Lesotho: International protocols and conventions

Updated January 2002

The Kingdom of Lesotho has ratified the following international human rights treaties:

  • The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) adopted by the General Assembly on 16 December 1966 and entered into force on 3 January 1976.
  • The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination adopted by the General Assembly on 21 December 1965 and entered into force on 4 January 1969 (CERD).
  • The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted by the General Assembly on 16 December 1966 and entered into force on 23 March 1976 (CCPR) and the First Optional Protocol to the Covenant (CCPR-OP1).
  • The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 1979 and entered into force on 3 September 1981 (CEDAW) and the First Optional Protocol to the Convention (CEDAW-OP).
  • The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) adopted by the General Assembly on 20 November 1989 and entered into force on 2 September 1990 and the two Optional Protocols to the Convention.

On 12 November 2001, the Kingdom of Lesotho ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), opened for signature, ratification and accession on 4 February 1985, adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 1984, and entered into force on 26 June 1987.

On 9 September 1992, the Kingdom of Lesotho also ratified International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the First Optional Protocol to the Covenant, but as of 8 January 2002, it still failed to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant, which aims at the abolition of the death penalty.

On 6 September 2000, the Kingdom of Lesotho ratified the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC-OP) on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Kingdom of Lesotho became a party to the Convention on 10 March 1992.

Similarly, on 6 September 2000, Lesotho ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW-OP), to which it became a party on 22 August 1995.

As of 8 January 2002, the Kingdom of Lesotho not ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (MWC), which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1990.

Source

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2000 "Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Lesotho", Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, February 25.