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Southern Africa: Program
Description
SYNOPSIS
Since the beginning of human
memory, the San people have moved in small bands throughout southern Africa
using the land in a sustainable manner. They are the original inhabitants of
the territory and their identity, expressed in oral tradition and cultural
practices, is directly linked to the fragile Kalahari ecosystem of which they
consider themselves stewards. However, they have been enormously impacted, in
a negative and destructive way, by historical events and contemporary
circumstances. Their traditional way of life is rapidly being eradicated
through relocation from traditional territories, lack of control over their
own social and economic destiny, lack of control over their interaction with
dominant culture and the perpetuation of the romantic myth that they are a
historical figment and not real people of today. The destruction of culture is
irreversible. With it go the lessons and knowledge of countless generations as
well as valuable wisdom for the future. In the case of the San, with the
elimination of their culture will go the intuitive ability to live in
synchronicity with the total environment as well as more than 30, 000 years of
conservation experience.
For these reasons, the overall
(and continuing) goal of our work in southern Africa has been to assist the
San (also known as the Khwe, Basarwa and Bushmen) groups in southern Africa to
secure land tenure in their traditional territories. We have attempted to be
both realistic as well as creative in working with our local partners to
develop a comprehensive strategy to secure San land tenure.
Southern Africa Legal
Assistance Project
Summary
FPW's legal project in southern
Africa is our longest standing international commitment and represents, to
some extent, the genesis of FPW. We have been involved in the struggle to
secure land tenure for the San since 1995 when Rebecca was first approached by
John Hardbattle, then coordinator of the First Peoples of the Kalahari. The
original request was for assistance in developing alternative
income-generating and sustainable economic development projects for the Naro
San community in western Botswana. However, while they were in the process of
developing an overall economic development strategy, the government of
Botswana began to pursue a policy of removing the residents of the Central
Kalahari Game Reserve to settlements located outside the Game Reserve. This
precipitated an official request for land rights assistance from the First
Peoples of the Kalahari (FPK) to FNDI in February, 1996.
Since that time, we have continued
to work with local and regional organizations in Southern Africa in order to
secure San control of their traditional territories. We have moved from a
relatively limited relationship with the First Peoples of the Kalahari to a
strong relationship with many San organizations in the region. In particular,
we have an excellent relationship with the Working Group of Indigenous
Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA) with whom we are jointly managing the
land rights training program in Botswana and Namibia.
During the last two years, some of
our major activities in southern Africa have been: strengthening the
relationship between FPW and local NGO's; researching and writing the first
legal history of San land tenure in Botswana; developing a community legal
education program for San NGO's and communities in Botswana; networking with
numerous indigenous and non-indigenous organizations in the region; developing
a land rights booklet for use by San NGO's and communities in Botswana (called
"Steps Toward your Land Rights"); working with the Working Group of
Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa ( WIMSA), the Legal Assistance Center
& the Center for Applied Social Sciences to develop a land rights
curriculum for use by the Traditional Authorities in Namibia; providing
on-going strategic advice and technical support to the attorneys hired by San
communities to take their land rights cases to court/negotiation; on-going
international advocacy regarding the land rights of the San; and fundraising
to secure financial support for these activities.
Current Project in the region
Our current project is still
inspired by the original legal strategy which outlined a multi-pronged
strategy to secure San control of their traditional territories. In addition
to providing legal technical assistance to our partners, we have also made a
commitment to WIMSA to assist them in ensuring that the San people receive
culturally appropriate land rights education.
A. Technical Assistance (On-going)
The value of providing culturally
appropriate technical assistance cannot be underestimated. In many cases, the
San communities as well as their legal representatives have been disadvantaged
due to the difficulty in obtaining current information about international
legal cases such as those being decided by Australian, Canadian and American
courts. FNDI-FPW is in the enviable position of being able to provide not only
the most current information on these legal developments but we can also link
our southern African partners to the numerous land claims experts with whom we
have a very positive relationship. In the last two years, some of the on-going
issues that we have been requested to research and give an opinion include:
impact and benefit agreements between indigenous people and mining companies;
co-management agreements for indigenous people living in or near protected
areas; international precedents for restitution; land restitution models from
North America; recent Canadian land claim cases such as R. v. Delgamuukw and
options for Indigenous people under the Biological Diversity Convention. We
also receive requests for information on sustainable development models such
as those developed by First Nations grantees, references for international
conferences, support for human rights campaigns and assistance with general
program development.
B. Lawyers Reference Group on
Indigenous Land Claims
As part of our larger legal
technical assistance program in southern Africa, we have also been asked to
facilitate a Lawyers Reference Group on Indigenous Land Claims. This request
arises out of discussions with our partner organizations and their legal
counsel during which we recognized that our legal assistance work had been
somewhat exclusionary due to a shortage of available time and resources.
During several visits over the last year, we discussed the possibility of
including other lawyers in the information sharing as well as the utility of
bringing them together to share strategy and progress in their respective
claims. The end result has been a formal request to First Nations to assist in
the establishment and development of a Lawyers Reference Group on Indigenous
Land Claims.
Although membership is open, keen
interest has already been expressed by Henk Smith of the Legal Resources
Center (Richtersveld claim), Advocate Peter Hathorn (Richtersveld claim),
Roger Chennells of Chennells Albertyn (Southern Kalahari claim) and the
Surplus Peoples Project. An invitation has also been extended to Glyn Williams
of Chennells Albertyn (Central Kalahari Game Reserve claim), Andrew Corbett of
the Legal Assistance Center in Windhoek (West Caprivi claim) and Alice Mogwe
of Ditshwanelo - the Botswana Center for Human Rights (Central Kalahari Game
Reserve claim). Although First Nations has agreed to facilitate the
establishment of the Lawyers Reference Group, we have approached the South
African San Institute (SASI) regarding the possibility of incorporating the
Reference Group into their general technical assistance program in the future.
We expect that a corollary effect
of such a convening will be to encourage regular dialogue between the lawyers,
something which is seriously lacking at the moment. It is anticipated that
increased dialogue will prevent contrary precedents from being set in any one
jurisdiction as well as allowing the lawyers to use each other's successes to
leverage a positive decision in their own case. In this way, the Lawyers
Reference Group will further protect the interests of the San people.
C. Legal Education program (joint
project with WIMSA)
Our most important commitment in
the region is to provide culturally appropriate legal education to San
communities. Under the guidance and management of WIMSA and the Center for
Applied Social Sciences at the University of Namibia, we have researched and
developed a series of four legal education modules that are focused on
providing clear direction to the San leadership regarding accessing,
maintaining and utilizing land in their traditional territories (communal
areas).
The topics to be covered in the
sessions include:
-
basic legal education
including the national Constitution;
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basic democratic principles;
-
situation of indigenous
peoples in other parts of the world;
-
land claim processes and
strategies;
-
responsibilities of San
communities to research and gatherevidence of occupation and use of
traditional territories;
-
conservation and environmental
issues; and
-
issue of relocation/
resettlement.
In addition, we are continuing to
work with the San organizations in Botswana in order to develop appropriate
follow up to our legal education program there.
Conclusion
It is an exciting time in Southern
Africa. In Namibia, the land reform process and the potential role of
Traditional Authorities in the allocation of land means that the San have the
potential to influence their own course of history and regain their rightful
place as the first people of the Kalahari. We are looking forward to
continuing our work with WIMSA and our other regional partners.
SOURCE
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