SAN ALLEGE TORTURE BY WILDLIFE OFFICIALS

UNCLAS GABORONE 001046 SIPDIS AF/S FOR MUNCY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV BC SAN CKGR SUBJECT: SAN ALLEGE TORTURE BY WILDLIFE OFFICIALS REFERENCE: (A) Gaborone 913 (B) Gaborone (C) Gaborone ¶1. SUMMARY: Five residents of Kaudwane, ONE of the villages to which residents of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) were relocated, have alleged that Department of Wildlife and National Parks officials tortured them earlier this year. Although the GOB has denied these allegations, PolOff encountered some accounts that supported their claims during a July 21-22 visit to Kaudwane. The GOB's investment in physical infrastructure, education and other assistance for the residents of Kaudwane notwithstanding, its relationship with them is largely characterized by fear and resentment. Mission will continue to encourage the Government to find a more consultative approach to remote area development and will work with civil society to identify and support groups that could represent the San in such discussions. END SUMMARY. SAN MEN ALLEGE TORTURE FOR KILLING AN ELAND ¶2. On July 22, PolOff met with two of three Kaudwane residents who claimed to have been tortured by officials of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP). According to these gentlemen, DWNP came to question them ONE day in early June (they could not remember the specific date) about reports that they had killed an eland, a legally- protected species. After they repeatedly denied having done so and pointed out the absence of any evidence of their guilt, the men said they were tied by their ankles to a pole, hung up side down, and kicked and punched about the head and torso. DWNP officials then reportedly locked them in a cell of the local police (not to be confused with the Botswana Police Service) where they reportedly were kept overnight and for most of the following day without food. On the evening of the second day, they were released. The following morning they went to the small clinic in Kaudwane for medical attention. DWNP officials met them there and took them for more questioning but did not abuse them further. They released the men later that day. ¶3. Although PolOff found no definitive evidence to refute or confirm these allegations, statements of individuals who had seen the men shortly after the incident lent credibility to their account. ONE of three HEALTH care providers at the clinic in Kaudwane said that she had not treated the men but had noticed ONE of them limping after the day of the alleged abuse. Another told PolOff that the local police had made arrangements to carry the men to the nearest hospital - although the alleged victims indicated that they still had not been to the hospital six weeks after their questioning. The chief of the village, the Remote Area Development Officer, and a University of Botswana academic who happened to have visited Kaudwane shortly after the alleged incident all told PolOff that they had seen the men bruised and swollen following their questioning. ¶4. When the men tried to lodge a complaint with the local police, the officers told them that the matter was beyond their jurisdiction. They then contacted Ditshwanelo, a human rights organization, which brought them to Gaborone and arranged for them to meet with an attorney. Alice Mogwe, director of that organization, told PolOff that an attorney has notified the GOB of their intent to press charges. ¶5. After the men returned to Kaudwane, a committee of government employees came in early July to investigate the matter. They interviewed the alleged victims, the local police, and officers of the DWNP. Although no local police officers were in the village when PolOff visited, he met DWNP officials who denied that any abuse had occurred. No one had heard of any results of this investigation. SECOND ALLEGATIONS OF TORTURE FOR POACHING ¶6. In a separate account, two other Kaudwane residents claimed to have been beaten by DWNP officers around the same time as the incident described above. ONE of the two told PolOff that DWNP officials came to his hut and took him away to question him about the killing of an eland. He claimed to have been made to assume a push-up position with his fists on bricks and then was allegedly kicked and beaten on the ribs. His friend, who was questioned over the same dead eland, said he was chained to a vehicle and beaten. The DWNP officers, he explained, had handcuffed his right hand to his left ankle, left hand to right ankle and then chained him the front of a Toyota Land Cruiser before beating him. Then they dropped him onto the ground. Both claimed that the DWNP officers made them run behind the vehicle as it drove from the remains of the eland to the DWNP camp. The two were then taken to a magistrate court and charged with poaching. ¶7. ONE of these men produced a form from his visit to the clinic following the incident, which said that he had been "beaten." He had not attempted to register a case with the local police, however. Why, he asked, should he have expected assistance from those who had kept him in custody until the DWNP officials could carry him to the magistrate? GOVERNMENT DENIES TORTURE ALLEGATIONS ¶8. After the allegations became public on July 1, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism denied them categorically. On July 22, the Office of the President issued a statement quoting from a draft report of the investigation committee further refuting the claims. It asserted that the alleged victims specifically denied any abuse (contrary to what they told PolOff on July 22),that the nurse had found no signs of abuse (although four different witnesses had described their injuries and ONE had a form from the clinic saying he had been "beaten"),and that local police had seen no evidence of abuse (although they reportedly had made arrangements for the men to visit a hospital). According to the Office of the President, the draft report concluded that the allegations were baseless. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESIDENTS AND GOVERNMENT TENSE ¶9. The torture allegations, whether true or not, were consistent with the generally fearful and resentful attitude residents appeared to have toward the Government. The village chief, and his recently resigned father, told PolOff in separate conversations that the GOB had failed to fulfill its promises to those who left the CKGR. Although they had received cattle as compensation for leaving their homes, they continued to suffer from unemployment and poverty. A community-based natural resource management project, which might provide some income generating opportunities, had been put off since 1999. They claimed that DWNP officers generally "harassed" residents and described the Remote Area Development Officer as lackadaisical. ¶10. Village residents complained to PolOff that only those who had left behind a hut in the CKGR received destitute rations from the Government. This meant that anyone who had lived with a parent inside the CKGR, could not qualify for such assistance on their own although at least three years had passed (more for some) and they might now be adults. This same rule applied to those for whom an NGO working on contract for the District Council could construct a one- room, cinder-block house. According to the newly-appointed chief, the Social and Community Development Officer had indicated her intention to further reduce the number of residents eligible to receive such assistance in Kaudwane. ¶11. Access to natural resources also posed a problem in the village. Residents told PolOff that they could hunt rarely because wildlife was sparse outside the reserve. Several families had left the village proper to establish compounds on its outskirts in order to have easier access to firewood. This centrifugal movement eventually will bring them up against the cattle posts and ranches that surround the village. A DWNP officer assigned to the Kaudwane camp for the last six years wondered aloud about the wisdom of locating the village where it has no room to expand. Although she asserted that residents exaggerated the scarcity of wildlife outside the reserve, she acknowledged that hunting required much more time and effort than it would inside the reserve, where animals congregate at pans. SAN CONTINUE TRICKLING BACK INTO CKGR ¶12. Rather than receive more assistance, some - but not all - interlocutors in Kaudwane told PolOff they would prefer to return to the CKGR. They confirmed that some had done so earlier this year and many more would have joined them had it not been for sparse rains. The outgoing chief opined that those who wish to go back should be able to do so. He would advise young people, however, to continue with their education in Kaudwane. This was consistent with the frequently-expressed desire to retain the San traditional lifestyle while having access to education and enjoying the right to chose for themselves how to marry their customs with modernity. COMMENT: LOCAL LEADERSHIP NEEDED ¶13. As a group of Kaudwane residents observed to PolOff, they clearly needed someone to defend and promote their interests. Mission has in the past attempted to fund conferences to establish such a body and has reached out to potential partners to reiterate that offer. We will continue to look for other actors with which to collaborate on means to support a dialogue between the San and the Government on a mutually acceptable path toward development and prosperity. On his departure calls (refs B and C), former Ambassador Huggins called on the GOB to address the San issue. Mission will continue to monitor this issue closely and will raise the torture allegations with the Office of the President at an early date. AROIAN NNNN