G/wi
Water for Tourists, But None for the San
The US State Department has issued a human rights report that criticizes the government of Botswana for its discriminatory actions against the G/wi and G//ana people. According to an article last week in the Botswana Gazette, the United States document follows just weeks after a UN official released a preliminary report condemning the country for […]
UN Expert Condemns Treatment of G/wi
Survival International reported last week that James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples, has issued an advance report condemning Botswana’s treatment of the San. Over ten years ago, the government of that country exiled the G/wi and the G//ana, two of the San peoples, from their homes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and […]
G/wi Take Case to International Court
The G/wi and the other San peoples of the Kalahari who are being persecuted by the government of Botswana have decided to take their case to the International Court of Justice. Roy Sesana, leader of First People of the Kalahari, an advocacy organization for southern African indigenous groups, announced last week that they would abandon […]
Woman Jailed for Remark about Botswana
A woman’s casual complimentary remark, comparing the features of the president of Botswana to the Bushmen, recently landed her in jail for two days. Dorsey Dube, a South African woman, had been visiting Botswana with three friends, but just before they crossed back into their own country, she noticed a framed picture of President Ian […]
New Reports Depict Discrimination Against the G/wi
The plight of the San people, particularly the G/wi, who have been expelled from their homes by the government of Botswana, prompted some press coverage in Africa last week. Several news sources reprinted a press release from Survival International which shows a cartoon that caricatures the reactions of President Ian Khama of Botswana to the […]
Confirmed: Botswana Persecutes San People for Diamonds
An anonymous former Botswana official has admitted that his government ousted the G/wi and G//ana people from their homes in 2002 in order to expedite a proposed diamond mining project. According to an article in the current issue of Dissident Voice: A Radical Newsletter in the Struggle for Peace and Justice, the highly-placed official told […]
G/wi Hunters Jailed for Hunting
The government of Botswana last week stepped up its persecution of the G/wi by arresting and committing to jail six people for hunting in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). Their cases were to be heard in a court on Monday. According to a news release from Survival International last week, the charges were based […]
Hassle the G/wi: Take Away their Goats
Survival International reported last week that the government of Botswana has taken new steps to hassle the G/wi people and try to drive them out of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). In 2002, the government had confiscated the goats kept by the San people when it expelled them from their homes. When the G/wi […]
Diamond Mining on G/wi Lands Delayed
Survival International (SI) has just announced that Gem Diamonds decided to delay their diamond mining operation on G/wi lands inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Demand for diamonds has dropped radically due to the global recession, and all of the diamond mining operations in the country closed in February. The company has confirmed the delay. […]
Racist Remark on BBC Raises Protests
Criticisms of a prominent BBC broadcaster, who made an offensive, racist remark a couple weeks ago about what he calls “primitive” people, keep reverberating. Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 program “Moral Maze,” Michael Buerk said, “the only really primitive societies to survive into the modern age are the tribes in the remote parts of […]
