CIVICUS discusses protests for democracy with a Togolese human rights defender who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
Young Togolese people have taken part in unprecedented protests against President Faure Gnassingbé’s constitutional manoeuvring to extend his family’s 58-year dynastic rule. The arrest of rapper Aamron sparked the 6 June Movement, mobilising a generation that has never known democracy but refuses to accept authoritarian control. Despite brutal repression, the youth-led campaign has grown into a broader civic movement demanding genuine democratic change. International pressure and regional intervention could prove crucial in determining whether protests mark the beginning of Togo’s democratic transition or another episode of repressed dissent.