Togo is a west African country with a small coastline (56 kilometers, on the Gulf of Guinea) and shares land borders with Benin, Burkina Faso, and Ghana. Per capita Gross Domestic Product of Togo is $900-among the lowest in the world-and 32 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Togo's population of about 6 million is almost entirely African (99 percent), with small minorities of Europeans and Syrian-Lebanese. Most follow indigenous beliefs (51 percent), with 29 percent Christians and 20 percent Muslims.

Togo is the site of many human rights violations, including restrictions on the press and on freedom of assembly, unprosecuted rape and domestic violence against women, sexual harassment (including [Page 1458]harassment of female students), trafficking in persons, female genital mutilation (outlawed ...