TOGO: Bodies fished from lagoon in Lome after weekend protests

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

LOME, 2 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Three corpses have been fished out of a lagoon in the Togolese capital Lome and two more bodies have been found on the streets of the city after weekend demonstrations against the government.

Togo's Interior Ministry said in a statement the five bodies had been discovered on Monday and the government had opened an inquiry into the deaths.

The statement did not offer any clues as to the identity of the victims, but residents in the suburb of Be, the opposition stronghold, said all five had taken part in anti-government protests over the weekend.

Police fired tear gas late into Sunday night to disperse groups of discontented youths who were barricading streets in Be with tree trunks and flaming tyres.

"I saw three bodies fished out of the lagoon, They were wearing clothes but on the heads and the faces I could see traces of blood suggesting they had been beaten up," one Be resident told IRIN on condition of anonymity.

"They were chased and beaten, and they tried to hide in the lagoon where they ended up dying," another youth said, adding that a 13-year-old boy had been among those found there.

At least four demonstrators were shot dead last month when security forces fired live bullets into crowds of demonstrating youths.

Opposition supporters have staged repeated protest demonstrations in Lome since veteran president Gnassingbe Eyadema died on 5 February and the army rode over the constitution to install his son, Faure Gnassingbe, as the new head of state.

Gnassingbe stepped down three weeks later under intense pressure from the international community. However, the opposition is still unhappy that the rightful constitutional heir, national assembly leader Fambare Ouattara Natchaba, has not been named interim head of state and given the task of organising fresh elections within 60 days.

Instead parliament's vice-president Abass Bonfoh has been put in charge. A coalition of six opposition parties which has orchestrated most of the street protests says this means the constitution is still being violated.

The head of the Togolese League of Human Rights, Adote Akwei, said he was doubtful that the government's investigation would shed much light on the five deaths.

"We don't really believe in it because in this country, no inquiry ever gets finished properly," he told IRIN. "We'd like the international community to send us a force to keep the peace and maintain order."

He also said that the human rights group had received several reports of rape during the political crisis.

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