licence of the Association of Victims of insufficient Covid-19 care centres, the Torture in Togo. shortage of scanners and other medical In August, four UN Special Rapporteurs equipment, as well as health workers’ unpaid wrote to the authorities expressing concern salaries. about provisions in a freedom of association RIGHT TO SOCIAL SECURITY bill which violated international human rights On 12 October, Parliament adopted a law standards. establishing universal health insurance, with TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT the stated purpose of ensuring access to quality healthcare for everyone. Yakoubou Abdoul-Moutawakilou, secretary general of the Pan African National Party, Kpalimé section, died on 26 August a month TRINIDAD AND after he was temporarily released from Lomé prison for health reasons. Arrested in January TOBAGO 2020 and detained until July 2021, he was accused of attempting to conspire against Republic of Trinidad and Tobago state interior security in the “Tiger Head of state: Paula-Mae Weekes Revolution” case, in which dozens of people Head of government: Keith Christopher Rowley were arrested and accused of destabilizing state institutions in the context of the Authorities continued to restrict access to presidential elections. In 2020, at least four international protection for asylum seekers. of them died after being transferred from Women asylum seekers remained at Lomé prison to healthcare facilities. The heightened risk of gender-based violence. Committee for the Release of All Political The government failed to abolish the Prisoners denounced the ill-treatment of mandatory death penalty or provide detainees in this case. protection in law for LGBTI people. In May, there were 4,906 people held in 14 BACKGROUND prisons which had a capacity for 2,886; 2,762 of them were pre-trial detainees. A state of emergency, including restrictions on freedom of movement and a curfew, were WOMEN’S RIGHTS put in place during much of the year to curb In July, the UN Human Rights Committee the spread of Covid-19. adopted its concluding observations on Togo’s fifth periodic report, noting that several REFUGEES’ AND MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS national laws still contained provisions which As of August, over 20,800 refugees and discriminated against women; a lack of asylum seekers had been registered with measures – particularly in terms of protection UNHCR the UN refugee agency; 86% were – to allow rape victims access to justice from Venezuela and 7% from Cuba. without fear of discrimination, stigmatization Trinidad and Tobago remained one of the or reprisals; and the continued use of female few countries in the Americas to have no genital mutilation despite its being national legislation on asylum. In practice, criminalized. this meant that people who applied for RIGHT TO HEALTH protection or were granted refugee status by UNHCR, which processes asylum claims in WORKERS’ RIGHTS the country, continued to have limited access In September, health unions organized a sit- to many of the rights granted under the UN in in several cities to denounce the Refugee Convention and its Protocol, to dysfunctional health system in the context of which Trinidad and Tobago is party. the Covid-19 pandemic. They highlighted the Most Venezuelans continued to arrive lack of medical staff in intensive care units, irregularly by boat as most legal routes of Amnesty International Report 2021/22 366