Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Lesotho.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Lesotho. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Lesotho U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/lesotho/
[accessed 27 July
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT 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 one of the
crimes against humanity. Nevertheless, there were credible reports police
tortured suspects and subjected them to cruel, inhuman, or degrading
treatment or punishment. There were numerous
reported abuses similar to the following example. On July 8, the Moafrika Community Broadcasting Service reported that Mabote police officers tortured LMPS Special Operations
Unit member Lebusa Setlojoane
and his relative Lefu Setlojoane
with electrical shocks and suffocation to force him to confess to committing
arson and homicide. Setlojoane stated he was told
he would be killed if he reported the abuse to judicial authorities. PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS Prison conditions
were harsh and life threatening due to gross overcrowding; physical abuse and
inmate-on-inmate violence, including rape; and inadequate food, sanitary
conditions, medical care, ventilation, lighting, and heat. All prisons had a
nurse and a dispensary to attend to minor illnesses, but health care was
inadequate. Prisons lacked medical units that operated 24 hours a day; as a
result, guards confined sick prisoners to their cells from 3 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Although prisons provided potable water, sanitation was poor in the Mokhotlong, Berea, Quthing, and
Qacha’s Nek prisons. Prisons generally lacked
bedding, lighting, and proper ventilation; heating and cooling systems did
not exist. ARREST PROCEDURES
AND TREATMENT OF DETAINEES Pretrial Detention:
Pretrial detainees constituted 29 percent of the prison population. The
average length of pretrial detention was 90 days, after which authorities usually
released pretrial detainees on bail pending trial. Pretrial detention
sometimes lasted for years, however, due to judicial staffing shortages,
unavailability of legal counsel, or negligence. In April 2019 acting chief
justice Maseforo Mahase
visited the Maseru correctional facility and discovered pretrial detainees
who had been imprisoned for up to eight years without charge. Lesotho: End
enforced disappearance of Makarabo Mojakhomo Amnesty
International AI, 14 June 2018, Index number: AFR 33/8599/2018 www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AFR3385992018ENGLISH.pdf [accessed 6 January
2019] Amnesty
International and the Transformation Resource Centre (TRC) are concerned for
the safety and whereabouts of Makarabo Mojakhomo, former head of the Maesaiah
Thabane Trust Fund (MTTF), who disappeared on 31
May 2018 two days after Lesotho Mounted Police Services (LMPS) arrested her
on Tuesday 29 May at the LMPS Headquarters in Maseru on allegations of fraud
and theft by false pretences. The organisations fear that Ms Makarabo may have been subjected to cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment and enforced disappearance by the Lesotho Mounted Police
Services (LMPS). She was last seen by her family at the police station on 30
May 2018. A spokesperson of
the LMPS told Amnesty International that on Monday 28 May, investigators
summoned Ms Makarabo Mojakhomo to the police headquarters in Maseru to inform
her of the charges against her. She arrived the following day at the Police
Headquarters with her lawyer, where she was arrested on charges of fraud, and
theft by false pretences. According to the LMPS
spokesperson, she was then detained and held in a police cell until Thursday
31 May. During this time,
properties that she allegedly obtained through crime were confiscated and
brought to the Police Headquarters. The police spokesperson confirmed that Ms Makarabo was interrogated on
29 May by a team of interrogators, and was then held at the Maseru Police
Headquarters until Thursday 31 May when she was due to appear in the Maseru
Magistrate’s Court. Freedom House
Country Report 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/lesotho/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 18 May
2020] F3. IS THERE
PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR
AND INSURGENCIES? Although the constitution
provides legal protections against torture, allegations of torture have been
levelled against the police, LDF, and prison authorities. In April 2017,
Opposition Alliance of Democrats (AD) Youth League President Thuso Litjobo and his bodyguard
were allegedly tortured by the police following their arrest on a murder
charge. The LDF has been accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings of
suspected gang members. In April, a student
from the National University of Lesotho was shot in the back of the head by a
police officer and died from the injury while at a club near the campus. Prison conditions
are inadequate and detainees are subject to physical abuse. Policing
and Human Rights -- Assessing southern African countries’ compliance with the
SARPCCO Code of Conduct for Police Officials Edited by Amanda Dissel & Cheryl Frank, African Policing Civilian
Oversight Forum APCOF, 2012 ISBN:
978-1-920489-81-6 [accessed 25 March
2014] [LESOTHO] -- ARTICLE
4: TORTURE AND CRUEL, INHUMAN AND DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT No police official shall, under any circumstances,
inflict, instigate, or tolerate any act of torture and other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment of any person. The Criminal
Procedure and Evidence Act provides that a
confession is admissible once proven to be freely and voluntarily made, but
the burden of proof rests with the person alleging torture to prove that s/he
was tortured. This Act also prohibits prosecutors from using evidence which
they know is tainted by torture or human rights violations, and requires
prosecutors to take steps to ensure that those responsible for using such
methods are brought to justice. The LMPS Service Charter also prohibits
torture, and the Police Code obliges police officers to oppose ‘any
violation’ and to report violations to their superior authority. Despite these
national and international provisions and prohibitions, the Ombudsman has
noted serious shortcomings with respect to the treatment and detention of
suspects. Civil society have also raised concerns that the police use torture
and other ill-treatment to obtain confessions from suspects, and a number of
media reports and court cases seems to illustrate this point. Although the Police
Code compels police officials to report any abuse by their colleagues,
respondents indicated that such reports were seldom made. According to the
LMPS Office of Complaints and Discipline, complaints made against police by
members of the public are usually investigated by the police. Serious
matters, such as allegations of torture are handled by the Investigation Unit
Office. Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL For current
articles:: Search Amnesty
International’s website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=lesotho+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 6 January 2019] Scroll
Down ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
[PDF] U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor photos.state.gov/libraries/lesotho/231771/PDFs/country_human_rights_report-lesotho_2012.pdf [accessed 27 Jan
2014] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – Although the constitution
and law expressly prohibit such practices, there were reported instances of
torture and cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment by police. For example, on
July 14, Seinoli Khongoana
and Khotso Ramoshabe, employees of Hillside Off
Sales Barat Ha Matala, Maseru, arrived at work to
find their employer, police, and private security officers on the premises.
Their employer informed them there had been a robbery, and the police asked
them to proceed to Lithoteng Police Station to make
statements. Police accused them of stealing property from their employer. The
men claimed Police Constable Resetse Ramakhetheng instructed them to lie down and then
assaulted them with a knobkerrie (traditional wooden club used in herding). According to the
victims’ lawyer, Makhetha Motsoari,
the constable also bound their hands and knees together and suspended them
between two tables. The two were released the following morning and
subsequently filed for damages in the amount of 270,135 maloti ($31,338) each
for humiliation, pain, and suffering. The case was pending in court. Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 2 Civil Liberties: 3 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/lesotho [accessed 4 February
2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] Courts are nominally
independent, but higher courts are especially subject to outside influence.
The large backlog of cases often leads to trial delays and lengthy pretrial
detention. Mistreatment of civilians by security forces reportedly continues.
Prisons are dilapidated and severely overcrowded, and lack essential health
services; instances of torture and excessive force have been reported. An
independent ombudsman’s office is tasked with protecting citizens’ rights. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
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OF COMPONENT ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance
& Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century-
Lesotho", http://gvnet.com/torture/Lesotho.htm, [accessed <date>] |
