US flags Lesotho human rights situation

2024 Country Report criticizes “slow and unconstitutional” reforms and highlights impunity for state security forces

MOSA MAOENG

MASERU – The United States’ 2024 Human Rights Report on Lesotho has found no significant improvement in the country’s human rights situation over the past year, identifying widespread impunity and attacks on press freedom as major concerns.

The report, released this week, commended the government for taking “credible steps” to identify and punish officials who commit abuses. However, it highlighted a persistent culture of impunity, largely blaming sluggish investigations, prosecutions, and criminal trials for allowing violations to go unpunished.

Significant problems noted include extrajudicial killings, torture, cruel and degrading treatment, and arbitrary arrests and detention – often perpetrated by entities of the state, namely the police and army.

A substantial portion of the report focused on growing threats to freedom of expression. While the Constitution provides for freedom of expression, it does not explicitly protect freedom of the press.

This legal gap, the report advised, requires broader change to foster an independent media, an effective judiciary, and a functional democratic political system.

The report’s concerns were echoed by local watchdogs. The Media Institute of Southern Africa-Lesotho (MISA-Lesotho) recently criticized police instructions for media outlets to stop broadcasting content from banned accordion music groups, which the government claims incite violence.

MISA-Lesotho chairperson, Kananelo Boloetse, stated that the ongoing constitutional reform process is the key to enshrining press freedom but expressed deep frustration with its progress.

“We are all witnesses to how this reform process has been handled. It has been painfully slow, deliberately unconstitutional at times, and structured in a way that invites endless lawsuits,” Boloetse said.

“Instead of moving us forward, it has dashed our hopes… These reforms are not their personal property. They belong to Basotho who desperately want to see a better Lesotho.”

The report also raised alarms about the pending Computer Crimes and Cyber Security Bill of 2024, which Amnesty International chastised for criminalizing certain online speech with harsh fines. Media advocates fear the bill could legitimize increased government surveillance and intimidation of journalists.

This climate of fear has been exacerbated by violence. The May 2023 killing of outspoken journalist, Ralikonelo Joki, shot by unidentified gunmen as he left his radio station, has led many journalists to self-censor.

As recently as April 2024, journalists at the Lesotho Tribune were repeatedly threatened and harassed in apparent attempts to stifle their investigative work.

Pressure against journalists has intensified in recent years, with intimidation campaigns on social media and physical attacks becoming increasingly common.