botswana: PROSECUTION OF TORTURED BUSHMEN DROPPED
Thirteen 'Bushmen' who were being prosecuted for allegedly 'over-hunting' have had the case against them dropped after Botswana authorities refused to produce a witness to confirm their accusations. The men, from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, were tortured by wildlife officials and police when they were first arrested in August 2000.
SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELEASE
31 January 2003
PROSECUTION OF TORTURED BUSHMEN DROPPED
Thirteen 'Bushmen' who were being prosecuted for allegedly
'over-hunting' have had the case against them dropped after Botswana
authorities refused to produce a witness to confirm their accusations.
The men, from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, were tortured by
wildlife officials and police when they were first arrested in August
2000. Other Bushmen have also been tortured, beaten up or arrested
for supposedly 'over-hunting' or hunting without correct licences.
One man was castrated.
The Botswana government placed restrictions on hunting as part of
their brutal attempts to force the Gana and Gwi Bushmen off their
ancestral land in the Reserve. Hunting in the Reserve is now banned,
and the Bushmen have been evicted and dumped in bleak resettlement
camps.
Survival's Director Stephen Corry said today, 'this is a crucial
victory for the Bushmen in the face of vicious harassment. The Gana
and Gwi are amongst the last Bushmen who depend on hunting. Unless
the Botswana government allows them back on their land and lifts the
hunting ban, they will be responsible for the destruction of the Gana
and Gwi as peoples.'
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Sophie Thomas tel (+44) (0)20 7687 8731 or email
[email protected]
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