July 22, 2005

LOMÉ, Togo/GENEVA – An inter-faith peace mission to Togo has called on the country's religious communities to join forces to promote a "healing process" to overcome a political crisis that began this year, but whose root causes go back much further.

"Our assessment is that working together will strengthen the hope and willingness we sensed on our visit that people are ready to move forward," the delegation leader, Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, told a news conference in Lomé, July 21.

He was giving findings of the July 17-21 delegation representing the Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA), a group founded at a pan-African summit of religious leaders in 2002.

Togo was plunged into crisis in February with the death of the country's long-serving president, Gnassingbe Eyadema, and the appointment of his son, Faure Gnassingbe, to succeed him in defiance of the constitution. Violence erupted when Faure Gnassingbe was declared the winner of an April poll, which opposition parties complained had not been conducted fairly. Meanwhile, thousands of Togolese fled to neighboring Ghana and Benin.

But the LWF general secretary told the news conference that he sensed the various parties were now willing to move forward. "For the first time I was able to hear from a representative of the Togolese government that there are problems in the country," he said, referring to his meeting with Prime Minister Edem Kodjo.

"In the past we were told there were no problems. This is a step toward opening up dialogue at the national level." He stressed "the culture of political denial of existing problems needs to be broken in Africa," and commended Kodjo and others who "are beginning to take that step."

While the delegation was presenting its report, President Gnassingbe and exiled opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio were meeting in Rome where they agreed to condemn and stop violence back home.

"This meeting between President Gnassingbe and Gilchrist Olympio in Rome is most welcome," Noko said. "It confirms our reading of the situation that Togolese political leaders, civil society, and religious communities are ready to work together for a peaceful Togo."

The delegation said it had seen at first hand the plight of Togolese refugees outside the country's borders, and heard reports from some religious leaders that human rights abuses were continuing.

"On the basis of what we heard, the Prime Minister said that the government is ready to provide security, resettlement and amnesty for those refugees who come back," Noko observed. "He also said the government was committed to the protection of human rights under the [African Union's] African Charter [on Human and Peoples' Rights]."

The delegation said Africa needed "transparency, good governance, respect for human rights, the rule of law, social justice, and gender equality" and to have leaders "who are accountable, not to outsiders, but truly accountable to their own people."

In its findings, the inter-faith delegation headed by Noko encouraged religious groups to promote a healing process for peace and reconciliation, noting that healing had a spiritual dimension.

"You can never reconcile people unless you tell the truth," Noko said. "You need the truth to be told. But you need reconciliation, and for that you need forgiveness. That is where religious communities have a role," he concluded.

Lutheran World Information
By Stephen Brown, Ecumenical News International editor, who accompanied the IFAPA delegation to Togo at LWF's invitation.