9 November 2007
Gaborone — Survival has placed a full-page advert in the UK's Independent newspaper today, condemning the torture of Bushmen evicted from their land in the Kalahari in Botswana and appealing to the British public to support them.
The ad shows pictures of ten of the men arrested and beaten, tortured or assaulted in Kaudwane resettlement camp in September, and asks, 'What does it take to let these people live in peace?'
The ad reads, 'Last year, the Bushmen of Botswana won an historic victory. Expelled from their ancient homeland, the Bushmen took the government to court - and won. Botswana's High Court ruled that the Bushmen have the right to return to their land, and to hunt and gather there. That's all they've ever wanted.' The ad highlights the fact that since the court victory, the government has arrested more than 50 Bushmen for hunting to feed their families, banned them from using their water borehole, and backed plans for a massive diamond mine worth $2.2 billion on the Bushmen's land.
Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, 'The Botswana government has had nearly a year to implement the court's ruling. It's now clear it has no intention of doing so, so the Bushmen's campaign has been reignited. Hundreds of thousands of people have already voiced their support for the Bushmen. Now, tortured and persecuted, they need this support more than ever.'
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