A few weeks ago, somebody tweeted during the midterm elections in the United States that Election Day should be made a holiday. And I retweeted, saying, "Well, you're welcome to come to my country and vote. You'll get the whole week off to allow the military to count it."
Pre nekoliko nedelja, neko je napisao na Tviteru tokom srednjoročnih izbora u SAD da bi dan izbora trebalo da bude praznik. Ja sam odgovorila, napisavši: „Dobrodošli ste da dođete u moju zemlju da glasate. Dobićete čitavu nedelju kako bi vojska stigla da prebroji glasove.“
I come from Togo, by the way. It is a beautiful country located in West Africa. There are some cool, interesting facts about my country. Togo has been ruled by the same family for 51 years, making us the oldest autocracy in Africa. That's a record. We have a second-coolest record: we have been ranked three times as the unhappiest country on earth. You are all invited.
Uzgred, ja sam iz Togoa. To je predivna zemlja u Zapadnoj Africi. Postoje neke kul, zanimljive činjenice o mojoj zemlji. Togom vlada ista porodica 51 godinu, što nas čini najstarijom autokratijom u Africi. To je rekord. Imamo još jedan kul rekord: tri puta smo bili proglašeni za najnesrećniju zemlju na planeti. Svi ste pozvani.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
So just to let you know, it's not very cool to live under an autocracy. But the interesting thing is that I have met, throughout the course of my activism, so many people from different countries, and when I tell them about Togo, their reaction is always, "How can you guys allow the same people to terrorize you for 51 years? You know, like, you Togolese, you must be very patient." That's their diplomatic way of saying "stupid."
Samo da vam kažem, nije preterano kul živeti u autokratiji. Ali zanimljivo je što sam upoznala, kroz svoj aktivizam, jako mnogo ljudi iz različitih zemalja, i kad im ispričam o Togou, njihova reakcija je uvek: „Kako možete dozvoliti da vas isti ljudi terorišu 51 godinu? Mislim, vi Togoanci mora da ste veoma strpljivi.“ To je njihov diplomatski način da kažu „glupi“.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
And when you live in a free country, there's this tendency of assuming that those who are oppressed tolerate their oppression or are comfortable with it, and democracy is projected as a progressive form of governance in such a way that those people who don't live under democratic countries are seen as people who are not intellectually or maybe morally as advanced as others.
Kada neko živi u slobodnoj zemlji, često pretpostavlja da oni koji su ugnjetavani tolerišu svoje ugnjetavanje ili im ono ne smeta. Demokratija se predstavlja kao progresivan oblik vladavine tako da su ljudi koji ne žive u demokratskim zemljama viđeni kao ljudi koji intelektualno, a možda i moralno, nisu podjednako napredni kao drugi.
But it's not the case. The reason why people have that perception has to do with the way stories are covered about dictatorships. In the course of my activism, I have had to interview with so many news outlets out there, and usually it would always start with, "What got you started? What inspired you?" And I reply, "I wasn't inspired. I was triggered." And it goes on. "Well, what triggered you?" And I go on about how my father was arrested when I was 13, and tortured, all the history ... I don't want to get into details now, because you'll start sleeping. But the thing is, at the end of the day, what interests them the most is: How was he tortured? For how many days? How many people died? They are interested in the abuse, in the killing, because they believe that will gain attention and sympathy. But in reality, it serves the purpose of the dictator. It helps them advertise their cruelty.
Ali to nije tako. Razlog za takvo viđenje stvari leži u načinu na koji su pokrivene priče o diktaturama. Tokom svog aktivizma, imala sam intervjue sa velikim brojem medijskih kuća, i uglavnom bi počinjali pitanjima: „Šta te je pokrenulo? Šta te je inspirisalo?“ Odgovarala sam: „Nisam bila inspirisana. Bila sam naterana.“ Pa se nastavlja: „Dobro, a šta te je nateralo?“ I ja onda pričam kako je moj otac bio uhapšen kad sam imala 13 godina, kako su ga mučili, celu tu priču... Da ne ulazim sad u detalje, jer ćete svi zaspati. Stvar je u tome, na kraju krajeva, da ih najviše zanima to kako su ga mučili, koliko dana, koliko ljudi je ubijeno. Interesuju ih zlostavljanja, ubistva, jer veruju da će to privući pažnju i sažaljenje. Ali zapravo, to ide na ruku diktatoru. Pomaže im da propagiraju svoju okrutnost.
In 2011, I cofounded a movement I call "Faure Must Go," because Faure is the first name of our president. Togo is a French-speaking country, by the way, but I chose English because I had my issues with France as well. But then --
Godine 2011. sam učestvovala u stvaranju pokreta koji zovem „For mora da ode“, jer For je ime našeg predsednika. Uzgred, u Togou se govori francuski, ali sam izabrala engleski, jer sam imala problema i sa Francuskom. Ali onda...
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
But then, when I started Faure Must Go, I made a video, and I came on camera, and I said, "Well, Faure Gnassingbé, I give you 60 days to resign as president, because if you don't, we the youth in Togo will organize and we will bring you down, because you have killed over 500 of our countrymen to seize power when your father died. We have not chosen you. You are an imposter, and we will remove you." But I was the only known face of the movement. Why? Because I was the only stupid one.
Ali onda, kada sam pokrenula „For mora da ode“, snimila sam video, i pred kamerom sam rekla: „Dakle, Fore Gnasingbe, dajem ti 60 dana da odstupiš sa mesta predsednika, jer ako to ne uradiš, mi, mladi Togoa, ćemo se organizovati i srušiti te, jer si ubio preko 500 naših sunarodnika da bi došao na vlast nakon smrti oca. Mi te nismo izabrali. Ti si uljez i mi ćemo te ukloniti.“ Ali, ja sam bila jedino poznato lice pokreta. Zašto? Jer sam jedina bila glupa.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
And the backlashes followed. My family started receiving threats. My siblings called me one morning. They said, "You know what? When they come here to kill you, we don't want to die with you, so move out." So yes, I moved out. And I'm so angry at them, so I haven't talked to them in five years.
Sledila je odmazda. Mojoj porodici su počele da stižu pretnje. Moja braća su me jednog dana pozvala. Rekoše mi: „Znaš šta? Kada dođu ovde da te ubiju, mi ne želimo da umremo sa tobom. Iseli se.“ Da, iselila sam se. Toliko sam ljuta na njih, da ne razgovaram sa njima već pet godina.
Anyway, moving forward ... For the past nine years, I have been working with countries to raise awareness of Togo, to help the people of Togo overcome their fear so they, too, can come and say they want change. I have received a lot of persecution that I cannot disclose, a lot of threats, a lot of abuse, psychologically. But I don't like talking about them, because I know that my job as an activist is to mobilize, is to organize, is to help every single Togolese citizen understand that, as citizens, we hold the power, we are the boss and we decide. And the punishment that the dictators are using to intimidate them must not prevent us from getting what we want. That is why I said it is very important to cover the stories of activists in the way that it helps mobilize people, not in the way that it helps deter their action and force even more their subjugation to the oppressive system.
U svakom slučaju, idemo dalje... U proteklih devet godina radila sam sa zemljama na podizanju svesti o Togou, kako bih pomogla narodu Togoa da pobedi strah; da i oni mogu da izađu i kažu da žele promenu. Sledilo je dosta progona, o čemu ne mogu da pričam, mnogo pretnji, mnogo zlostavljanja, psihološkog. Ali, ja ne volim o tome da pričam, jer znam da je moj posao kao aktiviste da pokrenem, da organizujem, da pomognem svakom građaninu Togoa da razume da, kao građani, mi imamo moć, mi smo šef i mi odlučujemo. I da kazne koje diktatori koriste da ih zaplaše ne smeju da nas spreče da dobijemo ono što želimo. Zato sam rekla da je veoma važno da se pokrivaju priče aktivista tako da to pomogne u pokretanju ljudi, a ne tako da sprečavaju njihovo delovanje i prisiljavaju još više na potčinjavanje opresivnom sistemu.
During these years that I've been an activist, there are days that I felt like quitting because I couldn't take it. Well then, what kept me going? The one thing that kept me going: I remember the story of my grandfather, and how he used to walk 465 miles from his village to the city, just to protest for independence. Then I remember the sacrifice of my father, who was tortured so many times for daring to protest against the regime. Back in the '70s, they would write pamphlets to raise awareness on the dictatorship, and because they couldn't afford to make copies, they would reproduce the same pamphlet 500 times each and distribute them. It got to a point where the military knew their handwriting, so as soon as they stumbled upon one, they'd go and get them. But I look at that and I'm like, you know, today you have a blog. I don't have to copy the same thing 500 times. I blog and thousands of people read it. By the way, in Togo, they like calling me the WhatsApp girl, because I am always on WhatsApp attacking the government.
Tokom ovih godina koliko sam aktivista, bilo je dana kada sam želela da odustanem jer nisam mogla da izdržim. Pa, šta me je onda teralo dalje? Jedna stvar me je terala dalje: setim se priče o mom dedi, o tome kako je hodao 750 km od svog sela do grada samo da bi prostestovao za nezavisnost. Onda se setim žrtve moga oca, koji je toliko puta mučen jer se usudio da protestuje protiv režima. Tokom '70-ih pisali bi pamflete kako bi podigli svest o diktaturi, ali pošto nisu mogli da priušte da naprave kopije, oni bi prepisali jedan isti pamflet 500 puta i podelili ih. Došlo je na kraju do toga da je vojska znala njihov rukopis, pa čim bi naišli na jedan, otišli bi i pohapsili ih. Razmišljam o tome, znate, danas postoji blog. Ne moram da prepisujem jednu istu stvar 500 puta. Napišem na blogu i hiljade ljudi to pročita. Uzgred, u Togou vole da me zovu Vatsap devojka, jer sam stalno na Vatsapu gde napadam vlast.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
So it's much easier. When I'm angry at the government, I just make an angry note, and I send it out and thousands of people share it. I'm rarely this composed. I'm always angry, by the way.
Tako da je mnogo lakše. Kada sam ljuta na vlast, ja samo napišem ljutitu poruku, pošaljem je, i hiljade ljudi to podeli. Ja sam retko ovako staložena. Inače sam uvek ljuta.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
So I was talking about the necessity to showcase our stories, because when I think about the sacrifices that were made for us, it helped me keep going. One of the very first actions of our Faure Must Go movement was to come up with a petition, asking citizens to sign so that we can demand new elections, as the constitution allows. People were scared to put their names because, they said, they don't want to get in trouble. Even in the diaspora, people were scared. They were like, "We have family at home."
Pričala sam o potrebi da se prikažu naše priče, jer kad sam razmišljala o žrtvama koje su podnete zbog nas, to je ono što me je guralo napred. Jedna od prvih akcija našeg pokreta „For mora da ode“ bila je da osmislimo peticiju i tražimo od građana da potpišu, kako bismo mogli da tražimo nove izbore, kako i dozvoljava ustav. Ljudi su se plašili da se potpišu jer, rekoše, ne žele da upadnu u nevolju. Čak i u dijaspori su se ljudi plašili. Govorili su: „Imamo porodicu kod kuće.“
But there was this woman who was in her 60s. When she heard about it, she took the petition, and she went home, and by herself she collected over 1,000 [signatures]. That inspired me so much, and I was like, if a 60-year-old that has nothing more to gain in this regime can do this for us, the young ones, then why should I quit? It is the stories of resistance, the stories of defiance, the stories of resilience, that inspire people to get involved, not the stories of abuse and killings and hurt, because as humans, it's only natural for us to be scared.
Ali bila je jedna žena od 60-ak godina. Kad je čula za peticiju, uzela ju je, otišla kući, i sama skupila preko 1000 potpisa. To me je toliko inspirisalo, da sam pomislila, ako šezdesetogodišnjakinja koja ništa više nema da dobije od ovog režima može to da učini za nas, za mlade, zašto bih onda ja odustala? Priče o otporu, priče o prkosu, priče o istrajnosti, one inspirišu ljude da se uključe, a ne priče o zlostavljanju, ubijanju i boli, jer nam je, kao ljudima, u prirodi da se plašimo.
I would like to share with you a few characteristics of dictatorships so that you can assess your own country and see if you are also at risk of joining us.
Htela bih da podelim sa vama nekoliko karakteristika diktature kako biste mogli da procenite sopstvenu zemlju i videli da li ste u opasnosti da nam se pridružite.
(Laughter and cheers)
(Smeh i ovacije)
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Number one thing to look at: concentration of power. Is the power in your country concentrated in the hands of a few, an elite? It can be a political elite, ideological elite. And you have a strongman, because we always have one guy who is presented as the messiah who will save us from the world.
Prva stvar koju treba gledati je koncentracija moći. Da li je moć u vašoj zemlji skoncentrisana u rukama malobrojnih, elite? To može biti politička, ideološka elita. I uvek imate moćnika, jer uvek imamo jednog lika koji se predstavlja kao mesija koji će da nas spase od sveta.
The second point is propaganda. Dictators feed on propaganda. They like giving the impression that they are the saviors, and without them, the country will fall apart. And they are always fighting some foreign forces, you know? The Christians, the Jewish, the Muslims, the voodoo priests are coming for you. The Communists, when they get here, we'll all be broke. These kinds of things. And our president, in particular, he fights pirates.
Druga tačka je propaganda. Diktatori žive od propagande. Oni vole da odaju utisak spasioca i da bi bez njih zemlja propala. I oni se uvek bore protiv nekih stranih sila, znate? Hrišćani, jevreji, muslimani, vudu sveštenici dolaze po vas. Kada komunisti dođu, svi ćemo bankrotirati. Takve stvari. A naš predsednik se, konkretno, bori protiv gusara.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
I am very serious. Last year, he bought a boat that's 13 million dollars to fight pirates, and 60 percent of our people are starving. So they are always protecting us from some foreign forces.
Veoma sam ozbiljna. Prošle godine je kupio brod za borbu protiv gusara za 13 miliona dolara, dok 60 posto našeg naroda gladuje. Tako da nas oni uvek čuvaju od nekih stranih sila.
And this leads to point three: militarization. Dictators survive by instigating fear, and they use the military to suppress dissident voices, even though they try to give the impression that the military is to protect the nation. And they suppress institutions and destroy them so that they don't have to be held accountable. So do you have a heavily militarized country?
A to vodi do treće tačke: militarizacija. Diktatori preživljavaju tako što podstiču strah i koriste vojsku da uguše disidentske glasove, iako pokušavaju da odaju utisak da je vojska tu da štiti narod. Oni guše institucije i uništavaju ih da ne bi mogli da budu pozvani na odgovornost. I, imate li veoma militarizovanu državu?
And this leads to point four, what I call human cruelty. You know when we talk about animals, we say animal cruelty when animals are abused, because there's no charter acknowledged by the UN saying animal rights charter. Point one: all animals are created equal. So you don't have that. So whenever animals are abused, we say animal cruelty. But when it comes to humans, we say human rights abuses, because we assume that all humans have rights. But some of us are actually still fighting for our right to have rights. So in that condition, I don't talk about human rights abuse or violation.
To vodi do četvrte tačke, koju ja zovem okrutnost prema ljudima. Znate kako, kada pričamo o životinjama, kažemo okrutnost prema životinjama, kada ih maltretiraju, jer ne postoji povelja koju priznaju UN koja se zove povelja prava životinja. Prva tačka: sve životinje su stvorene jednake. To nemate. Kad god njih maltretiraju, to zovemo okrutnost prema životinjama. Ali kada su u pitanju ljudi, kažemo povreda ljudskih prava, jer pretpostavljamo da svi ljudi imaju prava. Ali, neki od nas se još uvek bore za pravo da imaju prava. U takvim uslovima ne govorim o povredi ili kršenju ljudskih prava.
When you live in a country and you have an issue with the president and the worst thing that can happen is he bans you from the presidency, you are lucky. When you come to my country and have an issue with the president, you just run, disappear; you vanish from the universe, because they can still find you in Turkey. So people like myself, we don't get to live in Togo anymore. And people like myself, we don't get to live in the same place for more than a month, because we don't want to be traced. The way they abuse people, the type of cruelty that happens in all impunity under dictatorships are beyond human imagination. The stories of some of the activists that were killed, their bodies dumped in the sea, that were tortured to the point where they lost their hearing or their sight -- those stories still haunt me. And sometimes, as an activist, I am less concerned about dying than how it will happen. Sometimes I just sit down and I imagine all scenarios. What are they going to do? Are they going to cut my ears first? Or are they going to cut my tongue because I'm always insulting them? It sounds cruel, but it is the reality. We live in a very cruel world. Dictators are cruel monsters, and I am not saying it to be nice.
Kada živiš u zemlji i imaš problema sa predsednikom, i najgore što može da ti se desi je da ti zabrani pristup predsedništvu, imaš sreće. Kada dođeš u moju zemlju i imaš problem sa predsednikom, prosto bežiš, nestaneš, iščezneš iz svemira, jer će te oni naći i u Turskoj. I tako ljudi poput mene više ne mogu da žive u Togou. I ljudi poput mene, mi ne možemo da živimo na istom mestu duže od mesec dana jer ne želimo da nam uđu u trag. Način na koji muče ljude, vrsta okrutnosti koja prolazi nekažnjeno pod diktaturom je izvan ljudskog poimanja. Priče o nekim od aktivista koji su ubijeni, čija su tela bačena u more, koji su bili mučeni toliko da su izgubili sluh ili vid - te priče me i dalje progone. I ponekad, kao aktivistu, manje me brine umiranje od toga kako će se to dogoditi. Ponekad sedim i zamišljam sve scenarije. Šta li će da rade? Hoće li prvo da mi odseku uši? Ili će prvo da mi odseku jezik jer ih stalno vređam? Zvuči okrutno, ali to je realnost. Živimo u veoma okrutnom svetu. Diktatori su okrutna čudovišta, i to ne kažem da ispadnem fina.
So yes, that is the final characteristic. The list goes on, but that's the final thing that I want to share about autocracies, so that you look at your country and see if there are risks there. It is important that you acknowledge the gains of freedom that you have today, because some people had to give their lives for you to have it. So don't take this for granted. But then at the same time, you also need to know that no country is actually destined to be oppressed, while at the same time, no country or no people are immune to oppression and dictatorship.
To je to, to je konačna karakteristika. Spisak ide dalje, ali to je poslednja stvar koju želim da podelim o autokratijama, da pogledate svoju zemlju i vidite da li tamo postoji rizik. Važno je da prepoznate prednosti slobode koju danas imate jer su neki ljudi morali da daju svoje živote da biste je imali. Zato je ne uzimajte zdravo za gotovo. Ali istovremeno treba da znate da nijednoj zemlji nije predodređeno da bude potlačena, a istovremeno, nijedna zemlja i nijedan narod nije imun na represiju i diktaturu.
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)