A Reuters report published on CNN yesterday cites the governments treatment of the Kalahari Bushmen and the banning of 17 people including Survival International staff as evidence of Botswanas eroding democracy.
The UKs Daily Telegraph newspaper yesterday published a damning report accusing the Botswana government of betraying the Bushmen of the Central Kalahari.
The Botswana government has banned the Kalahari Bushmen from using their own water as UN World Water Day approaches on 22 March. A Bushman leader is travelling to London this week to protest against the ban.
A copy of the landmark ruling made by the Botswana High Court in the case of the Kalahari Bushmen against the Botswana government is now available online.
Six Bushmen have been arrested, starved and held for six days after police and wildlife guards accused them of hunting in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. They were then released without charge.
A group of forty Bushmen have managed to return to their homes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve this weekend, despite a heavy police presence and attempts to persuade them to stay in the relocation camps.
A group of Kalahari Bushmen will return to their land on Friday, following their historic court victory on 13 December.
As the full meaning of their historic court win starts to sink in, the Bushmen have sent a message to Survival supporters around the world, whose generosity has been so crucial in bringing about their victory.