While Kpatcha Gnassingbé, the half-brother of the Togolese head of state, was evacuated from the country for health reasons, after 13 years of detention for endangering state security, observers wonder about the consequences . Beyond the humanitarian and family gesture, some wonder if the act could have a political extension and direct Lomé towards more democracy.
The health of Kpatcha Gnassingbé had deteriorated so much that his medical evacuation abroad was necessary, according to Amnesty International Togo. Human rights organizations hope that this gesture by the Head of State towards his half-brother, imprisoned for 13 years, will be an opportunity to put an end to detentions which had been deemed arbitrary by the UN and the ECOWAS.
Aimé Adi, the director of Amnesty International in Togo, hopes that this evacuation will be followed by measures to put an end to arbitrary detentions and to improving detention conditions in Togobecause ” it is important to set up a system to take into account sick prisoners in Togo “.
For Aimé Adi, the director of Amnesty International in Togo, the evacuation of Kpatcha Gnassingbé “shows the dimension of human rights” and “the humanitarian dimension of places of detention”
The most optimistic observers believe that this family event could be a historic opportunity for the Togolese authorities to direct their political practices towards more democracy, to preserve the unity of the country.
In the eyes of the jurist Doudou Diène, who investigated the violence of 2005 in Togo for the UN, this humanitarian and family event must have a political extension, towards more ” political pluralism ” in the country.
The jurist Doudou Diène hopes that this is “the beginning of a transformation going in the direction of political pluralism” in Togo
For other experts, this medical evacuation resembles the exile of a rival, accused of a conspiracy which he has always denied. This while the trial of several army officials who know the underside of the relations between the Gnassingbé brothers is looming.