SOS Bushmen

Six San bushmen have been found guilty of hunting without permits on their ancestral land, but were not jailed after a Botswana magistrate freed them with a warning, a rights group said Wednesday.

"An attempt by the Botswana government to punish Bushmen for hunting to feed their families has backfired after a magistrate let them off with a caution, and ordered their release from prison," read a statement from Survival International, which campaigns for the rights of indigenous people.

Three bushmen were convicted for hunting a gemsbok in April and acquitted on a charge of hunting a giraffe. In a seperate case, also on Monday, three bushmen were convicted of hunting an eland in a game reserve.

It is considered unusual for convictions on these charges not to lead to a jail term or fine, the group said.

The San bushmen, southern Africa's first inhabitants, have faced an uphill battle in Botswana where government has forced them off their ancestral land.

"The Bushmen are not allowed access to their own water, they’re refused hunting permits, and they’re arrested when they do hunt, which is the only way they can feed their families," said Survival's director Stephen Corry.

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve was set up to protect their way of life, but after diamonds were discovered there, the bushmen were resettled outside the reserve.

As the traditional way of life is lost they are unable to hunt, dependent on government aid and have fallen prey to alcoholism and HIV.

Despite a 2006 ruling in the Botswana High Court that their eviction was unlawful, Survival International says some 50 bushmen have since been arrested for hunting.

Only some 100,000 bushmen remain in Southern Africa, spread across Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.