Neo Kolane
Some victims of police brutality and other human rights abuses do not report such acts because they have no faith that action will ever be against the perpetrators.
The abuse usually occurs during crime investigations, in places of detention and during interrogation of suspects by the police.
There is also lack of clear channels and procedures for reporting police officers who perpetrate violence on suspects during their investigations.
This is according to a recent report compiled by non-governmental organisation, Sesotho Media and Development (SM&D) and funded by the European. It was commissioned in 2021 and will run until 2025.
The report titled ‘Bringing Together Police, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Public for the Realisation of Human Rights Compliance by the LMPS’ seeks to support multi-sector participatory change processes leading to the enhancement of the respect, promotion, fulfilment and protection of human rights by the police.
It says that although several options which include reporting to the chief, at police stations, to police officers of higher rank than the perpetrator(s), and/or to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) are available, few victims of police officers’ brutality, corruption, and violation of human rights come up.
The report also reveals that some people are discouraged from reporting cases against the police because officers do not follow up on cases.
People who participated in the focus group discussions reported that they are aware of members of their communities, including themselves, who have experienced some form of violence and harassment by police officers.
They cited a number of instances where police officers perpetrated acts of violence, harassment, and bribery on them as well as on other members of the community.
Community leaders (chiefs) and representatives of civil society organisations who participated in the key informant interviews also reported instances of police brutality, corruption, and violation of human rights against different groups of society including sex workers, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex or Questioning (LGBTIQ+) and people with disability.
During the SM&D facilitated screenings, sex workers indicated that police officers are not trained on how they should deal with them, specifically during patrols at night while they are at their places of work.
Some of the participants felt that LGBTIQ+ persons were treated badly at the police station when they go for services.
The general feeling was that police officers who treated these persons badly are immoral and not informed about issues around this community hence they did not understand the LGBTIQ+ community and discriminated against them.
SM&D says the ongoing national reforms denote a commitment by the government and its development partners towards stability in the country.
The Accountability & Capacity Building Initiative report comes against the backdrop of standards proposed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 2016 for security sector reforms.
“It is intended to evaluate the progress/challenges in relation to human rights reforms within the LMPS as a component of the security sector that is recommended to undergo reforms,” the report explains.
The research entails collection of sample outputs from the consultative gatherings, evaluation of outcomes directly linked to the project and weighing this information against the standards proposed by SADC in 2016 for Security Sector Reforms.
During interviews, the participants came up with several suggestions regarding what the authorities should do to ensure that the public is protected by police officers.
They said that the government should enforce hard measures against police officers who violate the public’s rights.
They also called for frequent public gatherings where authorities in the LMPS and government are made aware of the feelings of the community when it comes to their safety in the presence of police officers.
Other recommendations were that chiefs should organise public gatherings where police officers are invited to educate citizens about their rights and make them aware that acts of crime are not permitted and once a crime is committed, there are consequences.
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that deal with human rights matters should frequently conduct awareness campaigns to educate the public about all matters relating to human rights including violation and procedures to be followed when this occurs.
Community leaders such as chiefs and councillors need be trained on the available options so that they are able to educate their communities.
The participants also called for a review of training of police officers to equip them with skills required to deal with vulnerable groups such as sex workers, the LGBTIQ+ community and people with disability.
They said that LGBTIQ+ and sex workers need to be empowered to enable them to be brave enough to go to relevant bodies to report police misdeeds.
The report says the LMPS indicated that although there are no statistics showing the number of reported cases, the public reports police brutality perpetrated against them.
However, when it comes to police brutality against people who belong to different groups of society such as sex workers, LGBTIQ+, and people with disability not much is being reported, according to the report.
The police said that most people do not report corruption and as a result, a number of cases go unreported.
Police authorities told researchers that when people report officers who are perpetrators of brutality, corruption, and violation of human rights, there are actions and measures taken against such officers depending on the magnitude of the case. Such officers get charged, disciplinary action is taken against them and in some instances, they get fired from their jobs.
The report further revealed that although the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) conducts investigations on complaints lodged against police officers, the body does not have the authority to implement its recommendations.
This is because currently there are no clear guidelines on how this should be done, particularly with the office of the police minister.
The minister decides whether to implement the recommendations from the PCA or not.
In another development, world rights organisation Amnesty international last month urged Prime Minister Ntsokoane Matekane to move swiftly to honour his promise to ensure the realization of human rights, including tackling entrenched impunity for violations of human rights.
The organisation had documented human rights violations committed by police officers in Lesotho, ranging from unlawful killings, torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees.
It pointed out that it had documented cases where police authorities either neglected or refused to investigate allegations of torture, ill-treatment, and deaths in custody.
In the briefing; “Turn the chapter: Human Rights Agenda for the New Government of Lesotho”, Amnesty International called on Matekane and his government to ensure that all allegations of violations by the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) are promptly, thoroughly, independently, transparently, and effectively investigated.
“Prime Minister Matekane and his government must act swiftly to ensure accountability for these past human rights violations in order to build a culture of accountability and the rule of law going forward. Justice delayed is justice denied.
“During his inauguration as prime minister, 28 October 2022, Matekane vowed to undertake reforms to prevent and combat corruption, and make the public service transparent, accountable and effective. “He also made a commitment to develop and implement a crime fighting strategy within his first 15 days in office. Since then, there has been a worrying rise in gun violence and targeted killings in the country,” the organisation said.
