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History
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| Introduction The land rights of the Khwe, the Gana and Gwi of the Central Kalahari Game Range (CKGR) in Botswana were enshrined in that nation's constitution in 1961. Thus this land was set aside for use by these indigenous people before the country became independent. These rights were re-ratified in 1965. Despite their rights to the CKGR guaranteed in the Botswana Constitution the Khwe San have been evicted from the CKGR. This community of 3,500 people was forcibly relocated in 2002. The government asserts that the residents were "no longer real Bushmen", that they had over-hunted the reserve and abandoned their traditional ways of living, and therefore, had to be moved both for their own good and the good of the reserve ñ this despite the fact that a management report for the CKGR commissioned by the government in 1998 found that biomass there had significantly increased under the Gana and Gwi's stewardship. The report states: The suggestion that wildlife populations throughout the Kalahari are in a state of terminal decline is not supported by the evidence. There has been a good recovery of wildlife in the CKGR/KGR since the droughts of the 1980s, with significant increases in the numbers of three out of seven major ungulate species, and no significant declines in any species. In 2002 shortly after the eviction of the San from the CKGR most of this land was ceded to several diamond-mining companies as exploration and mining concessions. History and Background of the San Situation For thousands of years, the Khwe or San, popularly known as Bushmen, were the only inhabitants of Southern Africa. These people hunted and gathered wild plants. Much of their ancestral land is now incorporated into the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) in Botswana. In most parts of Southern Africa, the Khwe are not referred to or regarded as "black", and almost all the words used to describe them--Bushman, San, Basarwa--carry pejorative meanings. Culture also plays a key role in the disenfranchisement of the Khwe: they are hunter-gatherer pacifists, while most modern day African tribes are cattle-keepers with a strong warrior heritage. The first attempts to evict the CKGR residents were halted by the efforts of First Nations Development Institute (FNDI) after it received a request on February 20, 1996, from John Hardbattle of First Peoples of the Kalahari (FPK). Hardbattle himself was responding to a request he received from a traditional Khwe man from the CKGR, who was asking for immediate assistance and legal representation from FPK to stop the removal of the Khwe people from the CKGR. The Khwe sent a report and community testimony on a meeting the Ministry of Local Land, Governments, and Housing (MLLGH) held February 7, 1996, on the CKGR. Patrick Balopi, of MLLGH, notified all the communities within CKGR that they would have to leave the Reserve ìin the interest of the wildlife.î Hardbattle requested that FNDI, provide the overall strategic, legal, and technical assistance to: (1) stop the removal, and (2) secure title to the lands. In response to FPKís urgent request, FNDI developed a two-fold strategy to: (1) use international political and governmental pressure and public opinion to get the removal postponed, and (2) undertake the legal research and facilitate proceedings to secure the land. Phase 1 of FNDI Strategy Hardbattle, the Khwe representative and FNDI attended the United Nations High Commission on Racism and Discrimination in Geneva from March 17 through April 10, 1996, to stop the forced removal. Substantial progress was made in gaining international attention and support to prevent the forced removal of the Khwe in the immediate future as evidenced by: Members of the United States Senate Appropriations and Foreign Relations Committees wrote a letter to the Botswana government expressing their concern about the situation facing the Khwe and urged the government to reconsider any action that would result in their displacement from the CKGR. Meetings continued with members and aides of the Senate Appropriations and Foreign Relations Committees during their trip to the United States in 1996. Tim Reiser, Aide to Senator Leahy, coordinated the meetings. Parliamentarians from Norway, Denmark, and the EU would be sending a fact-finding mission into the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Great Britain's House of Lords introduced the issue before Parliament because they created the Reserve and were concerned about the integrity of their intent. The British High Commissioner in Botswana was asked to head into the Kalahari Desert to meet the threatened Khwe bushmen. Prince Charles met with Hardbattle and the Khwe representative while they were in London to pledge his support. A press conference was held in London on April 4th, and articles appeared in The New York Times, The Economist, The Times of London, The Financial Times, The London Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, the Spanish News Agency, and Deutschpresse. Interviews were also conducted on the BBC and Sky TV, and radio shows were broadcast on the BBC World Service, BBC Focus on Africa, and Radio France International. In May, the then President of Botswana, His Excellency, Sir Ketumile Masire, announced that he would conduct a briefing on the "Basarwa" (Khwe) situation in Washington, D.C. Members of FPK flew to the United States to be present for the President's first official statement about the situation. After requesting a private meeting, FNDI, FPK and an Indigenous representative from the CKGR met with the President and several of his advisors in Washington, D.C. on June 13, 1996. During that meeting, he agreed to begin discussions with the Khwe in Botswana. President Ketumile Masire conducted a public briefing at the World Wildlife Fund addressing the government's position on "remote area dwellers" (the Khwe and others) and allowed questions from the audience. After his presentation, he acknowledged that the government continually tries to persuade the Khwe to relocate the settlements "for their own good," and for the benefit of all people in Botswana. However, he stated that the government would not forcibly remove them from their homes. The President presented only two options for the Khwe: Option 1 was to remain on their territory with the situation remaining as it was then (limited access to water and food, and the continual "persuasion" to leave); or Option 2, which was to relocate to the settlements designated by the government (which the Khwe call "places of death"). A third option, presented by FNDI and agreed to by the San, was for the Khwe and the government to collaborate to find mutually agreeable ways of managing the CKGR, and to determine culturally appropriate economic development alternatives so the Khwe could continue their environmental management practices that have sustained the land, themselves and the local wildlife for centuries. However, this option was only mentioned and not discussed. In addition, the President stated that it is the government's policy to only compensate the Khwe for the cost of resettlement--there was no compensation made for what they've lost. Phase 2 of FNDI Strategy After successfully completing Phase 1 of their strategic plan "to use international political and governmental pressure and public opinion to get the removal of the Khwe postponed", FPK and FNDI moved into Phase 2, "to secure possessor rights to the CKGR for the Khwe". During this effort Hardbattle, the main spokesperson for the Gana and Gwi died. Soon after his death, the first round of evictions began in 1997. However, these evictions caused enough of a human rights outcry in the USA and Britain that the Botswana government soon backed off. In order to improve the standard of living for the Khwe who lived outside established and/or recognized villages, the government of Botswana introduced the Remote Area Dweller Program (RADP) in 1975. Although it was initially called the Bushman Development Program which more accurately reflected the cultural background of the majority of its clients, the name was later changed to RADP in order to avoid what the Botswana Government anticipated would be a negative reaction to its potential apartheid (separate development) connotations. Unfortunately, the RADP has not been successful in satisfying the basic objectives articulated by the Khwe people. Despite the influx of large amounts of foreign development aid through programs such as RADP and the Natural Resources Management Project (NRMP), the standard of living of the resident of the CKGR and the surrounding settlements decreased in relative terms. Officially, the government of Botswana maintained that they were not forcing people to leave the CKGR. According to the government, the provisions of basic social services remain the primary motivation for encouraging residents to move. The government made promises to CKGR residents that they would be provided with cattle, land, and the basic social services if they moved to settlements such as Okwa or Xade, which are located outside the CKGR. Unfortunately, there have been several cases where the promised services and "compensation" has not materialized and those who moved have become destitute and completely dependent upon governmental support for survival. It is important to also note that in 1997, output of the three diamond operations (Orapa, Jwaneng and Letlhakane) in Botswana represented approximately 50% of DeBeers annual profit, making the Republic of Botswana a model of modern economic success. In contrast, the original inhabitants of the territory, the Khwe, were said to be the "poorest of the poor", mostly living in extreme poverty, lacking land tenure and dependent upon the State. In 2000, the remaining CKGR residents had their special game licenses (i.e. household hunting licenses) revoked ñ several cases of beating and the torture of hunters at the hands of wildlife officials were reported and testimonies taken, but no investigation followed. In 2001, intimidation tactics were stepped up and finally in 2002, boreholes in the CKGR villages were filled in, villagers were loaded onto trucks and were later deposited in three resettlement camps. A few months later two-thirds of the reserve was leased to De Beers, Debswana and BHP Billiton (all mining companies) for diamond exploration. Both the Botswana government and mining companies assert that there was no connection between the CKGR removals and diamond mining. Immediately after their eviction, the Gana and Gwi under the aegis of FPK, took the government to court, asserting that the removals had been illegal as the peoplesí rights to reside, hunt, gather, graze and use water inside the CKGR had twice been ratified by the government itself. The case was thrown out on a technicality and FPK could not raise sufficient funds to bring the case back to court until 2004. To date it is reported that approximately 250-300 Khwe are still living in the CKGR. Current History and The Indigenous Land Rights Fund In January 2005, the IFC sent an Ombudsman to conduct their own investigate of the situation faced by the Khwe in the CKGR. We are still awaiting the IFC Ombudsman report to be completed or released. In June 2005, seven hunters were picked up by the wildlife authorities, beaten severely about the genitals and had gasoline poured into their anuses.† These abuses have been going on unchecked for over three years now. Moreover the community appears to be dying at an unsustainable rate. Of the 242 Bushmen, out of a total population of about 3,000 who signed the land claim currently in the Botswana courts, at least 10% have died. The death rate appears to be accelerating. Meanwhile the government claims that it will never allow them to go home and that they will 'perish like the dodo' should they not follow the plans to mainstream them. The irony seems to be that, with no choice but to sit in the camps as the government dictates, they are perishing anyway. The Botswana government is considering a change in the nation's Constitution that would legalize the taking of the CKGR and the expulsion of the San. Urgent action is required to stop this process and facilitate the return of the San to their ancestral lands in the Kalahari. The Indigenous Land Rights Fund (ILRF) has undertaken numerous legal actions on behalf of the Gana and Gwi. The ILRF grew out of a long established organization - the Kalahari Peoples' Fund (KPF), a 30 year old non-profit. As the need for more intensive advocacy in the matter of land claims became clear, it was deemed prudent to set up a U.S. based sister organization to deal with the land rights issue separately, so as not to endanger KPF's existing humanitarian projects within Botswana. The Indigenous Land Rights Fund (ILRF) exists to help displaced or soon-to-be displaced indigenous communities gain secure tenure of their ancestral land. The organization works through courts on the ground, through the international courts, through direct lobbying of government both in the USA and in the home country, through lobbying of corporations, and through mediation. They take a multi-faceted approach to each case, making sure that all avenues are thoroughly explored, so as to bring about the best result in the shortest possible time. The ILRF is a young organization, founded in 2004 but based on founder Rupert Isaacson's ten years experience fighting for bushman land rights in Southern Africa. In the short year ILRF has been in existence it has moved so fast and so effectively and has accomplished the following on behalf of the Gana and Gwi: •A direct land claim case on the ground in Botswana, disputing the legality of the •A case to be brought before the African Commission on Human Rights, asking •A case of illegal eviction and cultural genocide to be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC). •ILRF works to coordinate pro-bono legal and technical support. Such as the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG), and with law school human rights clinics such as the Human Rights Clinic at American University Law School and the Rappaport Center at University of Texas. They also have extensive contact networks at the UN (ILRI has official observer status there under the wing of the International League for Human Rights), U.S. State Department, IFC and World Bank, Congressional Human Rights Caucus and other relevant groups. Partner organizations include Survival International, Kalahari Peoples' Fund, Physicians for Human Rights, the Bank Information Center, the First Nations Development Institute, and the International League for Human Rights. ILRF is currently seeking more pro-bono legal aid to help it fight for the land rights of the San. |