amnesty international

TOGO

Appeal for the reopening of the media

Update 1

On 18 February 2005 late afternoon, the Togolese Minister of Communication and Civic Education summoned the directors of the private media that had been closed. They were notified that the President of Republic, for the sake of appeasement, had asked for the reopening of all the banned medias. This measure was announced after the government lifted on the same day the ban on public demonstrations that had been decided on 7 February 2005.

On Monday 21 February, Radio Nostalgie and TV7 were broadcasting again. Kanal FM and Nana FM were expecting to broadcast on the next day. As of today, Radio Lumière, despite repeated requests, had not been able to get back its transmitter seized on 7 February.

Please send your appeals, in French, or in your own language, to the addresses below,

- welcoming the decision taken on 18 February 2005 by the Togolese authorities to reopen the media;- asking that all measures be taken in order that all radio be able to broadcast again as soon as possible;- requesting the Togolese authorities to stop the intimidation of and the repeated threats against media and in particular journalists and permit them to continue their work without fear of threats or intimidation.

Write to:

Pitang Tchalla

Ministre de la Communication et de la Formation civique (Minister of Communication and Civic Education)

Ministère de la Communication et de la Formation civique (Ministry of Communication and Civic Education)

BP 40, Lomé, Togo

Fax : +228 221 43 80

Email: info@republicoftogo.com (please specify: for the attention of the Minister of Communication)

Salutation: Monsieur le Ministre

Combévi Georges Agbodjan

Président de la Haute Autorité de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication (HAAC) (President of the High Audiovisual and Communication Authority)

BP 48 69,

Lomé, Togo

Salutation: Monsieur le Président

INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT, 1 EASTON STREET, LONDON WC1X 0DW, UNITED KINGDOM