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| Bushman elder, CKGR, Botswana 2004
© 2004 Stephen Corry/Survival |
Three Bushmen have been severely tortured by wildlife officials on suspicion of hunting to feed their families.
The three were arrested by game scouts in the relocation camp of
Kaudwane (where they have been living since they were forcibly evicted
from their land in 2002) and were taken to the Wildlife Department base
at the entrance to Khutse Game Reserve.
The Bushmen were all beaten severely in the groin, and one was tied
upside down and had petrol poured into his anus. One Bushman was unable
to urinate for three days, and then urinated blood. After being
released the Bushmen went to the police station in the relocation camp,
but were turned away and told to report the assault to Molepolole
police station – an impossibly long way for the Bushmen to travel.
The Bushmen in the relocation camps have few ways to feed their
families except by hunting, even though there is little game left near
the camps. Since 2002, however, the majority have been denied hunting
licences by the government. Apart from hunting, the Bushmen in the
camps are almost entirely dependent on government handouts.
The director of Survival International, Stephen Corry, said today,
'Botswana's government pretends it's 'civilising' the Bushmen – in fact
it's obvious it intends to destroy them. Torturing men for supposedly
hunting must rank amongst the world's worst violations of tribal
peoples' rights. To allow this to happen during a court case is truly
shameful. Botswana's pretence at 'democracy' is once again proven a
hollow sham.'
For further information, please contact Miriam Ross on (0)20 7687 8734/ mr@survival-international.org
