BACKGROUND TO THE REPORT AND SYNOPSISThe Kingdom of Lesotho ratified the <str<strong>on</strong>g>African</str<strong>on</strong>g> Charter <strong>on</strong> <strong>Human</strong> <strong>and</strong> People's <strong>Rights</strong>, ofJune, 1981, <strong>on</strong> 9 April, 1991. This was in preparati<strong>on</strong> for the democratic process, which wasushered in <strong>on</strong> the 27 March, 1993, when the first democratic post independence electi<strong>on</strong>s wereheld.Lesotho's initial report <strong>on</strong> the domestic implementati<strong>on</strong> of the <str<strong>on</strong>g>African</str<strong>on</strong>g> Charter (as it is here inreferred to) was due in of about 9 April, 1993. However, this was not to be. There are manyfactors, which. militated ,leatirst preparati<strong>on</strong> of the report. These inter alia, included lack ofmanpower to undertake the reporting exercise, the destabilisati<strong>on</strong> of the democratically electedgovernment, etc.In 1995, the Government of Lesotho got support from the Comm<strong>on</strong>wealth Secretariat anc altroprofessi<strong>on</strong>al staff of the <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> Unit, who were already involved with reportingeeregiven special training <strong>on</strong> reporting <strong>and</strong> successfully completed reporting <strong>on</strong> the implementati<strong>on</strong>of the Internati<strong>on</strong>al Covenant <strong>on</strong> Civil <strong>and</strong> Political <strong>Rights</strong>, (ICCPR), 1966; <strong>and</strong> the UnitedNati<strong>on</strong>s C<strong>on</strong>venti<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the <strong>Rights</strong> of the Child (CRC), 1989. The said reports were submittedto the relevant United Nati<strong>on</strong>s Committees.It was our strategy to start with the ICCPR Report because the guidelines there-of are moredetailed than those of the <str<strong>on</strong>g>African</str<strong>on</strong>g> Charter. Since the two instruments, i.e the ICCPR <strong>and</strong> The<str<strong>on</strong>g>African</str<strong>on</strong>g> Charter cover almost the same ground, with few variati<strong>on</strong>s, the informati<strong>on</strong> providedunder the ICCPR was then adapted as nearly as possible, to suit the guidelines to PeriodicReporting under Article 62 of the <str<strong>on</strong>g>African</str<strong>on</strong>g> Charter <strong>on</strong> <strong>Human</strong> <strong>and</strong> People's <strong>Rights</strong>, preparedby Professor U.O. Umozurike, <strong>on</strong> behalf of the <str<strong>on</strong>g>African</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Commissi<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>Human</strong> <strong>and</strong> People's<strong>Rights</strong>.The Report covers the period 1991 - to the present. It provides informati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> legislative,judicial <strong>and</strong> administrative procedures, acti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>and</strong> interventi<strong>on</strong>s, which are intended to giveeffect to the domestic implementati<strong>on</strong> of the Charter. In some instances the informati<strong>on</strong>provided may not be as comprehensive as required. This is due to the fact that the task ofcollecting data <strong>and</strong> informati<strong>on</strong>, for purposes of reporting is a very arduous <strong>on</strong>e. It requites theofficer to devote all his or her time to the reporting exercise. Given the c<strong>on</strong>straints of manpowerwithin the <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> Unit, this is not possible, as there are also other equally dem<strong>and</strong>ingactivities to be attended to.The Report in the first part, comps I sin; paragraphs 1.0 - 1.19, provides informati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong>: TheL<strong>and</strong> of Lesotho (Geographic Settings The People; Political History <strong>and</strong> Framework_Populati<strong>on</strong>, including Demographic Data; The Official Languages; Social Ec<strong>on</strong>omic Indicators,The Legal System; Basic Documents <strong>on</strong> <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>and</strong> Major <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> Instrumentsto which Lesotho is a State Party; Political Developments Pertaining to Civil <strong>and</strong> Pol itical<strong>Rights</strong>; Steps taken to Improve the : Disabled, Children, Women, <strong>and</strong> Foreign ',et 1. let Powersharing Between Men <strong>and</strong> Women at all Levels of Decisi<strong>on</strong> Making including: T he Seiate. [heNati<strong>on</strong>al Assembly, Public Set vice, <strong>and</strong> Cabinet; The Role of NGO' s in Empowering Women,HIV/AIDS Educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> Awareness; Steps taken to Protect Family Cohesi<strong>on</strong>; Religi<strong>on</strong>;vi
The Government, i.e the M<strong>on</strong>archy, Elected Officials, <strong>and</strong> Appointed Officials The legalframework within which human rights are protected; And the enforcement of the Imo ■isi<strong>on</strong>s ofthe Charter by the courts <strong>and</strong> other tribunals or administrative authorities.The rest of the report is dedicated to the implementati<strong>on</strong> of the various rights c<strong>on</strong>tained in theCharter. This covers all articles of the Charter, i.e from Article 1 to Article 29. It c<strong>on</strong>tainsinformati<strong>on</strong> relating to the recogniti<strong>on</strong> of all the rights c<strong>on</strong>tained in the Charter <strong>and</strong> also thecountry's undertaking to h<strong>on</strong>our the obligati<strong>on</strong>s thereof, as well as guarantying to allindividuals, citizens <strong>and</strong> aliens alike residing in Lesotho, all the rights c<strong>on</strong>tained in the Charter.These include• the right of equality before the law ( n<strong>on</strong> discriminati<strong>on</strong>); the right to life; theright not to be subjected to torture or in human or degrading punishment; the right to pers<strong>on</strong>alliberty <strong>and</strong> security of pers<strong>on</strong>; the right to have a cause heard, presumpti<strong>on</strong> of innocence, trialwithin a reas<strong>on</strong>able time; freedom of c<strong>on</strong>science, religi<strong>on</strong>; the right to receive informati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong>disseminati<strong>on</strong> of informati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> opini<strong>on</strong>; freedom of associati<strong>on</strong>; the right to assemble freely;the right of freedom of movement; the right to participate in government, equal access to publicservice, access to public property; the right to property; the right to work under equitablec<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s, equal pay for equal work; the right to enjoy best attainable state of physical <strong>and</strong>mental health; the right to educati<strong>on</strong>, cultural life <strong>and</strong> protecti<strong>on</strong> of moral <strong>and</strong> traditi<strong>on</strong>al values;protecti<strong>on</strong> of the family, duty of the state to assist the family, eliminati<strong>on</strong> of discriminati<strong>on</strong>against women; equality of all people <strong>and</strong> n<strong>on</strong> dominati<strong>on</strong> of people by another; the right to selfdeterminati<strong>on</strong>; the right to dispose of wealth, recovery of wealth, adequate compensati<strong>on</strong>,disposal of natural resources; the right to ec<strong>on</strong>omic, social <strong>and</strong> cultural development; the rightto internati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>and</strong> nati<strong>on</strong>al peace; the right to a satisfactory envir<strong>on</strong>ment; the duty to promote<strong>and</strong> ensure through teaching, educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> publicati<strong>on</strong>, the respect for the rights c<strong>on</strong>tained inthe Charter; <strong>and</strong> the duty to guarantee the independence of the courts.At the end of the Report there is a list of the statutes <strong>and</strong> legal instruments referred to in theReport, including : agreements, Lesotho Cabinet Decisi<strong>on</strong>s, Lesotho cases as well as otherreports <strong>and</strong> documents.vii