“The HCRRUN will ensure that the victim is served the amount corresponding to the degree of harm suffered without adding or subtracting a single cent,” said Mrs. Awa Nana-Daboya, President of HCRRUN.

On December 12, HCRRUN begins the compensation phase for political victims linked to the political violence Togo experienced from 1958 to 2005. The first stage of this reparations phase concerns 137 so-called vulnerable victims identified across the entire national territory. In this interview, the President of HCRRUN, Mrs. Awa Nana-Daboya, discusses the modalities and categorization of compensation based on the harm suffered.

You are beginning a new stage of the reparations program. What specifically will be done during this new stage?

This stage, which we are starting on December 12, is that of the actual compensation. The first part will consist of providing care for vulnerable victims. As you know, among the victims identified by the CVJR to receive reparations, there are those who still suffer from physical after-effects and require medical and psychological care. These are the people we call “vulnerable victims” who, in addition to the fixed financial compensation, will benefit from a medical-psychological re-examination to assess their degree of vulnerability in real-time. There are 137 such victims spread across the entire country. Then we will continue with the compensation of other victims from 2005 as identified, to cover the amount of two billion for the first installment of 2005 victims, representing the remaining 2,475 victims.

 You mention medical and psychological care; what will this involve?

As I was saying, vulnerable victims are men or women still bearing physical scars requiring treatment, or moral scars requiring psychological support. This is why HCRRUN has entered into a partnership with the NGO AIMES-Afrique, which will set up its technical facilities at the Conference Center of the Hotel du 2 Février in Lomé. Victims will be transported from their place of residence to Lomé, provided with logistical support, and consulted by specialist doctors under the representation of AIMES-Afrique. Depending on the diagnosis made for each victim, care may be provided on-site, or victims may be transported to appropriate national, regional, or even international hospitals.

After this medical and psychological care, will these vulnerable victims be entitled to financial compensation?

Of course! This care is complementary to the compensation that will be paid to them. I should remind you that the work was already carried out by the CVJR at the time, which defined the different types of harm and set the related amounts depending on whether it was moral harm, physical harm, career-related harm, material harm, or death/disappearance. The program as developed by the CVJR and annexed to the recommendations determined the quantum to be paid for each type of harm. And so, based on each category, the program established degrees such as light, low, medium, serious, or very serious. Consequently, HCRRUN will ensure that the victim receives the amount corresponding to the degree of harm suffered, without adding or subtracting a single cent. HCRRUN informs that the payment of compensation to victims will be made by check, payable nationwide at all branches of the UTB bank; thus, these will be visible, transparent, and traceable payments.     

During your information tour last May, you mentioned a total of 2,475 victims—part of the victims of the 2005 events—who would be covered by the first phase of reparations. Is this still the case?

Yes, that is still the case. However, it should be noted that in this first installment corresponding to the two billion intended to cover the 2,475 victims, the compensation operation for the 137 vulnerable victims is to be subtracted from the 2,475 victims. Indeed, these are 122 victims identified in 2005 to which we added 15 victims from other periods because of the urgency of their care. Consequently, after the 137 victims, the compensation of other victims should proceed quickly as funds are released.

Why did you choose to transport all the victims to Lomé?

The need for their medical and psychological care aims to facilitate the management of the treatment to be provided and to bring the technical facilities set up by AIMES-Afrique closer to the country’s two major hospital centers, the Sylvanus Olympio and Campus University Hospitals in Lomé. AIMES-Afrique doctors will be able to call upon other expertise, if circumstances require, which is more easily accessible in Lomé than in other cities in the country. Similarly, in the event of a need for medical evacuation or external care, Lomé is better suited to facilitate the preliminary steps for such care.    

  Years have passed since the 2005 events and the end of the CVJR’s work; how do you plan to find the victims?

This is practically already done. Indeed, during the depositions at the CVJR, victims were registered based on their identities, phone numbers, contact addresses, and also the contacts of other family members, etc. They are the subject of an identification file containing all the necessary elements, stored in the databases that the CVJR bequeathed to HCRRUN. However, if despite all this data, a victim does not respond to HCRRUN’s call, we will enlist the help of administrative (prefects), traditional, or religious authorities, as well as members of peace committees or any other resource persons to find them. I should note that contact simulations carried out at the beginning of this month with the listed victims yielded positive results of 80 to 85%. Finally, HCRRUN plans to post the names of the victims so that they are all informed in advance.

What will you do if the victim is no longer with us?

Alas! While bowing to the memory of such victims, we would like to say that the first phone calls made by our services are already revealing these cases. Well, in law, there are what we call legal heirs; that is, the beneficiaries of the deceased victims. These legal heirs will benefit from the compensation of their deceased victim relatives in accordance with the inheritance legislation in force in our country.

Can a victim who has incurred costs to repair the harm suffered hope to be reimbursed?

In fact, during this operation, victims will be re-evaluated based on their current state. And care will be provided to them if necessary. But the compensation amount provided by the CVJR is, in a way, the reimbursement of costs already incurred, so there will be nothing else.