January 17, 2000

The Honorable Lloyd Axworthy
Minister of Foreign Affairs
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6

Dear Honorable Mr. Axworthy,

I am writing this letter to you because of my concern for justice in the world. As a student attending university to become a social studies teacher I feel it is my obligation to be involved whenever possible in making this world a better place. I will be teaching my students about our country, Canada, and of the rights and freedoms that our country strives to uphold for them. I believe that Canada is a beacon to the world promoting human rights where people are imprisoned without fair trial and people are not free to believe and worship, as they would like.

A man in your position has the power and influence to promote freedom and recognition of rights. It has come to my attention that two young men, Komlan Edoh and Kodjo Kouni, were arbitrarily arrested and taken away from their hometown and have since disappeared. These gentlemen are citizens of Togo, west Africa. I ask that you place whatever pressure you are able to exert on the leader of the country of Togo, His Excellency General Gnassingbé Eyadéma, so that he might be convinced to set up independent, impartial inquiries into the ‘disappearance’ of Komlan Edoh and Kodjo Kouni, and into other cases of human rights violations in Togo. I ask this because I firmly believe that this world can be freed from injustice as long as those beacons of light are able to shine. You have the authority and power to do so and therefore I leave this issue in your hands and I look forward to hearing of the results of your actions on this matter.

Thank you for considering this issue,

Respectfully yours,

Zaak Robichaud

Citizen of Canada and the World