Southern Africa: Call for Immediate Release of Detained Soldiers Following the Report of SADC Commission of Inquiry On Lesotho

press release

The Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) and Amnesty International (AI) call for the immediate release on bail and guarantees of humane treatment and a fair trial for 23 soldiers who have been facing a court-martial in Lesotho since May 2015 on charges of mutiny or failure to suppress a mutiny, as well as for the dissolution of the court martial process by the Prime Minister.

The 23 soldiers are accused of plotting to kill senior members of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF). Many of them reported that they have been subjected to torture, as well as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment at the hands of the LDF whilst in detention. The renewed call for their release comes after the contents of a report by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Commission of Inquiry into the situation in Lesotho were made public. The report found that there was no conclusive evidence of a mutiny plot and that some officers had been tortured into implicating other officers in the alleged plot. The report of the SADC Commission of Inquiry was formally tabled in the Lesotho Parliament on 8 February 2016.

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