Amnesty International Toronto Organization
Regional Meeting, October 16, 2004
The Bushmen of Botswana
The Bushmen
of Botswana
(PRWEB) July 24, 2004 -- The
San, or Bushmen, of Southern Africa's Kalahari are the oldest culture on the
planet – dating back at least 70,000 years. Hunter-gatherers with a culture
based around healing, they do not make war, and promote gender equality as part
of their way of life. Yet in recent years these gentle people have been hounded
almost out of existence by cattle ranching, diamond mining and cultural
genocide. Today, the Bushmen stand on the edge of extinction: less than 10,000
traditional San Bushmen remain across the six countries of the Kalahari
(Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe , Zambia and Angola). Everywhere
else they exist as serfs on other peoples' farms, often treated appallingly, or
as dispossessed slum-dwellers on the edges of the Kalahari's few towns.
To make matters worse, in 2002,
an estimated 1800 of these last traditional San Bushmen were forcibly evicted
by the Botswanan government from that country’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve
(CKGR), to make way for new diamond mines (the area in dispute is about the
size of Switzerland). Some who resisted were beaten and tortured. Now they sit
in makeshift camps outside the reserve boundaries, forbidden to hunt and gather,
slipping into an inevitable cycle of alcoholism and despair. However, with the
help of a human rights law firm (Chennels Albertyn, South Africa), the CKGR
Bushmen have now launched a land claim against the Botswana government, which
comes to court in July, 2004. Public support is desperately needed to get the
message out, and to raise funds to can keep the case open until it is won.
The Court Case
The CKGR Bushmen have a strong
position. The CKGR was created specifically in 1961 to protect their traditional
way of life. Moreover, Botswana’s own constitution declares that any citizen
may live wherever in the country he or she chooses. On top of this, in 1999 a
similar land claim was won by Chennels Albertyn on behalf of the Xhomani
Bushmen in neighboring South Africa – so a regional precedent exists. However,
the land claim alone is not enough. Pressure must also be brought to bear on
the mining companies with concessions in the CKGR – De Beers and BHP Billiton –
to demand that the Botswana Government allow the CKGR Bushmen to go home, live
in peace and be compensated for the inevitable disruption that mining will
eventually bring. Not much to ask for, one would think.
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