A very serious human tragedy is taking place right in front of us, again in Africa, and as usual the United States, the European Union, and the rest of world are too preoccupied with other problems of greater interests to their national and corporate needs to the point that it gives green light to the military regime in Togo to commit heinous crime with complete impunity. The military in Togo is used to this situation. They will kill, human rights organization will denounce it and the world will forget it after few days. This has been the sad reality of the people of Togo for nearly forty years.
Since the death of the dictator GNASSINGBE EYADEMA on February 5, 2005, the international community has shown little if no interest to the welfare of the people of Togo even when too many flags were raised by actors and observers of the Togolese political life to point out that the lack of political consensus and the non respect of minimal democratic standards would be dangerously inadequate and counter productive to what it would require to ensure that Togo finally takes the path of democratization.
The only acceptable successful solution is one that permits the sovereign people of Togo to freely choose their own leaders through just and fair elections.
In the twenty first century, no country or civilized society should accept a twisted electoral process that holds hostage the very essence of democracy, liberty and the rules of laws.
So far, all lawful modes of expressing legitimate claims have been unjustly refused to the people of Togo, and we are now faced with a situation of accepting le fait accompli or to challenge the infamy that some unprincipled and corrupt order wants to impose upon us. ECOWAS and others are now calling for moderation. For many decades, we have heard such litany on moderation, but what have been the fruits of moderation in Togo?
It is time for the vibrant people of Togo to raise questions about their struggle. There is no doubt that we should and must continue to fight against the undemocratic order in Togo. Any other solutions would abdicate the principle and value of our aim. The real question is what form our struggle should take? The people of Togo and the democratic opposition should always bear in mind these words from Albert Camus that "the nobility of our calling will always be rooted in two commitments difficult to observe: refusal to lie about what we know, and resistance to oppression."
Today just like yesterday in Rwanda; the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Japan, and others watch silent as the military and para-military squads killed, raped, tortured, terrorized, and forced into exile Togolese citizens.
Today, just like yesterday in Nazi Germany, the world choose to ignore the human suffering of its members in complete disregard to every moral obligation in favor of futile and egoist motives.
It is clearly evident that the "Never Again" proclaimed by the international community following the Shoah and the Rwanda tragedy is nothing but pure hypocrisy. We would have hoped that the international community learned its lesson trading political stability against respect of human rights, freedom, rules of law and democracy.
Let us remember if need be that it was these types of unprincipled, undemocratic and unconstitutional obstructions and manipulation that led to the civil war and chaos in the Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Burundi, RDC and other places.
This scenario will become a bitter reality in Togo if the international community continues to go AWOL when signs of calamity loom open.
Democracy in Togo will not bloom from carefully worded political statements of protest or call for reconciliation but only from clearly articulated actions to implement a strategy for real democratic elections in Togo.
The world must act now to end the threat of civil war and another human tragedy in Togo.
No national, economic, political, or imperial interests outweigh the humanity of the people of Togo to live in peace with freely chosen leadership, and acting now is in the most fundamental security interests of every democratic nation in the world.
In a double dose of hypocrisy, President Olusegun Obasanjo publicly acknowledged in Paris on May 26, 2005 that "the Togolese constitution of today is not democratic, not even the electoral code. These texts must be modified in a consensual manner in order to make them democratic. We must also find ways to form a real national army." I am certain that President Obasanjo did not just come to such conclusion now. He knew this before the elections and say nothing just like a coward.
It is these principles that the Togolese people have been defending for years and even knowing this before-hand, the conduct of ECOWAS, AU, EU, UN and USA with respect to the Togo crisis is appalling, abhorrent and unconscionable. They all knew before the election that the Togolese constitution, the electoral code, the constitutional court and the election commission bear no elements of democratic institution. As long as African leaders would not stand for moral clarity and just principles, we may not achieve long term development and political advancement in Africa.
Unfortunately, a government of national unity would do nothing to address the seriousness of the Togolese crisis if a national dialog monitored by the United States, European Union, African Union and the UN Security Council does not take place in Togo. Previous such governments have not solved the crisis in Togo or elsewhere in Africa.
If we accept a course of weakness and drift, we will put Togo’s future and development back to the Stone Age. The consequence of such inequity will by itself have a seriously aggravating effect, and its impact could not be predicted.
USA, March 28, 2005
By Lionel Akpabie
