CKGR COURT CASE ADJOURNS, PROBLEMS FOR SAN

UNCLAS GABORONE 000913

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

AF/S FOR MALONEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL BC SAN CKGR
SUBJECT: CKGR COURT CASE ADJOURNS, PROBLEMS FOR SAN
CONTINUE

REF (A) GABORONE 666 REF (B) GABORONE 738


1. (SBU) Summary: On June 16, hearings in the case of
the First People of the Kalahari against the Government
of Botswana adjourned until August 3. As the legal
process drags on, residents of the relocation settlements
continue to face grim circumstances. Hearings by a
mission of the African Commission on Indigenous People
and Human Rights turned up fresh allegations of torture
by government officials. Sensitive to the increasing
international attention to this issue, civil servants in
the settlements are reluctant to speak to outsiders.
Some San groups are working on long-term strategies to
eliminate poverty and marginalization of the San through
education and advocacy. Mission will investigate and
report on allegations of torture and explore
opportunities to support efforts to protect the rights
and improve the situation of the San in Botswana. End
Summary.

COURT CASE DRAGS ON


2. (U) On June 16, hearings in the court case in which
First People of the Kalahari has challenged the
constitutionality of the GOB's policy to relocate former
residents of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR)
were adjourned until August 3. Earlier that week, lead
state counsel Sidney Pilane persuaded the judges that a
trip to Gope, located inside the CKGR, was necessary to
demonstrate that no preparations were underway to begin
diamond mining there. Gordon Bennet, attorney for FPK,
argued to no avail that no one had suggested that such
work had begun. This site visit will further prolong the
litigation, which is the apparent strategy the GOB
employs to exhaust the resources of FPK (Ref A). When
hearings resume on August 3, the court will continue to
hear evidence from state witnesses.

NEW ALLEGATIONS OF TORTURE


3. (U) A delegation from the African Commission on
Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights has been in Botswana
the past week investigating allegations of human rights
violations against the San. While meeting with the
residents of the relocation settlement Kaudwane on June
18, the group heard fresh allegations of torture at the
hands of government officials. Jumanda Gakalebone of
First People of the Kalahari told PolOff on June 21 that
four residents of Kaudwane had been tortured by scouts of
the Department of Wildlife and National Parks who
suspected them of poaching. Program Administrator of the
Basarwa Research Project at the University of Botswana
Mr. Molefe, who coordinated the delegation's trip to
Kaudwane, confirmed this report. When the victims
attempted to register a complaint with the local police,
the officers refused to do so saying that the matter was
too big for them and telling them to travel to
Letlhakane, two hours away by car, to file a report.
Neither Gakalebone nor Molefe could provide names or
dates but both said victims had been severely injured and
some were urinating blood as a result. Mission will
further investigate these allegations and report results
septel.

SITUATION GRIM IN SETTLEMENTS


4. (U) Meanwhile, the residents of New Xade, to which
many former CKGR residents were relocated in 2002 after
the GOB terminated the provision of services within the
Reserve, continue to face grim circumstances. The
Government has provided a large clinic and a primary
school and, through its contributions to a local NGO, is
funding the construction of some houses and pit latrines.
Employment opportunities, however, are virtually nil,
meaning that most depend on destitute rations, which
include a food allowance and P61 (approximately USD 12)
each month. As two New Xade residents observed to PolOff
on June 21, this income primarily goes to the numerous
bars in this village of 2,000 or to clothing vendors who
truck in garments from Ghanzi township and sell them at a
mark up of as much as 600 percent.

POOR POLICYMAKING AT DISTRICT LEVEL


5. (SBU) The Ghanzi District Council, the local
government body with jurisdiction over Ghanzi township,
New Xade, and several other settlements in western


Botswana where San are most numerous, appears to be
obstructing development in remote areas as much as
facilitating it. According to Ditshwanelo Makwati,
Executive Director of the local development NGO
Permaculture Trust and member of the Ghanzi District
Development Committee, the Committee recently vetoed two
proposed projects that would have created employment in
some remote areas. Committee members rejected the
initiatives, Makwati reported, because they feared that
the projects might reduce the number of tourists
travelling to Ghanzi township. Yet District Officer for
Administration Mr. Mochanang told PolOff on June 22 that
the local authorities are struggling to deal with the
influx of squatters from remote areas to Ghanzi township,
which is exacerbated by the policy of reserving
development funds exclusively for Ghanzi township.


6. (U) The decision on where to locate some remote area
settlements was equally frustrating to some San and those
who work with them. Roughly ten years ago, the GOB
decided to encourage residents of D'kar and Kuke
villages, which are located on farms in Ghanzi District,
to move to a settlement it created called Qabo. Whereas
D'Kar and Kuke were both located adjacent to a major
highway and only about 30 minutes by car from Ghanzi
township, Qabo was 80 kilometers west of this highway
into the bush. Although the road connecting Qabo to the
highway was improved earlier this year, transportation
remains a problem since very few vehicles travel to Qabo.
Almost no residents of the settlement own a vehicle so
most hitch a ride in the car belonging to the government
clinic when it goes to Ghanzi, usually once a day. When
residents first arrived in Qabo, they lost much of their
livestock before discovering that a poisonous plant grows
in abundance in that area. Since then the GOB fenced in
a field to prevent livestock provided to some residents
by the Government from eating the plants and dying.

CIVIL SERVANTS TIGHT LIPPED


7. (SBU) While visiting Qabo and New Xade on June 21,
PolOff encountered considerable reluctance among some
civil servants to talk to outsiders without a letter from
the local or central government granting permission to do
so. They could "get in trouble" for talking to someone
without prior clearance, they said. On a trip to the
same area in December 2004, PolOff was not informed that
such requirement for a letter existed. (Comment: The
Ambassador did obtain the concurrence of the Office of
the President for previous visits to the area. End
Comment). The Executive Director of the Working Group
for Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA)
Botswana Mr. Matambo told PolOff on June 22 that in
response to recent press attention to the circumstances
facing the San, the local authorities had developed a
procedure to control the flow of information out of the
settlements. This mechanism required a visitor to obtain
permission from the local government before asking
questions.


8. (SBU) When queried by PolOff, Ghanzi District Officer
for Administration Mr. Mochanang denied that any
regulation of this type had been established. He
conceded, however, that apprehension over the publicity
surrounding the San relocation issue likely accounted for
their reticence. The fact that four individuals in two
villages some three hours distant by car gave PolOff the
same report indicated that the local authorities had
issued some type of instruction, formal or informal,
warning government employees against sharing information
with outsiders.

DELEGATION INVESTIGATES ALLEGED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS


9. (SBU) This reluctance to divulge information nearly
upset the work of the delegation from the African
Commission on Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights. After
visiting the relocation settlement of Kaudwane on June
19, the three-person team tried to consult with residents
of New Xade on June 21. Despite letters from the Office
of the President and WIMSA informing him of this program,
the chief in New Xade was not present in the settlement
on June 21. In his absence and without any relevant
instructions from him, local officials refused to let the
African Commission group hold a town meeting to consult
with residents in the absence of Government employees.
After contacting the Office of the President, the


delegation returned to New Xade on June 22. This episode
reinforced the perception that the some local officials,
including traditional leaders, were attempting to
restrict the flow of information out of the settlements.

WAYS FORWARD: EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY


10. (SBU) Kuru Development Trust, a development NGO
working with San, and WIMSA are exploring possibilities
for addressing the underlying causes of the poverty and
marginalization of the San. Hendrick Jerling and Bram
Leroux of Kuru Development Trust told PolOff on June 20
about their organization's negotiations with De Beers
over the creation of a mother-tongue school for San kids.
De Beers provided money for a feasibility study, they
said, which is underway. The corporation has not yet
committed to a particular amount or duration of funding
for the project. Jerling told PolOff that a handful of
successful San professionals have agreed to sit on the
board of the planned school. He hoped that these
individuals would act as role models to inspire San
children and their parents to appreciate the value of
education.


11. (U) Kuru and WIMSA are also working with members of
the San community to promote the idea of a national San
council. The various San communities would delegate
representatives to this council, which would then act as
a national platform for articulating the views and
concerns of the San. According to Matambo, participants
in this process hope to meet in July to draft a
constitution for the council. If internal differences
among the various San communities do not stymie this
effort, the Council could be a meaningful vehicle for
advocating appropriate policies toward the San.

COMMENT


12. (U) President Mogae's June 10 comments to a press
conference linked the deportation of Professor Ken Good
to his role in the campaign against the GOB's CKGR
relocation policy (Ref B) and his ties with the London-
based NGO, Survival International. As the situation of
Botswana's San incrementally attracts more international
attention, the GOB's inclination seems to be to control
more tightly the flow of relevant information. This
strategy is likely to compound the problem, as it will
further fuel suspicions regarding its policy and
treatment of the San.


13. (U) Mission will continue to encourage the
Government to ensure that the human rights of the San are
guaranteed and to work with the San communities to
resolve their differences and jointly chart a mutually
acceptable path toward development. In addition, Mission
is looking at possibilities to support activities such as
the planned San Council through the Democracy and Human
Rights Fund.
HUGGINS


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