MASERU
Private Nthatakane Motanyane, one of the army inmates said inmates who are members of the Lesotho Defense Force (LDF) and Lesotho Mounted Police Services (LMPS) are treated brutally at Maseru Central Correctional Institution (MCCI) as compared to other ordinary inmates.
This he said before the Commission of Inquiry as his testimony. Motanyane pointed out that they are denied to be in control of their health booklets by the clinic but other inmates are allowed to have them. He added that they talk to their visitors from a distance at the visitor’s area while those of other inmates speak closely with theirs.
In addition, Motanyane said it is also up to the officer who will be positioned at visitors’ area to decide how long they talk to their visitors. “An officer can sometimes allow our visitors to give us our items and instruct them to leave,” he stated.
He continued to say they live through God’s grace at the facility because the environment is not favorable, stating that not even a single right which is theirs is read to them instead officers will tell them to respect them.
Motanyane said, “Over the past seven years that I have spent here, I have learn that, it is not respect they want but they want prisoners to fear them based on the manner in which they approach and treat them.”
On an issue of assault Motanyane said Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) recruits assaulted him upon their arrival in his cell during the so called general search. He said him and other cellmates ended up not being searched because they were battered. Motanyane said it is not true that LDF inmates disrespect officers in the facility and that they never denied to be searched, saying if it was true, it could have been long known.
Sharing the same feeling as Motanyane, Marasi ‘Moleli, another army inmate indicated that he was denied talking to his visitors after the beating and that he was even denied talking to his children who came to see him at the facility on Christmas day. He said this while testifying before the Commission.
The Commission of Inquiry is chaired by Justice Realeboha Mathaba and is expected to finish its work within two months.
