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

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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.

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The "Makoanyane 5"

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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.

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Confrontation

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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.

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The Deputy PM Speaks

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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.

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Strong Words From The NGO Community

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5. (U) On Sunday July 8, the Lesotho Council on NGOs (LCN),

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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."

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Heavy Hands Slapped by Court

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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