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BOTSWANA: BUSHMEN - BACK TO
COURT?
20 November 2007
Bushmen in Botswana today announced they plan to return to court within a
matter of weeks if the government continues to prevent them from returning
home.
The Gana and Gwi Bushmen were evicted from their lands in the central Kalahari
in 2002, but last year won a landmark court case affirming their right to go
home.
Hundreds of letters signed by Bushmen were today handed to Botswana's
department of wildlife, detailing their concerns. They say the government is
refusing to let them hunt to feed their families. Fifty-three Bushmen have
been arrested for hunting since the court victory in December.
The government is also preventing the Bushmen from using their water borehole,
and is insisting that only a limited number of them can return to their land.
It has refused to provide transport for the Bushmen to go home, despite the
court's finding that they were evicted illegally and against their will.
A representative of the Bushman organisation, First People of the Kalahari,
today stated, ‘We do not want to keep fighting in the courts. That is not the
way to resolve problems. But we feel we have no other option. We are
desperate.’
SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
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