…over unlawful interference with peaceful protests
Moroke Sekoboto
HUMAN rights group, Advocates for the Supremacy of the Constitution, known as SECTION 2, has expressed concern over reports that police are referring organisers of peaceful assemblies to the Office of the Prime Minister, which is illegal.
According to SECTION 2, under the Public Meetings and Processions Act No. 14 of 2010, once a notice of intention to hold a peaceful assembly or procession is submitted, “it is the police officer who must decide, within two days, to grant or refuse permission. If permission is refused, the police must give written reasons”.
SECTION 2 states this in a statement released this week.
This after trade unions, including the Independent Democratic Union of Lesotho (IDUL), United Textile Employees (UNITE), Lesotho Workers Association (LEWA), and the National Clothing, Textile and Allied Workers Union (NACTWU), along with Construction, Mining and Quarrying (CMQ), were reportedly unable to hold a march scheduled for yesterday.
They reportedly did not approval from the Prime Minister’s Office on time.
The purpose of the procession was to call for action on the crisis of the United States tariff, violations of freedom of association, the undervaluing of traditional chiefs, and the impending renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), set to expire in September 2025.
Meanwhile a delegation led by three cabinet ministers headed to the United States on Sunday to try to nudge the Trump administration to review the 15% tariff which, while it is lower than the initial 50%, remains too high to guarantee the textile sector’s viability.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Business Development, Mokhethi Shelile; the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane; and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Tšeliso Mokhosi headed the delegation.
SECTION 2 also cites the youth march, which was slated for 4 July 2025 but failed to take place as another example of how the Prime Minister’s Office is repressing citizens’ free expression.
Organisers had planned the protest to pressure government to declare youth unemployment a national crisis.
Organisers are reportedly being told that “permission will only be granted if the Prime Minister’s office agrees,” a move SECTION 2 calls “unlawful”.
“The law does not require, anywhere, that organisers must reach an agreement with the Prime Minister or any other person they intend to march against”, SECTION 2 stated.
“By demanding this, the police are breaking the very law they are supposed to enforce.”
The organisation also criticised the Prime Minister’s Office for allegedly tolerating and enabling the illegality.
“We are reliably informed that the Prime Minister’s Office has established a team of about four individuals whose main task is to talk to people intending to protest and persuade them to abandon their plans. This is a blatant abuse of authority,” SECTION 2 said.
It added that it remains “entirely unclear how these four individuals, now wielding public power, were appointed into the Prime Minister’s Office in the first place. There was no transparent process, no demonstration of competence, and no merit. These positions were handed to them on a silver platter, through political favour or personal connections, and now they are misusing that power to interfere with rights guaranteed by the Constitution.”
SECTION 2 warned that “people who were unlawfully placed in positions of influence are now unlawfully restricting the rights of Basotho to assemble, to speak, and to be heard. This is an assault not only on individual freedoms but on the very principle of constitutional democracy”.
The group cited court a precedent in Lesotho Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Others v Commissioner of Police and Others.
Retired Justice Semapo Peete ruled: “In exercising their powers under section 4 of the Public Meetings and Processions Act, the police should generally always be inclined to grant permission to hold a meeting or procession unless there are circumstances, exceptional and compelling, showing that harm to peace, public safety, public security, or public order is likely to occur.
“The fact that a police officer personally disagrees with the purpose of the meeting or procession should never constitute a ground for refusal. Neither should the political sensitivity of the cause be a good ground for refusal, although that may warrant increased security precautions”.
SECTION 2 has madeit clear that the police must decide on notices within two days, provide written reasons if permission is refused, and stop sending people to the Prime Minister’s Office, which has no role under the law.
It encouraged individuals whose previous lawful notices were frustrated by police actions to resubmit their notices at least seven days in advance, stressing that “it is then the duty of the police to give priority to such notices, carefully consider them, and provide a decision within two days of receiving the notice, as required by law”.
“The police must respect the law and fulfil their duty to protect the right of Basotho to assemble peacefully.”
