Committee to Protect Journalists - Togo

Togo must investigate, discipline security officers

2012-05-14T19:20:17Z

New York, May 14, 2012- Togolese authorities should ensure that security forces allow journalists to do their jobs and that officers involved in acts of abuse are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists stated in a letter to Togo's security minister.

In Togo, police assault journalists, confiscate equipment

2012-04-30T20:06:08Z

New York, April 30, 2012--Togolese police attacked and confiscated the equipment of two journalists filming an anti-government march in the capital, Lomé, on Friday. Civil society activists and human rights advocates had gathered for the demonstration on the occasion of Togo's 52nd Independence Day, local journalists said.

Togolese police assault photojournalist

2012-03-07T20:48:17Z

New York, March 7, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Togo to investigate a report that police assaulted a photojournalist on Friday after he took photos of officers seizing a motorcycle during a protest, according to media reports and local journalists.

Koffi Djidonou Frédéric Attipou, a photojournalist with the weekly Le Canard Indépendant and the biweekly magazine Sika, told CPJ he was covering a protest over government human rights violations when he turned his camera to police confiscating a demonstrator's motorcycle nearby. Togolese police, facing numerous allegations of heavy-handed and abusive tactics, have had a number of recent confrontations with journalists covering their activities, according to news accounts and CPJ research.

News editor threatened repeatedly in Togo

2012-02-15T15:13:49Z

New York, February 15, 2012--A Togolese journalist says he has been threatened repeatedly after conducting reporting for an as-yet-undisclosed story involving a top government official.

Togo bans paper over story on president's half-brother

2010-08-26T21:13:44Z

New York, August 26, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Wednesday's ruling by a criminal court judge in Togo to indefinitely ban the distribution of a Benin newspaper that had raised questions about the alleged involvement of a half-brother of President Faure Gnassingbé in drug trafficking.

CPJ, African groups call for press freedom commitment

2010-07-08T15:20:47Z

Your Excellencies: As you gather in Paris for festivities that celebrate your nations’ 50 years of independence, we, the undersigned African press freedom advocates petition for your public commitment to a free, vibrant, and self-sustaining press as a cornerstone of the development of francophone Africa in the next five decades.

Togolese journalist killed in Angola attack

2010-01-11T21:41:58Z

New York, January 11, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists called today on Angolan authorities to ensure the safety of sports journalists covering the African Nations Cup following the death of a Togolese sports journalist on Friday. Stanislas Ocloo was gunned down in the attack on Togo’s national soccer team’s bus in the northwestern Angolan enclave of Cabinda. Also killed was assistant coach Hamelet Abulo, according to Angola's official ANGOP news agency. As many as three people were killed and nine injured in the strike, CNN reported today.

Attacks on the Press in 2008: Africa Developments

2009-02-10T05:53:00Z

Government bans critical radio journalist from broadcast

2008-02-19T17:00:00Z

Government bans critical radio journalist from broadcast

FEBRUARY 19, 2008
Posted March 10, 2008

Daniel Lawson-Drackey, Nana FMCENSORED

Togo’s Broadcast and Communication High Authority (known by its French acronym, HAAC) summarily banned all editorials and commentary of veteran journalist and media activist Daniel Lawson-Drackey on private station Nana FM, according to local journalists and news reports.

Attacks on the Press 2007: Africa Analysis

2008-02-05T17:10:00Z

When Press Freedom and Democracy Are Out of Step

By Tom Rhodes

Ballots may have replaced bullets in much of Africa since the dawn of this new century, but one of the great political ironies for at least part of the continent has been a loss of press freedom following the voting. Leaders in a large swath of sub-Saharan Africa have drawn approving nods from Western politicians for holding sometimes unprecedented elections. Three such countries are the Gambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Ethiopia. All have democratically elected presidents and Western support. Yet between them they hold the unenviable record of placing at or near the top of CPJ's 2007 list of the world's worst backsliders on press freedom.

Attacks on the Press 2007: Africa Snapshots

2008-02-05T16:59:20Z

Attacks & developments throughout the region

CPJ expresses concern about HAAC's actions

2007-08-31T16:00:00Z

August 31, 2007

Phillipe Evegno
President
High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication
Lomé, Togo
B.P. 8697

Via fax: +228-250-1678

Dear Mr. Evegno,

We are concerned by a growing trend by the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC) to suspend media outlets in Togo, citing violations to journalist ethics as a basis for suppression. Two newspapers, The Republic Courier and The Trumpet, are currently suspended for articles deemed unprofessional and against journalistic ethics by your institution.

In Togo, journalist banned from broadcast over critical commentary

2007-03-01T17:00:00Z

New York, March 1, 2007—The Togolese government on Wednesday indefinitely banned from broadcast veteran journalist and media activist Daniel Lawson-Drackey over a commentary on private radio Nana FM that was critical of a government minister, according to local journalists.

“It’s outrageous that the government is censoring a respected journalist for raising critical questions about an issue of public interest,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. “We call on the Togolese authorities to immediately lift this arbitrary ban on Daniel Lawson-Drackey.”

Attacks on the Press 2006: Africa Snapshots

2007-02-05T16:46:58Z

Attacks & developments throughout the region

Togo suspends radio station, bans analyst over soccer coverage

2007-01-12T17:00:00Z

New York, January 12, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a government decision on Tuesday to suspend a private radio station for 15 days and ban a foreign journalist from the domestic airwaves indefinitely in response to critical coverage of the Togolese soccer association (FTF).

Radio Victoire in the capital, Lomé, remained off the air today after the High Authority for Audiovisual Communications (HAAC) shuttered the station over “professional misconduct,” Editor Etonam Akakpo-Ahianyo told CPJ. Outgoing FTF president, army Col. Rock Gnassimbé, had filed a complaint about the station’s daily soccer talk show, which criticized his leadership during several broadcasts, according to local journalists.