The agency says that the Directorate facilities except for headquarters are by law exempt from public disclosure as allegations claim their existence is aimed at monitoring the growing anger by Bamangwato tribesmen against government.
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
(DISS ) is alleged to have set up black sites in response to the growing animosity between the Bamangwato tribesmen and the government in order to effectively monitor the unfolding events and execute their security operations.
Sources in Serowe alleged that The Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) has converted an old house (precise location withheld) that was used for senior public servants’ accommodation in the past into a black site office.
In military and intelligence terminology, a black site is a location at which an unacknowledged black operation or black project is conducted.
“Those unaware of what is happening in that house will think that it’s under utilised because it is always closed, even during the day. This is the new DISS office, where their operations are conducted. People have been interrogated, tortured and detained there,” revealed the sources.
To buttress the allegation, the sources said that the suspects who are accused of torching the Cabinet Minister Kgotla Autlwetse’s house were interrogated at the DISS facility recently, including the two men who went viral on social media with their disturbing claims of torture at the hands of the Directorate. “Those two men are telling the truth about what is happening at the house,” the sources added.
Responding to enquiries, the DISS Spokesperson Edward Robert stated that the directorate facilities except for headquarters are by law exempt from public disclosure, therefore he is not at liberty to share the whereabouts of their presence. “It cannot be true that the directorate has a torture centre in Serowe or anywhere else in the country as suggested because the law would not allow for such. This comes from people who want to tarnish the good name of the Directorate,” commented Robert.
Robert however, encouraged anyone with evidence that they had been tortured by employees of the DISS to report to either the police or any other law enforcement for proper intervention.