{"id":20291,"date":"2022-10-07T12:27:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T12:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/rights-group-piles-pressure-on-lesotho"},"modified":"2022-10-07T12:27:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T12:27:00","slug":"rights-group-piles-pressure-on-lesotho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/rights-group-piles-pressure-on-lesotho","title":{"rendered":"Rights group piles pressure on Lesotho"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>An international human rights group has called on the next Lesotho government to tackle police brutality, torture and killings.<br \/>\nAmnesty International made the call in a statement this week.<br \/>\nIt says Lesotho must ensure accountability for human rights crimes beyond the electioneering period for the October 7 election.<br \/>\n\u201cA dangerous pattern of human rights violations, including torture, unlawful killings, and excessive use of force by members of the security forces in Lesotho has been a common feature of the past five years under the current coalition government,\u201d said Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International\u2019s Director for East and Southern Africa.<br \/>\n\u201cPolitical candidates vying for leadership positions, including parliamentary seats, in the upcoming general elections must make a commitment to put respect for human rights and accountability for past human rights violations front and centre of their campaigns,\u201d Mwananyanda said.<br \/>\n\u201cIf elected, they must ensure access to justice and effective remedies for the victims of these human rights crimes.\u201d<br \/>\nSince 2017, Lesotho has seen a number of human rights violations, including excessive and disproportionate use of force by the security forces.<br \/>\nThere have also been reports of unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment of suspected perpetrators of crime by members of the security forces, including the police and the army.<br \/>\nAmnesty International mentioned several unlawful killings perpetrated by security agencies in the last few years.<br \/>\nThe statement refers to the unlawful use of force by police in Lesotho that has resulted in unlawful killings, including on 16 June 2022, when police opened fire at protesting National University of Lesotho (NUL students).<br \/>\nThe police killed one student, Kopano Makutoane, and injured several others.<br \/>\nSeveral police officers were later suspended but there has not been an update on the investigation.<br \/>\nThe statement also mentioned Ts\u030celiso Sekonyela who died in custody in September last year at the Thetsane Police Station where he was being held for allegedly stealing alcohol.<br \/>\nPolice officers delivered his body at a morgue two days later.<br \/>\nThree police officers were later suspended pending an investigation into Sekonyela\u2019s death.<br \/>\nAmnesty International noted that although some members of the police were suspended for their actions, including the killing of Makutoane, other members of the security forces remain in their posts despite ample evidence and research by human rights organisations pointing to serious human rights violations.<br \/>\nAmnesty International has also documented cases of torture and other ill-treatment by the security forces.<br \/>\nIn January this year, Advocate Napo Mafaesa was arrested by the police on allegations of concealing a gun belonging to his client.<br \/>\nPolice officers took him to Ha-Mabote Police Station and subjected him to torture to force him to \u201cconfess\u201d.<br \/>\nPolice allegedly shackled Advocate Mafaesa\u2019s legs and bound his hands before suffocating him with a tyre tube.<br \/>\nThey repeatedly poured cold water on his face while assaulting him.<br \/>\nAdvocate Mafaesa was freed in the early hours of January 14 in serious pain and is suing the police for the torture he claims he suffered.<br \/>\nIn another case, \u2019Mateboho Matekane, from Ha-Pita in Maseru was arrested on November 30 last year, accused of stealing group savings funds.<br \/>\nShe told Amnesty International that she was taken to Lithoteng Police Station where she was beaten with a spade, including on her buttocks, until she urinated on herself and passed out.<br \/>\nShe later lost her job because the torture she suffered meant she was in too much pain to be able to work.<br \/>\nOn May 19 this year, 35 people were tortured by the police and the army for protesting against power cuts in Liseleng in the district of Thaba-Tseka.<br \/>\nThey were later charged with disturbing the peace.<br \/>\nPolice authorities, including Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli, admitted to Amnesty International during a meeting at the police headquarters in Maseru in July that torture and other human rights violations cases have come up within their ranks but blame \u201crogue police elements\u201d.<br \/>\n\u201cIt is the duty of the police to protect the public, yet Lesotho\u2019s track record of police brutality shows that the public have much to fear from their law enforcement officers,\u201d Mwananyanda said.<br \/>\n\u201cIt is time for the Lesotho authorities to take a zero-tolerance attitude to unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment by their security forces and ensure that those suspected to be responsible are held to account,\u201d he said.<br \/>\n\u201cVictims must be provided with access to justice and effective remedies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\">Lesotho<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. An international human rights group has called on the next Lesotho government to tackle police brutality, torture and killings. Amnesty International made the call in a statement this week. It says Lesotho must ensure accountability for human rights crimes beyond the electioneering period for the October 7 election. \u201cA dangerous pattern of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":20290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12],"tags":[233,246,245],"class_list":["post-20291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rights group piles pressure on Lesotho - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/rights-group-piles-pressure-on-lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rights group piles pressure on Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. An international human rights group has called on the next Lesotho government to tackle police brutality, torture and killings. Amnesty International made the call in a statement this week. 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