By ‘Majirata Latela
A damning report on human rights violations in Lesotho, that has been released by the US, shows that unlawful killings and torture by the security agencies has become the order of the day.
The 2021 report was released Wednesday this week by the United States department of state bureau of democracy, human rights and lab.
Major human rights issues contained include credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings, torture and cases of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, arbitrary arrest or detention, serious government corruption, lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence.
The report also portrays revelations regarding domestic or intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child, early and forced marriage, and other harmful practices; trafficking in persons; and the existence of laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults, although not enforced.
It points out clearly that while impunity remains a problem, the government had mechanisms in place to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses and corruption.
On the issues of arbitrary deprivation of life and other unlawful or politically motivated killings the report shows that there were several reports fingering members of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) committing arbitrary or unlawful killings.
“The Police Complaints Authority (PCA) investigates allegations of police misconduct and abuse. The PCA, however, was ineffective because it lacked authority to fulfil its mandate: It could only investigate cases referred to it by the police commissioner or minister for police and could act on public complaints only with their approval,” it says.
The report continues to show that PCA also lacked authority to refer cases directly to the Prosecutor’s Office. While it observes that the PCA did not publish its findings or recommendations, cases of reported cases of deaths in police custody declined during the year.
“There were several reported abuses similar to the following example, however. On September 2, Thetsane Police Station officers in Maseru arrested Tšeliso Sekonyela on suspicion of liquor theft. On September 3, Sekonyela’s mother was allowed to meet with her son. She stated that he alleged police had beaten him and that, in her presence, a police officer had threatened to break her son’s ribs. On September 4, police delivered Sekonyela’s body to a morgue without explanation for the cause of death.
“The autopsy report revealed that Sekonyela’s ribs and a leg were broken, his neck had strangulation marks, and he had suffered severe internal bleeding. Minister of Police Sekola categorized the killing as suspected murder and Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu announced that an investigation was being Page 2 conducted.
“At year’s end three police officers were on suspension pending completion of investigation of Sekonyela’s death. In July 2020 three police officers of the Flight One Station in Maseru allegedly beat Thabiso Molise to death. On April 19, police officers Moejane, Ngatane, Pompo, and Posholi appeared before the Maseru Magistrate Court on charges of murdering Molise.
It further said that the court released them on bail; no trial date had been set by the end of 2019.
On torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment the report further shows that the Constitution states that no person shall be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment, and the penal code lists torture as a crime against humanity. Nevertheless, there were credible reports police tortured suspects and subjected them to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
It says there were numerous reported abuses similar to the following examples. On August 30, the Moafrika Community Broadcasting Service reported police officers of the Robbery and Crime Theft Squad beat and suffocated Moeketsi Monapathi to coerce confessing to killing a police officer.
According to the report, Justice Maseforo Mahase rebuked the police officers for beating suspects and ordered them to release Monapathi. On November 24, videos circulated on social media showed police trainees beating individuals for failure to wear masks, jaywalking, and other transgressions.
The videos sparked widespread public criticism of LMPS “heavy-handed” training tactics. LMPS officials apologized for the incidents later that day, calling the behavior “unacceptable” and affirming disciplinary action would be taken against Page 3 the officers. Police appealed to victims of abuse to report such incidents to the Office of Inspectorate, Complaints, and Discipline at police headquarters.
On November 25, the Prime Minister strongly condemned the actions and stated he had ordered police minister (Lepota) Sekola and Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli to review the police training programme and take appropriate action against trainees involved in the incidents.
