SOS Bushmen

SINCE 1996 we have regularly charted the tragic and shocking saga of the Botswanan government's forcible eviction of the last Bushmen from their ancestral homeland in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, fully supported by British ministers and the EU.

Initially the EU threatened to withdraw aid from Botswana unless persecution of the Bushmen was halted, but it was persuaded by our Foreign Office to back an eviction policy enforced by torture and shootings.

Last December, the Bushmen won a historic legal victory, thanks in part to the London-based campaigning body Survival International. Botswana's high court ruled that the evictions were illegal and in breach of a constitutional guarantee given them (at British insistence) when the country became independent in 1966. The court further ruled that the Bushmen must be allowed access to water and to continue their traditional hunter-gathering.

Since then the Botswanan government has consistently flouted the court's judgment, denying the Bushmen water and the right to hunt, and forcibly preventing most of them from returning home. Not a peep of protest from the Foreign Office, which has also over the years echoed Botswana's denials that part of its motive for forcing out the Bushmen was to permit diamond mining in the reserve.

It has just been announced that a pounds 2 million diamond mine is planned for the reserve, backed by the Botswanan government - and presumably our Foreign Office.

 A l’occasion du premier anniversaire de leur victoire judiciaire, les Bushmen de l’organisation First People of the Kalahari ont adressé au président du Botswana, Festus Mogae, une lettre ouverte dénonçant les méthodes du gouvernement visant à les empêcher de retourner sur leur territoire ancestral.

Le 13 décembre 2006, les Bushmen ont obtenu le droit de retourner sur leur terre de la réserve naturelle du Kalahari central dont ils avaient été expulsés par le gouvernement en 2002. Le droit de chasse leur avait également été reconnu.

Dans leur lettre, les Bushmen s’insurgent contre la répression gouvernementale leur interdisant d’utiliser leurs puits et de chasser et les contraignant à obtenir un permis de "visiteur" pour pénétrer dans la réserve.

Ils exhortent le gouvernement à enquêter sur les cas de tortures, de brutalités et de harcèlement dont sont victimes les Bushmen qui vivent dans l’un des camps de relocalisation à l'extérieur de la réserve.

Nel primo aniversario della sentenza storica emessa dall’Alta Corte del Botswana, l’organizzazione boscimane First People of the Kalahari ha inviato una lettera aperta al Presidente del paese, Mogae, descrivendo dettagliatamente come il governo continui ad impedire loro di rientrare nelle terre ancestrali.

Een jaar nadat de Bosjesmannen uit het Kalahari-reservaat hun rechtszaak omtrent de verdrijving van hun land hebben gewonnen heeft Survival International toegezegd hen te blijven steunen in hun pogingen terug te keren naar hun voorouderlijke gronden.

A l'occasion de la journée internationale des droits de l'homme décrétée le 10 décembre par les Nations-Unies, Survival a établi une liste noire des dix principaux oppresseurs des droits des peuples indigènes en 2007 : l'Indonésie, l'Australie, le Canada, les Etats-Unis, la Nouvelle-Zélande, le Botswana, le Brésil, le Pérou, le Paraguay et la Malaisie.

Les tribus de Papouasie sont confrontées à la violence de l'armée indonésienne et sont victimes d’assassinats, d’arrestations arbitraires, de viols et de tortures alors que leurs territoires sont exploités par le gouvernement indonésien et des compagnies multinationales.

Au Botswana, les Bushmen ont été expulsés de leur territoire du Kalahari central en 2002 et bien que la Haute Cour ait jugé en 2006 que ces expulsions étaient "illégales et anticonstitutionnelles", le gouvernement continue d'empêcher les Bushmen de retourner chez eux.

Les éleveurs qui occupent les terres des Guarani au Brésil engagent des hommes de main pour terroriser les Indiens. Cette année, deux leaders guarani ont été assassinés et deux femmes violées lors de conflits territoriaux tandis qu’au moins 26 Guarani se sont suicidés.

On estime qu’une quinzaine de groupes d’Indiens isolés vivent au Pérou. Alors que le gouvernement ouvre leurs territoires aux compagnies pétrolières et que les bûcherons illégaux y affluent, il sont tous menacés de disparition. Le président du Pérou a récemment insinué que ces Indiens n'existaient pas.

Les Ayoreo-Totobiegosode du Paraguay sont les derniers Indiens isolés du sud du bassin amazonien. De puissantes compagnies d’exploitation forestière sont en train de détruire leurs forêts et le gouvernement ne fait aucun effort pour les protéger.

En Malaisie, les peuples indigènes du Sarawak ont été dépossédés de leurs terres pour laisser place aux barrages, à l'exploitation forestière et aux plantations de palmiers à huile. Le gouvernement refuse d’accorder des droits territoriaux aux Penan, un peuple nomade de chasseurs-cueilleurs, tant qu’ils n’accepteront pas de devenir des agriculteurs sédentaires.

Bien que censés être des démocraties libérales, l'Australie, le Canada, la Nouvelle-Zélande et les Etats-Unis sont les seuls pays à avoir voté contre la Déclaration des droits des peuples indigènes approuvée par l'Assemblée générale des Nations-Unies en septembre dernier. 143 pays ont voté en sa faveur.

To mark UN Human Rights Day (10 December) Survival has named the 'terrible ten': the key abusers of tribal peoples' rights in 2007. Indonesia, Australia, Canada, the USA, New Zealand, Botswana, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay and Malaysia are all highlighted.

Tribal peoples in West Papua face appalling violence at the hands of the Indonesian military, experiencing killings, arbitrary arrests, rape and torture while their lands are exploited by the Indonesian government and foreign companies.

In Botswana, the government evicted the Bushmen from their land in the Central Kalahari in 2002, and continues to prevent them from returning home, despite a landmark court ruling in 2006 that declared the evictions 'unlawful and unconstitutional'.

Cattle ranchers occupying Guarani Indian land in Brazil are hiring gunmen to target the Indians. This year two Guarani leaders have been murdered and two Guarani women raped in land conflicts, while at least 26 Guarani have committed suicide.

Peru is home to an estimated 15 of the world's last uncontacted tribes and all of them are facing extinction as the government opens up their territories to oil companies and illegal loggers flood in. The Peruvian president recently suggested the tribes didn't exist.

The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode in Paraguay are the last uncontacted Indians south of the Amazon basin. But powerful logging companies are destroying their forest at breakneck speed, and the government is failing to protect them.

In Malaysia, the tribes of Sarawak have had their land taken to make way for logging, dam construction and oil palm plantations. The government has told the nomadic, hunter-gatherer Penan that they have no land rights until they 'settle down' and start farming.

Despite supposedly being liberal democracies, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA were the only countries to vote against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was approved by the General Assembly in September this year. 143 countries voted in favour.

The Kalahari Bushmen applied in Botswana's High Court on November 5th for leave to appeal for the Botswana government to pay their legal costs.

Last December, the Bushmen won their landmark case against the government. The court ruled that the government's eviction of the Bushmen was 'unlawful and unconstitutional'.

Two of the three judges presiding over the eviction case ruled that the Bushmen and the government must share the costs, despite the Bushmen's win. The judge in today's hearing has reserved his decision, but if he decides in their favour, the Bushmen will appeal for the government to pay all the costs.

The government has failed to uphold the 2006 ruling, and one year after the Bushmen's historic victory, most remain stranded in resettlement camps. The Bushmen have announced that they will launch a new case against the government if it continues to prevent them from returning home.

One year after court victory, Bushmen still far from home

13th December marks the first anniversary of the Kalahari Bushmen's landmark victory in Botswana's High Court. But the Botswana government has failed to uphold the court's ruling, and most of the Bushmen remain stranded in resettlement camps.

The court ruled that the Botswana government's eviction of the Bushmen was 'unlawful and unconstitutional', and that they have the right to live on their ancestral land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and hunt and gather there.

But the government refuses to let the Bushmen hunt, and has stepped up its persecution of those who do. At least 53 Bushmen have been arrested for hunting in 2007, and many have been tortured.

The government has also refused to let the Bushmen access their water borehole inside the reserve.

The Bushmen were trucked out of the reserve with their dismantled huts and all their possessions. But the government has offered them no assistance to make the long journey home through the Kalahari desert.

Since the court ruling, the government has backed plans for a massive diamond mine worth $2.2 billion on the Bushmen's ancestral land.

Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, 'The Botswana government is in effect saying the Bushmen have the right to eat and drink in the government camps but not on their ancestral lands. It is effectively condemning them to death.'

NEXT week marks the first anniversary of the Kalahari Bushmen's landmark victory in the Botswana High Court to be allowed to return to a game reserve that had been their home for centuries, but they still languish in resettlement camps outside the park.

The Botswana government did not uphold the court's judgement, which ruled that the eviction of the Bushmen or San was unlawful and unconstitutional, and that they have the right to live on their ancestral land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, a rights organisation for indigenous people said yesterday.

"The court further ruled that the San may and hunt and gather in the Reserve," said the London-based group Survival International.

"The government refuses to let them hunt, and has stepped up its persecution of those who do.

At least 53 San have been arrested for hunting in 2007, and many have been tortured," said the group in a statement.

The Botswana government denied them access to a borehole inside the reserve after the court case.

Since the court ruling, the government has backed plans for a massive diamond mine worth US$2,2 billion on the Bushmen's ancestral land, Survival's director Stephen Corry said.

"The Botswana government is in effect saying the Bushmen have the right to eat and drink in the government camps but not on their ancestral lands.

It is effectively condemning them to death," Corry added.

Les Bushmen du Kalahari ont déposé une requête aux fins d’interjeter appel auprès de la Haute Cour du Botswana pour le remboursement de leurs frais de justice par le gouvernement botswanais.

En décembre 2006, les Bushmen ont gagné leur procès contre le gouvernement du Botswana. La Cour avait jugé que l'expulsion des Bushmen était "illégale et anticonstitutionnelle".

Deux des trois juges avaient décidé que les Bushmen et le gouvernement devaient se partager les frais de justice. Le juge actuel a réservé sa décision mais s'il tranche en leur faveur, les Bushmen demanderont que le gouvernement rembourse la totalité des frais.

Le gouvernement botswanais n’a toujours pas appliqué le jugement de 2006 et un an après leur victoire historique, la plupart des Bushmen croupissent encore dans les camps de relocalisation. Les Bushmen ont annoncé qu'ils intenteraient un nouveau procès au gouvernement s’il persistait à les empêcher de retourner chez eux.

I Boscimani del Kalahari si sono appellati oggi alla Corte Suprema del Botswana chiedendo che il governo paghi le loro spese legali.

Nel dicembre 2006, i Boscimani hanno vinto un processo storico contro il governo del Botswana, riconosciuto colpevole di aver sfrattato illegalmente e incostituzionalmente i Boscimani dalle loro terre.

Survival International ensured that the eviction of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen in Botswana received unprecedented publicity in the world's press.

It also supported the groundbreaking court case which resulted in the Bushmen's rights being upheld, and which saw the legal concept of 'native title' recognised for the first time by an African court.

Applauded by many, particularly by the Bushmen themselves and other tribal peoples, Survival has also been subject to fierce criticism: by the Botswana government and De Beers, which was inevitable, but also by some NGOs and their allies, anthropologists, and even UK parliamentarians.

Il 13 dicembre si celebra il primo anniversario della storica vittoria segnata dai Boscimani del Kalahari presso la Corte Suprema del Botswana. Ma il governo del paese non ha rispettato la sentenza dei giudici e la maggior parte dei Boscimani rimangono bloccati nei campi di reinsediamento.

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas was 19 years old when she moved to Africa with her parents, who went there to study the Bushmen of the Kalahari.

That was in 1950, and the Bushmen were considered one of the last hunter-gatherer societies in the world. The experience was to influence Thomas' entire life.

She became an anthropologist and author, and wrote about the Bushmen in her 1959 book "The Harmless People," which has never gone out of print. She's written other books on a wide range of topics as well, including "The Hidden Life of Dogs."

Thomas' latest book is another look, 50 years later, at the Bushmen. It's called "The Old Way: A Story of the First People" (Picador, $15).