PRESS RELEASE ON THE CENTRAL KALAHARI GAME RESERVE (CKGR) 2004

RESIDENTS OF THE CKGR TO TESTIFY IN COURT

The residents of the CKGR, who have taken the Government of Botswana to court, are due to give oral evidence in court during the month of July. The case began in February 2002.

The residents are claiming that the termination of services to the CKGR by the Government on 31 January 2002, was unlawful and unconstitutional. These services include the provision of drinking water, the provision of food rations to the registered destitutes and orphaned children, the provision of transport for children to and from school and the provision of healthcare and pensions.

The residents further state that those who have been effectively forced to move from the CKGR due to the termination of services, should be returned to their homes in the Reserve, as they have been unlawfully dispossessed of their land.

A panel of three (3) High Court Judges have been appointed to hear the matter. They are Justices Dibotelo, Dow and Phumaphi. The case will begin with an inspection in loco from 4 – 7 July 2004. During this time, the Judges and lawyers for the Residents and the State, will undertake a tour of the CKGR and the outside settlements of Kaudwane and New Xade. Their expressed intention is to familiarise themselves with the areas in dispute. A specially constituted High Court will sit in New Xade, one of the settlements to which the residents were moved.

If the residents are successful in their case, it would, in effect, amount to Government recognition of the rights of the residents to reside in the CKGR.

DITSHWANELO believes that the decision of the Government to terminate basic and essential services to the residents inside the game reserve is wrongful and unlawful. We believe that it was a deliberate attempt by the Government to force the residents out of the reserve. It occurred at a time when the Negotiating Team and the Government of Botswana were engaged in discussions, in good faith, concerning sustainable environmental use of the CKGR by communities in the game reserve. The Negotiating Team was formed by the residents and the following NGOs: First People of the Kalahari (FPK), the Working Group for Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA), the Botswana Council of Churches (BCC) and DITSHWANELO - The Botswana Centre for Human Rights.

The Government has always maintained that one of the reasons for the removal of the residents of the game reserve is to allow them access to development. In his Lecture at the London School of Economics in June 2003, President Festus Mogae stated that “the (second) reason people move out of game parks is to give themselves and their children, the benefits of development”.

DITSHWANELO believes that for development to be effective, it must be people-centred. This entails locating people at the centre of processes which recognise civil, political, economic, social and cultural aspects of their lives. We continue to call for a rights-based development model to be adopted by the Government of Botswana. This is an alternative to the current development approach used by the Government. Development should be more than the provision of roads, clinics and schools. Recently, the Government has begun to use rights language in the reviews of the Children’s Act and service delivery to Remote Area Dwellers. However, without genuine commitment to ensuring that rights forms the foundation of our development thinking, that focus will remain mere words and not be translated into sustainable improvements in the lives of Batswana.

During the just concluded 4th Summit of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Heads of State and Government held in Maputo, Mozambique, Botswana reaffirmed her commitment to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which are plans for the realisation of the right to Development for all peoples of the world. This right is premised on the recognition that all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which ALL human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realised.

DITSHWANELO continues to call upon the Government, as we have on several previous occasions, to actively engage in a constructive process of negotiations with the Negotiating Team. We called for a return to negotiations in May 2002 in our statement to the 31st Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR); in August 2002 in our alternative report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD); in December 2003 in our statement to the 34th Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR); in March 2004, during the BOCONGO sponsored workshop on Basarwa; in May 2004 during our presentation at the CIVICUS World Assembly and in all our press statements. This, because we believe that negotiation is the most meaningful, culturally appropriate way of resolving the CKGR issue. We continue to urge the Government of Botswana to review its position in order to ensure the continuation of participatory processes.

29 June 2004
Gaborone