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- Six detained Lesotho military officers refused to be searched, sparking a prison-wide beatdown of inmates.
- The Ombudsman established recruits from Lesotho Correctional Services were instructed by their bosses to beat prisoners.
- Amnesty International has called on the government to bring to book those found to have abused their authority by the Ombudsman.
In December, prisoners at the Maseru Correctional Centre Institution (MCCI) were beaten up when warders intentionally created a confrontation - then went to work with knobkerries and sjamboks.
That is one of the revelations in a January 2024 Ombudsman of Lesotho report seen by News24.
According to the report, on the morning of 22 December 2023, detainees at the MCCI were brutally beaten by recruits from the Lesotho Correctional Services (LCS), resulting in injuries, during a regular search operation.
The targets were imprisoned members of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF).
The report flagged the beatings as human rights violations, with torture and excessive use of force.
The inmates were also denied medical care.
The Ombudsman said recruits from the LCS training facility abused their authority, while some officers were indifferent and negligent in their duties.
In the report, the Ombudsman said prisoners have their rights, no matter the gravity of the crime they were doing time for.
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"It might be appealing for some to dismiss inmates who are victims of excessive use of force as deserving of their fate; to assume the worst of them and the best of correctional officers.
"But it is important to remember that inmates, regardless of why they are confined, are human beings deserving of respect, dignity and humane treatment," said Ombudsman advocate Tlotliso Polaki.
The beatings and investigation
During investigations by the Ombudsman on 9 January, it was established LCS recruits allegedly beat convicts with sjamboks, rods, knobkerries, and batons.
Some of the resulting injuries were documented through medical examination reports or photographs taken by lawyers.
The probe focused on the LCS's alleged inability to give proper medical care to convicts who were tortured and beaten, including the death of escapee Bokang Tsoako.
The investigation found six inmates escaped from the MCCI the night before the search.
The commanding officer, assistant commissioner Tsoto Manaka, and commandant Lipholo Nthako at the Correctional Staff Training School (CSTS) agreed to allow recruits to conduct a general search under supervision.
The CSTS trains recruits who have been with the LCS for years but have not received correctional services training on assignment.
The Ombudsman established the main targets of the beatings were the soldiers.
The Ombudsman's report stated:
"The officers seem to have huddled up as recruits to get their stories straight and report with bogus scenarios justifying the abuse.
"The evidence pointed to a well-orchestrated plan to torture and ill-treat inmates, in particular, it was mainly targeted at members of the LDF who remain incarcerated to date but somehow affected all other inmates in different cells," the Ombudsman's report said.
Response from civil society
Amnesty International's deputy regional director for east and southern Africa, Vongai Chikwanda, said the Ombudsman's report, "confirms the extent of unacceptable abuse suffered by inmates at the MCCI, where correctional officers, including recruits, were found to have colluded to justify their actions, while senior officers turned a blind eye to the misconduct, indicative of a deeply ingrained culture of impunity within the institution".
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Chikwanda added Lesotho authorities must conduct a timely, independent, unbiased, transparent, and effective investigation into the alleged acts of torture and abuse against detainees.
She said authorities must bring suspected perpetrators to justice in fair trials while also providing victims with access to justice and appropriate remedies.
"The minister of law and justice, as well the commissioner of correctional services must ensure accountability by holding those suspected to be responsible for the abuses to account and taking concrete steps to reform the country's correctional system.
"This to ensure that it upholds international human rights standards, including by revising laws and regulations governing detention, improving conditions of confinement, and promoting a culture of respect for human rights among correctional staff," Chikwanda added.
The 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices said prisons in Lesotho were harsh and life-threatening due to overcrowding, failing infrastructure, physical abuse and inmate-on-inmate violence, including rape, as well as poor food quality, clothes, sanitation, medical treatment, ventilation, lighting, and heating.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
