Benin Accused of Torturing Prisoners
More than 200 people are imprisoned without charge in Benin and many have been tortured, Amnesty International said today in a report on human rights in the West African country.
The report alleges that some of the prisoners have been detained for up to three years, while 100 were arrested in March and April on suspicion of being involved in a conspiracy against the government.
The human rights organization identified most of the prisoners as armed forces personnel.
Benin, a former French colony, became independent in 1960 and underwent six military coups up to 1972, when the present president, Lt. Col. Mathieu Kerekou, a French-trained paratrooper, seized power and installed a Marxist government.
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