One of the things that the Black Lives Matter movement has managed to do is highlight the fact that Black lives still do not matter to many people. This was a topic that came up last month following the shooting massacre at Parkland. Oprah Winfrey not only gave her support to the March For Our Lives rally that was organized by the Parkland students, but she pledged $500,000 towards the rally as well. The contrast between her support for the Parkland students and her lack of support for Black Lives Matter was striking, but it was not Oprah alone who expressed more support for the Parkland students than for the Black Lives Matter activists. The entire national response to the Parkland shooting was yet another reminder that Black lives do not matter in the United States.
The lack of concern for Black lives is even more glaring when we look at the way the international media covers stories relating to Black people. One of the best examples of this is the manner in which the international community has treated Togo. Since August of last year the people of Togo have been protesting for the resignation of President Faure Gnassingbe. These protests have received very minimal support and attention from the international community, despite the fact that the regime in Togo is currently the oldest military regime in Africa.
The current regime in Togo came to power in 1967 when Gnassingbe Eyadema became the president of Togo following a military coup. Eyadema was a former soldier in the French colonial army who fought for France in Indo-China and Algeria. He was also involved in the assassination of Sylvanus Olympio, Togo’s first and only democratically elected president. Eyadema oversaw some very horrific human rights abuses. Security forces in Togo routinely imprisoned, tortured, and killed anyone who dared to oppose the regime. In May 1999, Amnesty International released a report titled Togo Rule of Terror which documented hundreds of cases of murder, as well torture and arbitrary detention. The report also listed a specific instance of mass killings in 1998, during the presidential election campaign. Hundreds of people, including members of the military, were executed. These bodies were dumped into the ocean and were later retrieved from the beaches of Togo and Benin. One Beninese fisherman who was interviewed recalled seeing hundreds of bodies floating in the sea.
The government of Togo responded to this report by trying to sue Amnesty International. President Jacques Chirac of France also defended the government of Togo against the charges made by Amnesty International by suggesting that the report was the result of “manipulation” and that “no direct or indirect testimonies corroborated Amnesty’s findings”. The relationship between President Chirac and Eyadema was so close that following Eyadema’s death Chirac described the dictator as a close personal friend and a friend of France. Despite the human rights abuses of Eyadema’s government, Togo also maintained close diplomatic ties with the United States. In 1990, Eyadema was invited to the White House to meet with President George H. W. Bush.
When Eyadema died in 2005 the military stepped in to install Faure Gnassingbe, Eyadema’s son, as the new president of Togo. Due to pressure from the international community Gnassingbe agreed to step down as president and hold elections. According to a report from the United Nations as many as 500 people were killed and thousands more were wounded following the elections that were held in 2005. The Togolese League of Human Rights put the number of estimated deaths as being over 800. Despite this, the international community still refused to do anything to pressure Faure to step down. The United States and France continued the policy of supporting Togo while ignoring the horrific human rights abuses there.
The brutal nature of the regime in Togo has been on full display since the protests began last year. The security forces in Togo have responded to the protests by imprisoning, beating, and killing protesters. President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana has been attempting to facilitate a dialogue between Faure Gnassingbe and the opposition in Togo, but the fact that the government of Togo continues to brutalize and torture its own citizens demonstrates very clearly that the Togolese government is not committed to change. A recent example of this was the detention and torture of Professor Majeste Ihou, who is the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Lome. Professor Ihou suffered a stroke and became paralyzed on his left side as a result of the torture that he endured.
The unrelenting brutalities are precisely why the people of Togo are demanding Faure’s resignation, but the people of Togo have a very difficult task before them. Not only do the Togolese people have to contend with the continuing brutalities, but there is also the lack of international support for their struggle. When the Iranian people began protesting in December of last year they were met with public support from political leaders such as President Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, but Togo’s protests have been largely ignored by American politicians and by most of the American media.
It is not as though American politicians are unaware of Togo. When she was serving as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton visited Togo and met with Faure Gnassingbe. During his visit to Togo Hillary Clinton spoke about the “democratic gains” that were being made in Togo, but the reality is that no such gains were being made. Togo was also one of the few countries that voted in favor of Israel’s decision to relocate their embassy to Jerusalem. For voting in support of Israel, Togo was invited to a reception by U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
The issue that Black Lives Matter is fighting is not only one that is related to America’s domestic policy concerning people of African descent, but also American’s foreign policy as well. When we shout “Black Lives Matter” in the United States we are ignored, chastised, and even accused of being terrorists. The same thing is happening to the people of Togo who are shouting “Faure Must Go!” They are being accused of being terrorists by the very government that has terrorized them for the last fifty years and they are being ignored by the international community. The struggle to ensure the Black lives are respected and treated as if they matter is not only a national problem for the United States, but an international issue as well.
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Dwayne is the author of several books on the history and experiences of African people, both on the continent and in the diaspora. His books are available through Amazon. You can also follow Dwayne on Facebook.