 November 2002
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Patrica Watson, Editor Sara Burke, Assistant Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
In Botswana, an Ancient People Threatened with Destruction From bulletins of Survival International, 6 Charterhouse Buildings, London EC1M 7ET, United Kingdom; info@survival-international.org; www.survival-international.org The Gana and Gwi Bushmen have lived on their land, part of which lies in what is now the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, for at least 20,000 years. But over the last 16 years the Botswana authorities have been conducting a vigorous campaign of harassment to drive them out.
Bushman tribes are no strangers to this sort of treatment. They are the original inhabitants of southern Africa, where they have lived for at least 20,000 years. They first came under attack from outsiders when Bantu herders moved into the region about 1,500 years ago--the Bantu looked down on these hunters who did not keep cattle and regarded them as less than human. The oppression which followed entered a dramatic phase when white colonists began moving up from the Cape 200 years ago. Bushmen were hunted down and killed; captives were taken to work on white farms. The result was a genocide that wiped out probably millions. Today fewer than 100,000 Bushmen survive, around half of whom are in Botswana. Of all of them, the Gana and Gwi in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve are virtually unique in having maintained a largely self-sufficient life in which hunting is central. Most recently, the government has tried to force the remaining Gana and Gwi into the "resettlement camps" by stopping water deliveries from the borehole on which the Bushmen depend for water, and removing its pump--despite its legal obligation to provide water to communities in remote areas. The Gana and Gwi could soon be destroyed if the government plans to cut water go ahead. The government claims it is stopping the services because they are too expensive. Botswana is the biggest exporter of diamonds in the world, and can easily afford this--but it does not even have to, as the European Union has offered to fund services as part of a huge grant to the country for its national parks. Botswana has so far studiously ignored this offer. It has been suggested that the reserve's rich diamond deposits are the real reason behind the government's drive to get the Bushmen out; it also wants to open up the area to tourism. Certainly underlying it all is the government's racist view of the Bushmen: the president himself described them as "stone age creatures." The Gana and the Gwi have the right to decide for themselves how they wish to live, and the right to remain on their land--which, under international law, they actually own. They have appealed to the international community for help in their struggle to remain on their land.
The organization Survival International has launched a worldwide
campaign to persuade Botswana's government to reverse its
policy. It is holding weekly vigils outside Botswana embassies
in the UK and Europe. Survival's vigils, although small,
have made front-page news in Botswana, and a vigil or similar
event in the United States would have a great impact on the Botswana
government. If you would be interested in organizing such an event
or in helping to spread the word, it would be a great help. More
information on the campaign, a selection of international media
coverage and statements from the Bushmen can be found on our web
site www.survival-international.org, under both "tribal
world" and "latest news." Survival International,
6 Charterhouse Buildings, London EC1M 7ET, UK; Tel: (+44) (0)20
7687 8700; Fax: (+44) (0)20 7687 8701; general enquiries: info@survival-international.org
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