PRIME Minister Thomas Thabane needs to move swiftly to assert his authority and act against those responsible for human rights abuses under the previous coalition, even if it means asking Southern African Development Community's (SADC) military help to apprehend the perpetrators, regional military experts say.
Even though Dr Thabane promised reconciliation and not retribution during his campaign, the experts said it would be a mistake if he let the more egregious forms of rights violations, like the cold blooded murder of former Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) commander Maaparankoe Mahao, go unpunished. Letting criminal offenders go unpunished could in fact impede long-term reconciliation, peace and stability as it encourages more impunity, the experts noted.
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