The President of Togo monitors several hundred political opponents using Pegasus spyware. A formidable weapon in an attempt to retain power.
Every year, or almost, Togo must answer for its actions in the use of the spyware Pegasus, from the Israeli company NSO. And every year, or almost, a new case related to Pegasus ignites the newspapers of the place. This time, we learn that more than 300 Togolese numbers, which belong to civil society activists, journalists or political opponents, are being monitored by the Togolese intelligence services. And if Lomé could oppose the unstoppable argument of jihadist surveillance to maintain his security in the face of the terrorist threat, it is not: the names of people whose phones have been infected with Israeli spyware are those of personalities who dream of democratic elections and alternation. Among the names cited, that of a surgeon and trade unionist, David Ekoué Dosseh, or investigative journalist Carlos Ketohou.
An espionage that gives rise to repression
Of all the heads of state who increase tenfold the number of mandates authorized by modifying the Constitution at will, Faure Gnassingbé is, by virtue of his young age, the one who could remain in power the longest. The “young dean”, as one of his mentors, Alassane Ouattara nicknamed him, alternates ups and downs: at the end of 2017, we thought he was leaving when the opposition and civil society had gone out on several occasions in the streets to demand a return to the 1992 Constitution. A repression, deemed "savage" by the opposition, had allowed the Togolese president to remain in place. Since then, Faure Gnassingbé, in terms of international diplomacy, has been sailing on sight. A diplomacy without strategy which led the Togolese president to put himself under the influence of the “protector” State of Israel. The Hebrew state sees Lomé as a regional hub to expand its security presence. And with Israel, who says security says espionage.
Fearing, as he said at the end of 2017, an "insurrectionary scenario", the Togolese president has tightened, year after year, the screw. Espionage leads to numerous arrests. We are far from his promise of 2005, the year he came to power after an institutional sleight of hand. "Faure Gnassingbé, it is political reforms, the method of dialogue and reconciliation", said himself, speaking in the third person, the Togolese president in an interview on RFI. Fifteen years later, Togo is diplomatically isolated and Faure Gnassingbé is shunned by Europe despite an attempt to play a role in the Malian transition. After taking him out of the diplomatic closet for this task, Emmanuel Macron again severed his ties with the Togolese president. And in the Pegasus affair, the French head of state, also struggling with accusations of espionage, can not do much for Faure Gnassingbé.
Togo: diplomatic isolation and impunity
One question remains: can the Togolese presidency monitor political opponents without being accountable to anyone? While Morocco and France are under pressure, Togo seems able to act with impunity. Certainly, the diaspora is raising its voice in the face of Faure Gnassingbé's turn of the screw. But African and international bodies seem no longer even to want to warn the Togolese authorities. As if they were resigned by the presence of the same family in power for half a century. Thanks to Israeli aid, Eyadema Gnassingbé's son controls the actions of all those who dream of work-study. Journalists who investigate corruption within power are also being muzzled. Last year, Ferdinand Ayité, an investigative journalist who denounced corruption in the importation of oil into Togo, was arrested.
Despite the threats hanging over them, the activists of a work-study program continue their fight: the trade unionist David Ekoué Dosseh launched a citizen platform, Togo Debout. He calls for transparent elections. But thanks to Pegasus, the Togolese services are increasing acts of intimidation: after Ferdinand Ayité, another journalist suffered the wrath of power. C's diaryarlos Ketohou has been suspended. David Ekoué Dosseh also had to answer questions from the police, who showed him that they knew everything about him. In exchange for listening systems and deeply pro-Israel diplomacy at the UN, Faure Gnassingbé secures the unwavering support of the Hebrew state. Flawlessly, until Tel Aviv deploys elsewhere ... Diplomatically isolated, Togo now relies only on Israeli espionage to defend itself. But we know that in terms of diplomacy, Israel rarely offers win-win relations.