MOB CONFRONTS MILITARY OVER RE-ARREST OF ALLEGED COUP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000398 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR AF/S GABORONE FOR RSO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC KDEM PHUM LT SUBJECT: MOB CONFRONTS MILITARY OVER RE-ARREST OF ALLEGED COUP PLOTTERS REF: A) Maseru 385; B) Maseru 379 MASERU 00000398 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On July 7, the Lesotho army's seizure of three soldiers, which Lesotho's High Court had ordered released from GOL custody for a second time, led to an angry mob hurling rocks at military vehicles and burning tires in the vicinity of a Maseru police station. The GOL accuses the three soldiers and two additional civilians, now dubbed the "Makoanyane 5," of involvement in recent attacks on ministerial residences and alleged coup plotting. Deputy Prime Minister Lehohla addressed the nation following the confrontation, stating that demonstrators were wrong to involve themselves in internal military matters. On July 8, local human rights NGOs issued a statement condemning the GOL for "roping in the army to fight its political battles~in a terrorist manner." The GOL/LDF's heavy handed tactics are not winning friends among Maseru's political class. END SUMMARY. -------------- The "Makoanyane 5" -------------- ¶2. (U) On the morning of Saturday July 7, Lesotho's High Court ordered the immediate release from "police and/or military" custody of five individuals (three military and two civilians) implicated, though never charged, in recent attacks against GOL ministerial residences and alleged coup plotting. The multiple detentions of these individuals date back to mid-June, when they were originally taken into custody by unknown security forces, although Lesotho police and military officials subsequently denied their custody. Following the escape and flight to South Africa of one detainee (ref B),local media reported that the missing individuals were held and allegedly tortured at Makoanyane Military Hospital. Four of the men were then transferred from military to police custody in early July, although the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) did not charge them with any crime. The High Court ordered the release from Lesotho Defence Forces (LDF) custody of the fifth, former soldier Makotoko Lerotholi, although the LMPS detained him upon his release by the military. -------------- Confrontation -------------- ¶3. (U) Following the High Court's July 7 verdict, as the LMPS prepared to release the five men, Lesotho Defense Forces (LDF) units surrounded the LMPS's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) offices in the Cathedral neighborhood of central Maseru and re-detained the three soldiers. A large mob, reportedly comprised of opposition supporters who had gathered at the police station, reacted angrily by pelting LDF vehicles with rocks as they sped away with the three soldiers. Bystanders also blocked a downtown street outside of the police station with burning trash and tires. The two civilians members of the group of five detainees (locally known as the "Makoanyane 5," named after the military hospital at which they were detained) remained inside the police station after being freed, and military forces periodically surrounded the police station through the evening of July 7. The two men eventually left the police station and are reportedly outside of police or military custody. Security officials restored order to the neighborhood shortly after nightfall. -------------- The Deputy PM Speaks -------------- ¶4. (U) Just prior to Lesotho Television's nightly news broadcast on July 7, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Lehohla made a short statement on the day's events. The statement was rebroadcast on Radio Lesotho. Lehohla stated that calm had returned to Maseru, and that the situation was "normal." He called the arrest of the three military personnel an internal military matter, and stated that protesters were wrong to attempt to intervene in such affairs. -------------- Strong Words From The NGO Community -------------- ¶5. (U) On Sunday July 8, the Lesotho Council on NGOs (LCN), MASERU 00000398 002.2 OF 002 Lesotho's umbrella organization for civil society groups, issued a press statement condemning the GOL for recent operations against alleged perpetrators of attacks against political figures. According to the statement, the GOL "roped in the army to fight its political battles~in a terrorist fashion similar to some turbulent parts of the world, hooded army operatives kidnap, torture, and maim members of the public and sometimes damage their property~terror and consternation is sweeping through the nation." The press release enumerated Lesotho's international human rights obligations under various treaties, and called on "the international community in general, and SADC and the African Union in particular, to reign in the Lesotho Government before the human rights violations perpetrated by the army with the Government's tacit approval deteriorates to a full-blown socio-political crisis." -------------- Heavy Hands Slapped by Court -------------- ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: The events of July 7 show an increasingly politicized population in Lesotho's capital which is split over the GOL's handling of the nation's current political turbulence. The GOL/LDF's heavy handed tactics are not winning friends among Maseru's political class. The High Court's decision, however, is another in a string of high profile court actions which bodes well for judicial independence (ref A). As the language of the High Court's decision seems to clearly prescribe that the "Makoanyane 5" be released from both police and military custody, some reconciliation of the LDF's actions to re-detain the three soldiers and the High Court's ruling is likely forthcoming. END COMMENT. MURPHY