VZCZCXRO2574
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHRN
DE RUEHMR #0385/01 1841542
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 031542Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY MASERU
TO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0008
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHMR/AMEMBASSY MASERU 3492

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000385 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/S 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM ASEC LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO: ABUSED OPPOSITION BODYGUARD FREED ON COURT ORDER 
 
REF: Maseru 379 
 
MASERU 00000385  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  On the evening of July 2, a High Court Justice 
ordered the Lesotho Defense Forces (LDF) Commander to facilitate 
the immediate release of Mr. Makotoko Lerotholi to his family. 
Unidentified gunmen took Mr. Lerotholi, a bodyguard for Thomas 
Thabane, head of the All Basotho Convention (ABC), from his home 
by on June 22. Neither the LDF nor the Lesotho Mounted Police 
Service (LMPS) admitted having him in his custody.  Following a 
legal appeal by his wife, Lerotholi's lawyer was granted access 
to him and discovered the man in poor physical condition bound 
to a hospital bed at Makoanyane Military Hospital (MMH).  After 
his release, he alleged torture at the hands of Lesotho's 
security organs.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
A Grim Tale of Extra-Judicial Force 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) At approximately 9:00 p.m. on July 2, a Justice of 
Lesotho's High Court ordered the immediate release of Makotoko 
Lerotholi, a bodyguard for opposition ABC leader Thomas Thabane, 
in response to an legal case filed by Lerotholi's wife after her 
husband's abduction by unknown gunmen on June 22.  Lerotholi is 
a former soldier, retired from the army for eight years.  After 
Lerotholi was abducted, fellow Thabane bodyguard Thabo Thants'i 
claimed that he had witnessed Lerotholi's torture before 
escaping from Makoanyane Military Hospital (MMH) to South Africa 
after his own alleged torture (reftel).  According to Embassy 
security contacts, LDF soldiers attempted to turn Lerotholi over 
to police custody on June 29, but the LMPS's Assistant 
Commissioner for Criminal Investigations refused due to the 
man's apparent injuries at the hands of his interrogators and 
the fact that the police had not charged him with a crime. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) Hae Phoofolo, Lerotholi's attorney and a well known human 
rights lawyer, was the first to access Mr. Lerotholi after the 
court order.  During a call to private radio station Harvest-FM, 
he claimed that he found Lerotholi chained to a bed at 
Makoanyane Military Hospital (MMH).  He stated that Lerotholi 
had obvious signs of physical abuse.  Since his release, 
Lerotholi related his ordeal to family and friends, who have 
since publicly stated that he was tortured. 
 
 
 
------------------- 
 
The High Court Case 
 
------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) The case filed at the high court accused the following 
individuals of responsibility in her husband's abduction: 
Commander of the LDF General Thuso Motanyane; Prime Minister and 
Minister of Defense Pakalitha Mosisili; Commissioner of Police 
`Malejaka Letooane; Director of Makoanyane Military Hospital 
Lieutenant Paul Koenane; and Attorney General, Tsokolo Makhethe. 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) High Court Judge `Maseforo Mahase issued a strong ruling, 
stating that "the applicant's husband's kidnapping and detention 
by the [LDF Forces] is an unlawful violation of his right to 
liberty," and directed that Makoanyane Military Hospital provide 
Lerotholi's attorney with records of "all physical examinations 
done while he remained at Makoanyane Military Hospital (MMH)." 
 
 
 
------------------------- 
 
Grim Tale, Bold Judiciary 
 
------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT:  The case of Makotoko Lerotholi is a grim 
reminder of the directions in which the current political 
turbulence can lead.  Section 81 of Lesotho's constitution 
 
MASERU 00000385  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
prohibits all forms of torture.  The only bright spot in this 
dark narrative is the judicial independence shown by Lesotho's 
High Court, which moved boldly and expeditiously to resolve Ms. 
Lerotholi's case.  The political opposition, meanwhile, is 
citing the alleged torture in its growing demands for the GOL to 
cease extrajudicial detention and mistreatment of its supports. 
END COMMENT. 
MURPHY