RAPAPORT... There has been much said about human rights abuses against diamond workers in Zimbabwe and other African nations. However, the one group that has been relentlessly persecuted — with very little acknowledgement from the diamond industry or
human rights groups except for Survival International — is the Kalahari Bushmen of Botswana. This indigenous population has endured years of forced eviction from their ancestral lands and other attempts to wipe out their population. Even though the
Botswana high courts ruled that the evictions were illegal, when the Bushmen attempted to return to their ancestral lands, the government banned them from using the well that was their water supply. Kudos to the high courts of Botswana that, at the end of January, did rule that the Bushmen have a right to use the well and that the government’s treatment of them has been degrading (see news brief, page 28). In the meantime, Gem Diamonds has been given a license to develop a diamond mine in the community of the Bushmen.
Botswana wishes to be recognized as a modern country and, to its credit, uses its diamond revenues to better the nation for its people. However, that mandate needs to cover all of the people — including the Kalahari Bushmen, who have a rich history and tradition steeped in their stewardship of the land. Botswana is not the first country to have indigenous people on the land where large corporations want to develop mines. Australia faced a similar situation with the Aboriginals and the Argyle mine, and they were able to work out a successful plan. The Canadian mines also had to work out issues with the native indigenous population. Botswana aspires to be seen in the eyes of the rest of the world as a modern nation. The government seems to believe that having the Bushmen as part of its cultural heritage detracts from that image. Yet, the Australian and Canadian governments supported the indigenous populations of their countries and still developed diamond mines and they are modern countries. Perhaps, Botswana should look to the example set by those two nations before attempting to eradicate the Bushmen with inhumane and cruel acts of banishment that can never be undone. That action would not present the people or government of Botswana as being the open, accepting, compassionate, humane and modern society that it wishes to show the rest of the world. That image is best manifested by working with mining interests to find ways of protecting all of Botswana’s people, including the Kalahari Bushmen.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2011. To subscribe click here.