LESOTHO: PEACEFUL OPPOSITION MARCH DISSIPATES TENSIONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000389 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/S E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC KDEM PHUM LT SUBJECT: LESOTHO: PEACEFUL OPPOSITION MARCH DISSIPATES TENSIONS REF: A) MASERU 387; B) MASERU 386; C) MASERU 365; D) MASERU 384 MASERU 00000389 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On July 5, Lesotho's opposition parties held a large and peaceful march to deliver protest petitions to Lesotho's Commissioner of Police and the Prime Minister's office. The march ended at the National Convention Center, where opposition leaders (with ABC Leader Thomas Thabane conspicuously absent) railed against the government for civil rights abuses. However, as both the government and the opposition took steps to back away from a potential confrontation, today's events may be seen as a victory for the message of dialogue and tolerance which the diplomatic corps had uniformly stressed during July 2 and 3 meetings with both sides of Lesotho's ongoing political crisis. END SUMMARY. -------------- The March: Large and Peaceful -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Contrary to the GOL's previous stated intention to prevent the march (ref A),police officials granted a permit on July 4 for the event and provided the demonstrators with police escort on June 5. At Embassy Maseru's Independence Day reception, Minister to the Office of the Prime Minister Dr. Motloheloa Phooko told Charge that if the demonstrators "remained peaceful" he intended to accept their petition (which, in fact, he did). ¶3. (U) The protest march commenced at approximately 10:00 a.m., and observers placed the number of participants at a minimum of five thousand. No notable instances of violence or vandalism were reported. Police escorted the protesters as they delivered a petition to Commissioner of Police `Malejaka Letooane and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Motloheloa Phooko before ending with a rally at the National Convention Center. The petition demanded that the GOL immediately desist all extra-judicial detention and mistreatment of opposition supporters (ref C). At the convention center, opposition parties made statements condemning the government for "abductions and acts of torture." Present were Major General Lekhanya of the Basotho National Party (BNP),Moeketse Malebo of the Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP),Dr. Khauhelo Ralitapole of the Alliance of Congress Party (ACP),Macaeffa Billy of the Lesotho Workers Party (LWP),and ABC Deputy Leader Sello Machakela. ABC Leader Thomas Thabane was conspicuously absent, reportedly for medical treatment in Johannesburg. -------------- The Communications Minister's Hard Line on Eve of March -------------- ¶4. (U) Contrary to Phooko's relatively conciliatory posture and the police's cooperation with the opposition, on the evening of July 4, Minister of Communications, Science, and Technology Mothojoa Metsing issued a statement discouraging the public from participating in the opposition protest march planned. In his televised address, Metsing named a group of detained individuals, mostly from the Lesotho Defense Forces (LDF),"who intended to topple the government." Among those cited were those whom the opposition claimed were victims of torture. Regarding the protest march, he stated that, "It is difficult to comprehend why [opposition] parties would call their members to support those coup plotters. The question that needs to be answered by some opposition leaders is, how to do they relate to the suspects?" Metsing also reiterated the GOL's "no show, no pay" policy regarding civil servants who observed opposition strikes. -------------- The Dip Corps Meets Thabane -------------- MASERU 00000389 002.2 OF 002 ¶5. (SBU) On July 3, ABC Leader Thomas Thabane met with Maseru's resident diplomatic corps in advance of the planned protest march. While sharply criticizing the LDF's "extra-judicial arrests and torture," Thabane said that he was "not a marcher" and that the demonstration had been arranged by other opposition figures. He stated that the arrest of opposition figures, if necessary, should be conducted by the police rather than the military. He also noted that a "sit-in" following the march, as had been suggested by other opposition figures, would be out of order, and that he "did not see value" in a taxi strike which was called for at a July 1 ABC-led opposition rally. ¶6. (SBU) The diplomatic corps suggested that a dialogue with authorities prior to the march may prevent needless violence. Thabane responded that the GOL was attempting to demonize him, and that he was not inclined to engage with them. He added that he did not concur with the SADC press release issued over the weekend concerning the ongoing dialogue between the opposition and governing parties (ref D),but offered that if the GOL would denounce its human rights abuses and use of torture he would call off the upcoming march. Charge noted that marches and protests could be a healthy part of democracy, but that a dialogue on security issues was necessary to insure the safety of all involved. Thabane reluctantly agreed to meet with GOL officials if the United Nations or the acting dean of the diplomatic corps (Irish) could arrange a meeting with either Minister to the Prime Minister Phooko (who he referred to as "useless") or Deputy Prime Minister Lehohla. -------------- Tension Eases -------------- ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: The two sides, citing logistics, never did meet, but clearly reflected on the dip corps' concerns about a potential confrontation and the lack of dialogue leading to dangerously entrenched positions. While both the government and opposition parties remain vociferous in their criticism of each other, they did appear to meet in the middle on the march issue. The GOL relented on its hard line against the march, allowing the opposition a permit for the event, and the opposition reversed its original plans to hold a "sit-in" at the Prime Minister's office, satisfied with the opportunity to present their petition to Minister Phooko. Recent days have seen more detentions, but they have been handled by the police and appear less extra-judicial in nature than those of several weeks ago. END COMMENT. MURPHY