VZCZCXRO6871
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHRN
DE RUEHMR #0398/01 1901458
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 091458Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY MASERU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3133
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHMR/AMEMBASSY MASERU 3517

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. 
 
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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. 
 
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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. 
 
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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." 
 
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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