Government crackdown on Bushman hunters

Six Bushmen have been arrested for hunting in New Xade resettlement camp, according to First People of the Kalahari, a Bushman human rights organisation.

The latest arrests bring the total number of Bushmen arrested for hunting since last year’s landmark court ruling to at least forty-eight, with most being arrested since June this year.

The Botswana High Court held last December that the Gana and Gwi Bushmen had been evicted illegally from their land in the central Kalahari in 2002. The court also held that the government had broken the law in refusing to issue them with hunting permits.

Besides refusing to issue hunting permits, the government has also refused to provide transport for the Bushmen to return. It has banned them from using their water borehole, and will not let them take their small numbers of livestock back with them.

Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, ‘The ongoing campaign of harassment against Bushman hunters has suddenly escalated in the past few months. This is a blatant attempt on the part of the government to stop Bushmen returning home. It seems that it is determined that the High Court judgement should not be implemented.’

For further information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email [email protected]