JUDGMENT
A. Parties
1. The first to seventh Applicants are:
Amnesty International Togo,
L’institut Des Medias Pour La Democratie et Les Droit
De L’homme,
La Lantere,
Action Des Crechretiens Pour L’abolition De La
Torture,
Association Des Victim De Tortur Au Togo,
Ligue Des Consommateurs De Togo
L’association Togolaise Pour L’education Aux Droits
De L’homme Et La Democratie;
Non-governmental organizations established and based in Togo and
carrying work in relation to the promotion and protection of human rights
in Togo. The Eighth Applicant is a Togolese journalist who works as a
blogger and activist in the Togolese Republic. The Respondent is the
Togolese Republic, a Member State of the Community.
B. Subject Matter of the Proceedings
2. The Application concerns the allegation by the Applicants that following a protest
in Togo on the limitation of the Presidential terms the internet access was shut
down and the right to freedom of expression, contrary to Article 9 of the African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights including other international human rights
instruments.
3. The Respondent justified the shutdown in order to safeguard the national security
interest of the country.
C. The Applicants’ Claim
4. The Applicants’ claim is that sometime in August 2017, several protests broke out
in Togo with a call for term limitations of the Presidency. That these protests were
widely reported in the media at home and abroad, and they prompted the African
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