Prison warders must face the music

That footage was shown at the hearing for the first time last week.

A Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Realeboha Mathaba heard that the prison warders appeared to have been in a drunken stupor when they assaulted Bokang Tsoako.

The late Tsoako had his head banged against the prison walls before he was assaulted with sticks, batons and bare hands.

Even when Tsoako was down on the floor, perhaps pleading for his life, the warders showed him no mercy and continued to assault him.

If that story did not move you, none will.

It is an account that generated raw anger in most of our readers.

Without the commission investigating what happened, Tsoako’s death could easily have been swept under the carpet and dismissed as one of those “natural deaths” that happen behind prison walls.

But thanks to the Commission of Inquiry we now know what happened under the cover of darkness.

Justice Mathaba and his team at the commission have so far done a splendid job in asking the tough questions to get to the bottom of this issue.

Despite the shocking levels of violence in Lesotho, we have become inured to violence. We would not be surprised if, after the hearing, we go back to our usual routine and proceed as if nothing happened.

That must not be allowed to happen.

What makes this really tragic is that a man died in the hands of warders. Others were left to nurse broken bones.

Others were damaged psychologically.

We would have failed in our duty as a newspaper if we do not raise this subject. Simply put, we want justice for Tsoako and those who were maimed.

This week, the prison warders finally said they are sorry. It is an apology that is only coming after they were cornered. Over the past few weeks the warders had engaged in an elaborate plan to shirk off responsibility. They had been collectively putting up a flimsy defence of why they did it.

That was sad.

A prison should be a safe place for convicts. It is the duty of the state to ensure that all prisoners are safe.

The picture that has been painted at the Commission of Inquiry is that of prison officers who had become a law unto themselves.

That is not surprising. The prison system is an extension of law enforcement which itself is mired in brutality.

The culture of violence permeates across all sectors of society in Lesotho.

That needs to be addressed if we are to fix the rotten culture in our prisons.

Prison warders need to understand that there is a limit to their authority and that their authority is not absolute.

That will require a systematic education programme for all warders.

We are eagerly looking forward to seeing what recommendations Justice Mathaba’s commission will suggest to fix the prison system.

It will take gigantic efforts on the part of the prison authorities to mend the broken trust with society.

But beyond fixing the system itself, there must be consequences for the perpetrators. And there must be justice for the victims, even beyond the grave.