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11 April 2003

TGO41483.FE

Togo: The Action Committee for Renewal (CAR) and whether its members are having problems with the current government (1995-1996)
Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa

This Response replaces and corrects TGO24259.F of 25 June 1996.

With 34 elected members, the Action Committee for Renewal (Comité d'action pour le renouveau, CAR) is the main opposition party in Togo (AFP 3 Jan. 1996; West Africa 5-11 Feb. 1996, 182).

The CAR won 36 out of 81 seats in the February 1994 elections before a controversial court decision nullified the election results in three constituencies, two of which had been won by the CAR (Africa Research Bulletin 27 June 1995, 11850).

Despite its 34 seats in the National Assembly, the CAR is not represented in the government (ibid. 25 Jan. 1996, 12061). An article published in West Africa indicated that, even though the CAR was the majority opposition party, its leader, Yaovi Agboyibor, was not chosen as prime minister (5-11 Feb. 1996, 182).

Instead, President Gnassingbé Eyadéma appointed Edem Kodjo as prime minister, although his party, the Togolese Union for Democracy (Union togolaise pour la démocratie, UTD), won only six seats in the National Assembly (Political Handbook of the World 1994-1995 1995, 873).

On 22 August 1995, the CAR ended its nine-month boycott of the National Assembly following an agreement with the government that provided for the establishment of an independent electoral commission (Keesing's 1996, R32; ibid. 25 Sept. 1995, 40668).

According to West Africa, the draft legislation proposed by the CAR to make fundamental changes in the electoral system was defeated by 40 votes to 38 (5-11 Feb. 1996, 182).

The relationship between the CAR and the government has not always been good in the past. Amnesty International reported that members of the opposition parties-CAR members in particular-were harassed (AI 1995, 285). Gaston Aziaduvo Edeh, a CAR member who was recently elected, and three other militants of the same party were taken away by uniformed men and found dead the next morning (ibid., 286).

Country Reports 1995 also mentions the death of deputy Gaston Aziaduvo Edeh in 1994 and underlines the fact that no action was taken to solve his murder (1996, 275).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series [Oxford]. 25 January 1996. Vol. 32, No. 12. "Togo: Major Changes."

_____. 27 June 1995. Vol. 32, No. 5. "Togo: Democratisation Call."

Amnesty International. 1995. Amnesty International Report 1995. New York: Amnesty International USA.

Agence France Presse [Paris]. 3 January 1996. "Togolese National Assembly Rejects 1996 Budget." (NEXIS)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995. 1996. U.S. Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. 1996. Vol. 42, Reference Supplement. "Togo: 1995 Key Events."

_____. 25 September 1995. Vol. 41, Nos. 7/8. "Togo: End of CAR Parliamentary Boycott."

Political Handbook of the World: 1994-1995. 1995. Edited by Arthur S. Banks. Binghamton, NY: CSA Publications.

West Africa. 5-11 February 1996. No. 4085. Ebow Godwin Lome. "The Nays Have It: The Bill for Electoral Reforms Crashes Out of Parliament, Thanks Once More to the Divide and Rule Tactics of General Eyadema."

Attachments

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series [Oxford]. 25 January 1996. Vol. 32, No. 12. "Togo: Major Changes," p. 12081.

_____. 27 June 1995. Vol. 32, No. 5. "Togo: Democratisation Call," p. 11850.

Agence France Presse [Paris]. 3 January 1996. "Togolese National Assembly Rejects 1996 Budget." (NEXIS)

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. 1996. Vol. 42. Reference Supplement. "Togo: 1995 Key Events," R33.

_____. 25 September 1995. Vol. 41, Nos. 7/8. "Togo: End of CAR Parliamentary Boycott," p. 40668.

Political Handbook of the World: 1994-1995. 1995. Edited by Arthur S. Banks. Binghamton, NY: CSA Publications, p. 873.

West Africa. 5-11 February 1996. No. 4085. Ebow Godwin Lome. "The Nays Have It: The Bill for Electoral Reforms Crashes Out of Parliament, Thanks Once More to the Divide and Rule Tactics of General Eyadema," pp. 182-183.

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