights commission “found that the prisoners were subject to physical and moral violence of an inhuman and degrading nature,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Ms. Shamdasani said the report also recommends that authorities take appropriate action against the perpetrators of the violence, make reparations to the victims, and carry out institutional reform of the national intelligence agency.

“We note the Government’s commitment to implementing the recommendations of this report and encourage them to take all necessary measures to ensure justice and reparation for the victims and to prevent such acts from occurring in the future,” she said. “Detention facilities should be subject to transparent judicial monitoring.

“We also call on the Government to continue to guarantee the independence of the national human rights commission and to ensure that human rights defenders are able to carry out their work without intimidation.”