PROSPECTS IMPROVE FOR DIALOGUE OVER CKGR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GABORONE 000737

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR MUNCY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM BC
SUBJECT: PROSPECTS IMPROVE FOR DIALOGUE OVER CKGR
RELOCATIONS

REF: A. 05 GABORONE 1228


B. 05 GABORONE 666

C. 05 GABORONE 1426

Classified By: CDA LOIS AROIAN FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D


1. (U) SUMMARY: As the court case between the San
relocated from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the
Government of Botswana nears its end, a group of local NGOs
has established a coalition to resume dialogue between the
San and the Government. Regardless of the High Court's
decision, expected in late summer, all contacts believe the
"losing" party will appeal. Despite the prospect of
continued litigation, indications of official receptivity
to dialogue prompted the NGO community to establish a formal
structure that could facilitate talks. The coalition
members are determined to overcome attempts by Survival
International (SI) to derail their efforts and are
optimistic that talks will take place, provided they can
access the one resource that has enabled SI to intervene so
destructively: money. END SUMMARY.

COURT TO HEAR CLOSING ARGUMENTS THIS SUMMER


2. (U) Examination of witnesses in the legal challenge to
the Government of Botswana's relocation of some San and
other ethnic minorities from the Central Kalahari Game
Reserve (CKGR) concluded on May 17. The three-judge panel
hearing the case asked that the applicants (the San/Basarwa
protesting the relocation) file written closing arguments
by June 28. The respondents, the State, must reply in
writing by July 28. The court will hear arguments based on
these submissions the week of August 14. Thereafter, it
will adjourn to deliberate. It has not yet indicated when
it would expect to deliver a verdict.


3. (U) According to Kwapeng Modikwe, a journalist who has
attended the hearings since they began in July 2004, the
atmosphere in the courtroom has transformed from prior
hostility (Refs A and B) to amicability. Modikwe observed
that the former Minister for Environment, Wildlife and
Tourism Pelonomi Venson and lead state counsel Sidney
Pilane both interacted amicably with Gordon Bennet,
attorney for the applicants, who reciprocated. The judges'
even-handed treatment of the litigants has frustrated
attempts by some observers to detect some indication of how
they are likely to rule.


4. (U) Although each side, not surprisingly, expresses
confidence that it will prevail, all contacts agree that
regardless of the outcome, an appeal is most likely.
Indeed, both parties have already made known their
intention to appeal if they do not succeed at the High
Court.

NGOS FORM COALITION TO SUPPORT SAN


5. (SBU) With the conclusion of the case at hand, and the
prospect of further legal battles looming, a group of local
NGOs have resurrected the coalition that had supported the
aggrieved San and other minorities before the court case
started. Prior to the GOB's withdrawal of services,
including provision of water, to residents of the CKGR in
January 2002 in an effort to coerce them into relocating to
points outside the Reserve, a group of NGOs coalesced to
help advocate for the rights of the San. This group
included Ditshwanelo (the Botswana Center for Human
Rights),the Botswana Council of Churches, the Working
Group for Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa
(Botswana),First People of the Kalahari, and the Kuru
Family of Organizations. These organizations consulted
with the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism to
develop mutually acceptable compromises, such as
designation of community use zones within the CKGR, which
the relocated populations could access for cultural and
economic purposes.


6. (SBU) Insufficient communication within the GOB cut this
process short, however, when the Ministry of Local
Government, which oversees provision of services to remote
areas, announced withdrawal of services in order to
encourage the remaining residents to leave the Reserve.
When FPK, on the advice of Survival International, broke
with the other coalition members and decided to take the
GOB to court, the coalition dissolved, although the member
organizations continued their various efforts to promote
development among the San.


7. (U) On May 10, the NGO coalition reformed, with the
proclaimed intention of helping past and present residents

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of the CKGR understand, articulate and achieve their
constitutional and development rights. They intend to
conduct workshops to help the relevant communities
understand their rights and help them establish effective
representative organizations so that the San can advocate
for their own interests. Simultaneously, the coalition
intends to engage the GOB to encourage movement toward
meaningful dialog over the rights of these communities.


8. (U) FPK's ties to SI have already created turmoil for
the coalition. Immediately following the coalition's press
release on May 17, a press statement emerged, purportedly
from FPK, which flatly denounced the coalition's
observation regarding the "potential damage" that the media
and international organizations could do to prospects for
meaningful discussions with the Government. When other
coalition members questioned FPK about the statement, FPK
members said they had never seen the statement, leading
some to believe that SI had released the document under
FPK's name. Alice Mogwe, Director of Ditshwanelo, assured
PolOff that coalition members had expected maneuvers of
this kind by SI and were prepared to stay the course.

GOVERNMENT APPEARS OPEN TO DIALOG


9. (U) In recent months, the GOB has shown a greater
willingness to renew its dialogue with the San. When the
Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration
attended the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of
Racial Discrimination (CERD) meeting in March, he stated
that the Government saw no "legal impediment" to
negotiations. This was a significant departure from the
standard response given previously, that discussions could
not take place while the court case was underway. In a
subsequent conversation with Emboffs, Ambassador Ernest
Mpofu, the Permanent Secretary for Political Affairs in the
Office of the President, confirmed in principle the
Government's willingness to engage in talks.


10. (C) David Modiega, General Secretary of the Botswana
Council of Churches, told PolOff "confidentially" that
representatives of Ditshwanelo and the BCC had met with
Vice President Ian Khama to discuss the possibility of
"talks about talks". According to Modiega, Khama said he
was willing to move toward dialogue between the GOB and the
San and appreciated the need to resolve this problem that
has disturbed Botswana's international relationships and
tarnished its image abroad.


11. (U) FPK's association with Survival International
poses a challenge to the success of such a dialogue.
Experience has shown that FPK will divulge any and all
information it receives to SI, which has preferred
litigation to negotiation and likely will try to use
information provided by FPK to undermine any talks.
According to Modiega, however, the GOB recognizes that
excluding FPK from any talks would render the process
pointless. The coalition hopes that preparatory talks lead
to a modus operandi that can sustain meaningful dialogue
despite the challenge posed by SI.

GOVERNMENT REINING IN THE ROGUES


12. (C) While the NGOs try to figure out how to sideline
disruptive elements among them, the Government has already
reined in officials whose statements and conduct were
exacerbating tensions. Mpofu explained to Emboffs that
many in the GOB had realized that Presidential Spokesperson
Jeff Ramsay and Special Advisor to the President Sidney
Pilane, who previously were the GOB's primary voice on this
issue, were simply making matters worse. They would make
inaccurate statements, Mpofu complained, and then he and
others would have to sort out the mess. Indeed, Mpofu
doubt whether "those who appointed" Pilane, i.e.
President Mogae, could control him. In
December 2005, when Pilane wanted to attend an event on
indigenous minorities in New York, Mpofu and others managed
to prevent his attendance. Since that point, Pilane's
previously near single-handed domination of the CKGR
relocation issue has ebbed, with officials in the Office of
the President reasserting their authority.


13. (C) Mpofu also provided an interesting insight into
the motivations driving the relocation process. Before
taking over as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in 1998, Mpofu had been Ambassador in
Brussels for ten years. During that time, he said,
Botswana had come under pressure from European countries to
empty the CKGR of residents because, they believed, their
presence threatened the fragile and unique ecology of the

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Kalahari. So, he said, the GOB obliged. Now that it has
done so, the Government is accused of violating the rights
of the former residents of the CKGR. He was clearly
exasperated at what he saw as a clear instance of "moving
the goal posts". (Note: While this is obviously an
incomplete accounting of the factors that motivated the
relocation, it is the first time an official has explicitly
linked international pressure on the conservation front
with the decision to relocate. End Note.)

GOVERNMENT REOPENS CKGR


14. (U) On May 22, the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife
and Tourism reopened parts of the CKGR which had been
closed in September 2005 after an outbreak of sarcoptic
mange among small stock and wildlife within the Reserve
(Ref C). After the conclusion of the examination of
witnesses earlier in May, the Government had also allowed
Gordon Bennet to enter the Reserve and consult with those
of his clients who continue to reside in the CKGR. NGOs
still need to obtain permission to enter on a case-by-case
basis to provide supplies to the few families still living
inside the park, however.

COMMENT


15. (C) Growing numbers of officials in the MFA and
Office of the President recognize that the Government's
often defensive and inflexible handling of the CKGR
relocation issue has played into the hands of SI. The
re-emergence of the NGO coalition to support the San
coincided with a course correction within the Government.
It is not yet clear whether SI, through the FPK, will
destabilize the coalition enough to prevent it from having
any positive impact. A key factor in the coalition's
ability to resist this disruptive influence is access to
funding, which SI has used so effectively to distort and
misrepresent the San/CKGR relocation issue. Mission is
considering how it might be able to support the coalition
and has begun to coordinate with other Embassies to
maximize the chances that meaningful dialogue can take place.
CANAVAN