Freedom Now welcomes the conditional release on January 1 of Abdoul Aziz Goma and calls on the Togolese government to immediately ensure his access to proper medical and psychological care and to remove conditions that continue restricting his freedom and wellbeing. Ultimately, the government should vacate his conviction, recognizing that authorities should never have arrested him in the first place.
Goma is an Irish citizen of Togolese descent who was wrongfully detained in Togo for seven years. Prior to his arrest, Goma made regular business visits to Togo. On one of these trips in December 2018, he answered a friend’s call to assist a group of eight young, peaceful protestors who were stranded and needed accommodation. For that action, he was arrested, violently tortured, and detained in inhumane conditions, sometimes without access to legal aid, adequate food, or healthcare. After finally beginning a trial on February 3, 2025, a court in Lomé sentenced him, the same day, to 10 years’ imprisonment.
In March 2023, Freedom Now and law firm McKool Smith petitioned the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Goma’s behalf. The Working Group subsequently determined that Goma’s imprisonment was a violation of international law as there was no legal basis for his arrest and that his rights to assembly, association, and a fair trial were infringed. His imprisonment was also criticized by the European Parliament and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.
In late August 2025, Goma began a hunger strike that lasted nearly 30 days. In early November 2025, he began a second hunger strike to protest his imprisonment and prison conditions. He did not end the strike until his release—nearly two months later—causing his health to deteriorate greatly. We call on the authorities to ensure that Goma receives proper medical treatment to ensure he fully recovers from the effects of his hunger strike and ill-treatment experienced in prison. Moreover, although Goma has been conditionally released, his conviction still stands. The Government of Togo must vacate his conviction and ensure he receives full and fair reparations for the violations of his rights in accordance with the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.