Key findings
- More than eight in 10 Basotho (81%) say that people found guilty of political crimes or human-rights violations should be held accountable. Only 18% favour granting them amnesty to allow the country to move forward (Figure 1).
- Support for accountability is strong across key demographic groups, though below average among older citizens (74%) and those with no formal education (76%) (Figure 2).
- More than seven in 10 citizens (72%) support the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that can investigate and make recommendations on past political crimes and human-rights violations (Figure 3).
- Support for such a commission is highest among those aged 18-25 years (74%) and lowest among peri-urban residents (68%) (Figure 4).
- While Basotho want reconciliation, they also want to see those who committed crimes for political motives to be held accountable (Figure 5).
Only about one-fifth of Basotho support amnesty for people who have perpetrated political crimes or human-rights violations, a recent Afrobarometer survey shows.
In addition to insisting on accountability for political crimes, most Basotho support the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that can investigate and make recommendations on past political crimes and human-rights violations.
In August, the 42nd Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) urged the government of Lesotho to continue its peace, transitional justice, and reconciliation process "to engender national unity and bring about national healing and cohesion."
Lesotho's Transitional Justice Commission has drawn criticism with a proposal to halt prosecution of people accused of political crimes investigated by the SADC-sponsored Phumaphi Commission.
