Africa-Press – Lesotho. A report released this week by a local civil group says the lack of political will has allowed the police to commit crimes and violate human rights with impunity.
Titled The Accountability & Capacity Building Initiative 2021 – 2025, the report is based on a study conducted by Sesotho Media and Development with funding from the European Union.
The study found that the structure and legislation of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) is so flawed that it cannot effectively deal with officers who commit crimes.
“The PCA reported that they conduct investigations on complaints that are lodged against police officers,” the report says.
“Based on the findings from the investigations, they write reports with recommendations on the action that can be taken against such police officers and these reports are submitted to the Minister of Police.
“Subsequently, the Minister would decide whether to implement the recommendations from the PCA or not.
” The report says this means that the PCA does not have the authority to implement its recommendations.
The report says there are no guidelines on how the PCA can verify if the Minister of Police has implemented its recommendations. The PCA is made up of four members.
The PCA has the power to summon persons before it to give evidence or to produce documents. A person who fails to comply with such summons shall be liable to a fine of M500.
However, the summons shall be issued with approval from the Commissioner in consultation with the police minister after being satisfied that the information sought would be against the public interest or would not jeopardise the safety of any person.
The report notes that the “lack and lax political will to ensure that the Authority is operational has been one of the greatest obstructions of the objectives set out by the establishing Act”.
According to the law, the PCA is supposed to deal with cases referred to it by the minister or Commissioner of Police. “This is one other hindrance that renders the PCA ineffective.
“To address this problem, the PCA took it upon itself to develop a system which has also proven ineffective.
“They accept cases directly from the public, refer them to the Minister who must then refer them back to the PCA.
” After an investigation, the PCA submits a report to the Minister of Police who has the power to implement the recommendations.
“The Authority’s lack of power to enforce its recommendations affects its credibility and renders it as yet another proverbial toothless bulldog.
“The PCA also does not have administrative tools such as a whistleblowing policy in place to protect whistleblowers,” the report says.
This, the report adds, makes it difficult for police officers to report their colleagues or superiors for corruption or human rights violations. The PCA also does not have the authority to refer cases to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
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