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Row over Bushmen 'genocide'
6 November 2005
By
Paul Kenyon
BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents
| A London-based organisation
which accuses the Botswana government of ethnic cleansing against the
Kalahari Bushmen has come under fierce criticism for allegedly
distorting the true picture.
Survival International has led a global
media campaign with headlines such as "Ethnic cleansing reaches
final phase". |
Braam Le Roux has lived among the
Kalahari Bushmen for 23 years
|
It has also used phrases like
"the last chapter in the 200-year-old genocide of the Bushmen", and
acts "tantamount to genocide" or "perilously close to genocide".
But now one of the largest Bushmen
groups in Botswana, the Kuru Family of Organisations, claims that is untrue.
"There's no genocide taking
place, there's no ethnic cleansing taking place," said Braam Le Roux, a
coordinator of the group.
Stephen Corry, director of
Survival said: "Ethnic cleansing, yes. Genocide, it's a question of
looking at the term.
"We are very close to saying
this is outright genocide, although the government has not, as yet, outright
killed people."
Ancestral lands
| The Kuru Family of
Organisations works with around 20,000 Bushmen.
It supports the rights of the Central
Kalahari Bushmen to return to their ancestral lands, but does not
support Survival International's tactics.
Survival International works with around
700 Bushmen, either evicted from, or facing eviction from the Central
Kalahari Game Reserve, their ancestral land for 20,000 years. |
The San have lived in the African
desert for thousands of years
|
Stephen Corry's understanding of
genocide is the forced removal of the Bushmen, which he believes will lead to
their eventual destruction as a distinct people.
It is true that the United Nations
definition of genocide is broad, and does not necessarily require killing.
But it is also worth recalling
that in Darfur where 180,000 people have been killed and two million displaced,
the UN says there is not enough evidence to say the government is responsible
for genocide.
Resettlement towns
Many of the Bushmen forced out of
the Central Kalahari Game Reserve now live in the resettlement town of New
Xade.
| There, we met Jumanda
Gakelebone.
He is a Bushmen activist and supporter of
Survival International. "It's a genocide. It's a murder by the
government," he said.
Jumanda went on to explain that by
forcing his people out of the game reserve and into resettlement towns
like New Xade, the government is exposing them to diseases such as Aids.
He said those who have refused to leave
the game reserve are facing starvation because vital supplies have been
cut off by the government. This is his concept of genocide. |
Jumanda is worried about exposure to
diseases such as Aids
|
Perhaps with such a profoundly
different set of cultural references, he can be forgiven for misjudging the
weight of the word and its association with Nazi Germany or Pol Pot's Cambodia.
Yet it is also the kind of imagery
employed by his colleagues at Survival International.
'General fear'
Le Roux said other groups feel the
same way about Survival International but are too scared to speak out.
| "We're afraid of
them," he said, "I think there's a general fear amongst NGOs
and everyone out here [about] Survival."
Whilst Survival International is clearly
passionate about Bushmen's rights, its use of highly inflammatory
language could be playing into the government's hands and removing any
possibility of compromise.
Alice Mogwe, the head of Ditshwanelo,
Botswana's only human rights organisation, said: "The very
aggressive name-and-shame approach which is quite common in Europe is
not one which African governments react to positively.
"And the government has reached a
point where they are reacting to Survival, but unfortunately the
[Bushmen] tend to be the casualties." |
" The very aggressive
name-and-shame approach... is not one African governments react to
positively "
Alice Mogwe, Ditshwanelo
|
International concern
Defending Survival's work, Mr
Corry said: "The Bushmen of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) who
are in desperate need of help... have asked us repeatedly to help them over
many years.
| "They do not believe in
the government's goodwill.
"They say... the only thing that can
help us is international concern. I think they are right."
Botswana government spokesman Sydney
Pilane told the BBC: "We do not want the involvement of Survival
International because it is harmful. |
" They do not believe in the
government's goodwill "
Stephen Corry, Survival International
|
"In fact,
believe me, they are harming the interests of the [Bushmen], the
very people who they say they are fighting for.
"They are
harming their interests more than they're harming anybody else's
interests because they will not succeed in getting our diamonds
or our tourism boycotted as they are trying to do."
BBC Radio 4's
Crossing Continents will be broadcast on Thursday, 10 November,
2005 at 1102 GMT.
The programme
will be repeated on Monday, 14 November, 2005 at 2102 GMT.
SOURCE
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