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Letter to Ecoterra Intl. by the Botswana Government
Dear Sir/Madam , The information contained in your e-mail message of December 10, 2002, - Subject:Drinking water is human right - alleging that the Government of Botswana is driving the Gana and Gwi Bushmen and Bakgalagadi out of their homeland in the Central Kalahari and doing this on behalf of DeBeers, is incorrect and misleading to your subscribers.
WATER
A HUMAN RIGHT AND THE REALITY FOR THE BUSHMEN
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY: 10.12.2002 - Taking away the water supply facility
from the Gana and Gwi Bushmen and the Bakgalagadi to drive them out of
their homeland in the Central Kalahari clearly is a violation of their
basic human rights by the Botswana Government. Doing this on behalf of
De Beers, the world's diamond mogul, is an act against humanity and
must be tried and punished by the International Court of Justice.
'We
are the First People':Land, Natural Resources and Identity in the Central
Kalahari, Botswana Robert K.
Hitchcock - Journal of Southern African Studies - Publisher: Routledge, part
of the Taylor & Francis Group - Issue: Volume 28, Number 4 / December
01, 2002 - Pages: 797 - 824
DE
BEERS CELEBRITY STORE OPENING LOOSES ITS SPARKLE
(November 21, 2002) Celebrities will be urged today (6.45-10pm) by
Survival International protesters not to cross their picket line at
the opening of the first De Beers shop (45-50 Old Bond Street), over
the eviction of the Bushmen from the Kalahari.
Diamonds not behind San
move
12/11/2002 16:00 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The
Botswana government has denied that diamonds were behind the
controversial relocation of the Basarwa bushmen from the Central
Kgalagadi Game Reserve (CKGR), and has accused British lobby group
Survival International (SI) of a "campaign of deception".
Diamonds in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the eviction of Bushmen
(November 11, 2002) Thousands of Gana and Gwi `Bushmen', and Bakgalagadi, have been forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) in Botswana. This is a gross violation of their human rights and is against international law. Unless they get their lands back, these Bushman tribes are unlikely to survive as peoples.
The Diamond Tears of Botswana
In this week’s "Source4Thought", we consider the plight of a group of people, who are as much the subject of "colonialism", as any country during the 19th century.’Why must I move? They will kill me for my land... We are oppressed until we die, and soon there will be no one left.’ - Mogetse Kaboikanyo, who died in June 2002, after being forced to move.
De
Beers against having a policy concerning the rights of indigenous peoples
Extract of letter from Rory More O'Ferrall, Director of Public and Corporate
Affairs in De Beers' London office to Rafael Runco, chair of Survival
International, dated 15 October 2002, in connection with Survival's campaign
in support of the Gana, Gwi and Bakgalagadi of the Central Kalahari Game
Reserve in Botswana.
Diamonds are curse of ancient Bushmen
(11/08/2002) A gentle people persecuted for centuries face a new threat, writes John Simpson in
Tsumkwe, Namibia - In the school playground, a dozen children stand apart: smaller than the rest, and lighter of colour. They are quiet and serious and used to being bullied and pushed to the back of the queue for everything: food, education, health care. When they speak, the clicks in their words show they are San people, though they do not like the name. They use the old term: Bushmen.
Kalahari
cactus boosts UK drug firm
(30 July, 2002) Kalahari bushmen have
used Hoodia for centuries - An anti-obesity
drug made from a Kalahari desert cactus is a step closer to
reality after its developer, UK drug company Phytopharm, signed a
fresh deal with US giant Pfizer.
Africa: Genocide against San (Bushmen)
(2002-07-05) The government of Botswana is carrying out a blatant campaign of ethnic cleansing against the San, also known as the Bushman people, one of Africa-s oldest ethnic groups, whose habitat is being destroyed systematically by diamond
prospectors.
WORLD
SUMMIT 2002 - Drawbacks and Shortcomings
(May 14, 2002) - Massive Pullout from World Summit - Many groups from around
the world say NO to their earlier planned participation at the World Summit
for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg later this year.
How the San nearly lost their heritage
(April 11, 2002) It is good news to learn that a South African indigenous community will share benefits arising from the commercialisation of an appetite - suppressing substance from the /hoodia /cactus.The victory by the San is definitely an African victory and a loud no to bio-pirates who have been rushing to patent African indigenous knowledge as their own. It is also a warning to African communities: Protect your knowledge and do not be
intimidated.
Bushmen take Botswana to
court
(2002-03-27) Source: BBC News - The San have roamed the Kalahari for 30,000 years.
Bushmen from the Kalahari desert are taking the Botswana Government to court, in an attempt to retain their right to stay as nomads on the land of their
ancestors.
Botswana
Bushmen's last stand
(18 March,
2002) The Kalahari
desert is the ancestral home of the San - Away
from the prying eyes of the world, the last remaining Kalahari
Bushmen, or San people of Botswana, are being starved of food and
water in a bid to force them off the land their forefathers have
roamed for the past 30,000 years.
BOTSWANA:
BUSHMEN WITHOUT WATER
(22 Feb 2002) BOYCOTT BOTSWANA DIAMONDS !
- BOYCOTT BOTSWANA HOLIDAYS ! - The
Botswana government has now deliberately cut off water to Gana and Gwi Bushman
villages in the desert. In the last couple of days officials have removed
parts from the Bushmen's only pump, making it impossible for them to get any
water. They also deliberately emptied the tanks containing their remaining
water supplies. Bushmen who tried to protest were abused.
Botswana: a tyranny beyond the
grave
Mogetse Kaboikanyo was a Kgalagadi man who lived alongside the Gana and Gwi Bushmen in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. In February 2002, he was forcibly relocated to a camp outside the reserve. He died just four months later. He was probably in his fifties; his friends said his heart stopped beating. After years of struggling to remain on his land, Mogetse was buried in the desolate relocation camp, far from his ancestors' graves.
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