UN expert urges Togo to release human rights defender from prison – JURIST

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders on Tuesday urged Togo authorities to release Togolese-Irish citizen and human rights defender Abdoul Aziz Goma from prison on the seventh anniversary of his arrest.

Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor noted that the Togolese Criminal Procedure Code allows for conditional release of prisoners who have served at least half of their sentence. She added:

Given his severe ill health, he also meets the criteria outlined by the President of the Council of Ministers on 2 December 2025 for cases to be considered for clemency. I urge the President to find a way, through one of these mechanisms, to immediately secure Abdoul’s release.

Lawlor and other UN experts previously raised concerns regarding Goma’s treatment and his ongoing detention in 2021 and 2024, and have urged Togo authorities to protect human rights defenders.

Goma was arrested in Lomé in 2018 after sheltering a group of young people who had travelled to the capital to protest. Although he did not participate in the protests, he assisted the youths after being approached by an acquaintance.

Since his arrest, Goma has reportedly undertaken a hunger strike and experienced a severe deterioration of his health, including progressive neurological damage, severe sciatica, and reduced mobility. Lawlor criticized the handling of his case, stating that the serious violations of due process and fair trial guarantees contravene Togo’s obligations under international human rights law.

The authorities held him in secret detention for several years before transferring him to Togo’s formal prison in 2022, where he was reportedly subjected to ill-treatment and inadequate medical care. Africa’s rights group head, Isidore Ngueuleu, who visited Goma at Lomé Civil Prison, described him as experiencing “unspeakable abuse.” The prison is notoriously overcrowded and known for inhuman conditions, including beatings. While incarcerated, Goma has reportedly endured physical abuse, electric shocks, and denial of medical treatment.

Togo has faced multiple human rights claims, with many intensified following constitutional reforms in early 2024. The reforms shifted the country from a presidential to a parliamentary system of governance. Earlier this year, Goma was tried in a single-day proceeding, convicted on multiple charges, including undermining national security, and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. 

Critics have argued that the reforms were a cover-up to extend President Faure Gnassingbé’s political hold. Gnassingbé has been in power for nineteen years. The constitutional reforms have coincided with criticism of restrictions on press freedom, including the arrest and beating of a French journalist covering political unrest.

In September 2025, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Togo authorities to facilitate Goma’s urgent medical treatment and to “immediately and unconditionally release him.” The resolution also stressed that the arbitrary detention and torture of political opponents and human rights defenders undermine the rule of law and democratic governance in Togo.