SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL
Botswana: Bushman Case - Court To Hear Final Arguments 28 August
The Kalahari Bushmen's landmark court case against the Botswana government will reach a crucial stage at the end of
August as the lawyers present their final arguments to the court.
A Bushman spokesman from First People of the Kalahari said today, 'We are very happy that at long last the end of our
court case is in sight. While it has been going on more than twenty of the original applicants have died in the
relocation camps. We hope justice will come soon before more of us die.'
The last of the evidence in the case was heard in May. The lawyers are due to present their final arguments in the week
beginning 28 August, and a judgement should be made soon after that.
At least 10% of the original 243 applicants have died in government resettlement camps since the case was filed. 135
more Bushmen have asked to be added to the original list of 243 applicants this year.
The Bushmen are fighting for their right to return to their land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and to hunt and
gather freely. They first filed the case in April 2002, following the evictions in February that year, but it was thrown
out on a technicality. The Bushmen appealed and won the right to have the case heard, and it began in July 2004 in
Botswana's High Court. It has since faced long delays. The case has been the longest and most expensive in Botswana's
legal history, despite being brought by the country's poorest inhabitants.
ENDS