Governance and human rights Achievements and challenges

The Togolese government is willing to pursue reforms and to engage in dialogue. However, at present the country is still faced with a lack of strong and independent institutions. The fight against widespread corruption remains a challenge as well.

According to its constitution, Togo is a multi-party democracy with separation of powers. However, key decision-making powers lay with the president up until the controversial constitutional amendment in the first half of 2024. Parliamentary and judicial controls are as yet inadequate. The administration of justice is strongly influenced by politics. Moreover, many conflicts are resolved by traditional authorities based on customary law, which contributes to uncertainty about prevailing law.

Corruption and nepotism are widespread. In the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (External link) compiled by the non-governmental organisation Transparency International, Togo ranks 126th out of the 180 countries evaluated. While a legal basis for fighting corruption has been put in place, government authorities currently do not have adequate capacity, due to a lack of both human and financial resources, to enforce compliance with these laws.

Human rights

Overall, the human rights situation has improved significantly since the end of the dictatorship in 2005. However, according to recent reviews, Togo's record on fundamental and civil rights has not been good. For example, there have repeatedly been instances in the past few years in which the government restricted the freedom of the media, and there have been arbitrary arrests of opposition leaders. Human rights organisations have also reported instances of physical abuse in custody.

The 2024 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders ranked Togo in 113th place out of 180 countries evaluated, down from rank 70 in 2023.

In 2022, Togo banned all demonstrations. Initially, the government cited the COVID-19 restrictions as a reason. Later it referred to the state of national emergency that had been declared in response to the increasing risk of extremist violence spilling over from the neighbouring Sahel region. The government has also imposed a media blackout for the country's northern part near the border with Burkina Faso.

A Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (Commission Vérité, Justice et Réconciliation) was set up to investigate human rights violations committed during the period of 1958 to 2005. In 2012, the Commission presented its final report, putting forward comprehensive recommendations on how Togo can come to terms with its violent past. However, only few measures have been launched so far.

Society

Due to a very long period of restrictions under Gnassingbé Eyadéma, the first civil society organisations were not formed until the early 1990s. Today, Togo has numerous initiatives, associations and non-governmental organisations that work on a large number of different issues and are largely free in their activities. However, they, too, are affected by the ban on demonstrations and the restrictions on the freedom of assembly.

Togo start page