It's Time for Africa and the Diaspora to Stand Up for Togo

Following the recent violence in Togo, which has resulted in several deaths and many more injuries, Africans Rising has launched a petition urging for ECOWAS to postpone the elections in Togo which are scheduled to take place on December 20. This is latest in the ongoing struggle in Togo, which for the last 51 years has been ruled by a single family.

Given the fact that the regime in Togo has been in power for so long and has committed so many human rights violations, one would expect the international community to be in support of the Togolese people, but the opposite is true. The international community up until this point has either remained silent about this crisis or has sided with the dictatorship. Institutions such as ECOWAS and the African Union have offered little support for the people of Togo, who continue to be brutalized by the Togolese government. 

The Federation of Afrikan Liberation is calling on all African citizens and all Africans in the diaspora to stand in support of the Togolese people, who up until this point have received very little support in their struggle. The dictatorship, however, continues to receive the support of countries such as the United States and France. This is also why we are urging that the United States withdraw its support of the dictatorship in Togo. Those of us who are American citizens would much rather see our tax money going to more productive causes, rather than going towards supporting a regime which beats, tortures, and murders its own citizens. The people of Togo have suffered long enough and this five decades of dictatorial rule must come to an end.