Opposition members arbitrarily detained

On 27 November, Gerard Yaovi Djossou was arrested in Lomé in traffic by plainclothes gendarmes. He was coming from a meeting with embassies. Brigitte Kafui Adjamagbo – who is also the West-Africa coordinator at the organisation, Women in Law and Development in Africa ( WILDAFF)- returned home following her visit at the SCRIC to see Gerard Yaovi Djossou accompanied by SCRIC agents, who searched her and her house, taking two backpacks containing personal documents, about ten notebooks, a computer and two hard drives.

On 21 April, 16 DMK members were arrested while they opposed the arrest of the opponent Agbéyomé Kodjo the same day. They were found guilty of “rebellion and complicity in rebellion” and sentenced to one year in prison with eight-months suspended. They were released on 25 August.

In February 2020, the Electoral Commission said that President Faure Gnassingbé had received 72% of the vote, compared with about 18% for his opponent Kodjo. Opposition leader Agbéyomé Kodjo has accused the authorities of widespread fraud and contested the re-election of Faure Gnassingbé.