This Wednesday 13th December, the high court appeal from the San bushmen of the
Kalahari to return to their ancestral lands will be decided. In these last
couple of days it may help the decision in their favour if you can show your
support for their cause by calling some of the numbers at the bottom of this
bulletin.

The Botswanan Government has been illegally moving the Bushmen and restricting
them from their land. They are being threatened and persecuted. At the moment
most bushmen are living in temporary settlement camps which were set up to
'integrate them into modern society'. Not surprisingly most of them are
extremely upset to have lost their ancestral lands and way of life and are
spiralling into the typical life of the dispossed - depression, apathy and
alcoholism.

They have been locked in the longest case in Botswanan history, to decide
whether the enforced actions are in fact illegal. These financially poorest of
people have had to pay for a court case with one of the richest groups of the
country- the Government (backed by De Beers). The decision will be made on 13TH
DECEMBER by 3 judges who may or may not be ENDORSED by DIAMOND MINING COMPANIES!
In these last crucial few days we need to amplify the message: "THE SAN BUSH
PEOPLE WANT TO GO HOME" and it is their humanitarian right to.

PLEASE HELP us to show great support for these deserving people in the last few
days before the decision. We want to use the tool of telephone as it is more
personal and harder to ignore than email.

SPEAK OUT, lend your voice to the Bushmen who do not have access to telephones
and international embassies themselves.

Botswana has been rated one of the less corrupt governed states in Africa. With
all the available evidence though it is difficult to believe the idea that the
bush people are being treated in a non-corrupt way as the Government suggests.
Or the claim that De Beers is having no effect on the Bushmen because they are
'only occupying a tiny part of the reserve' that the Bushmen are being thrown
off.

If a big diamond mining company and a big government get together and between
them push innocent people off their land without consent, how can the government
say this is preservation?... They are saying the Bush men are overhunting (a
group of 100 people on a piece of land the size of Switzerland).. in response to
this they have cut off their water supply and have been pushing them off the
land and making them criminals to stay or try and go back home...

The combination of De Beers (who are making lots of money out of
Botswana) and the Botswana Government (who are mainly funded by the diamond
mining industry) are not properly compensating the native peoples for loss of
health, way of life and culture. Their joint company Debswana is making far more
money from the San Bush people's land then they are giving back to the bush
people. They have taken their land from them. Its not money the Bush people
want, but the lack of equitable settlement demonstrates that the Government are
not playing fairly. The Bushmen's culture has been crumbling because their way
of life is being suppressed. The Bushmen are ancient peoples living peaceful
ways of life in tune with nature: people we could do with more of, not less.
They are ecological because they are part of the ecology

Please support the HUMANITARIAN PROGRESS INITIATIVE and TELEPHONE some people
who need to make way for TRUE PROGRESS in humanity-
DE BEERS and the BOTSWANAN GOVERNMENT.
don't be rude or aggressive we just want to make a real vocalisation of rights
of people to live their lives peacefully in their natural settings
PLEASE MAKE A PHONE CALL- Best before 13TH DECEMBER

THERE IS A FEW DAYS LEFT BEFORE A COURT DECISION INFLUENCING THE RIGHTS OF
ANCIENT PEOPLES TO CHOICE AND ABILITY TO PASS ON THEIR WAYS AND MESSAGES FOR
GENERATIONS TO COME...

UK numbers
BOTSWANA EMBASSY in UK: +44 (0)870 005 6979
BOTSWANA EMBASSY in London (High commission): +44 (0)20 7499 0031
DE BEERS ROYAL EXCHANGE, UK: +44 (0)207 929 2777
DE BEERS LONDON BOND STREET, UK: +44 (0)207 7589700
DE BEERS LONDON HARRODS KNIGHTSBRIDGE, UK: +44(0)2078938588

Botswana numbers
BOTSWANA MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: +267 3601 200
BOTSWANA MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: +267 3600 700
BOTSWANA PRESIDENTS OFFICE: +267 3950 858 or +267 3950 800
DEBSWANA (De Beers in Botswana): + 267 361 4200

*Call them and state your personal place of support to the Bushmen
*You can say your name and/ or ask them to contact you,
*Get them to at least register your concern,
*You can ask De Beers if they feel it's alright to make lots of money
mining diamonds from a piece of land that belongs to tribal peoples
and not offering a fair share.
*Or simply call any or all of the telephone numbers and say "the san
bush people want to go home"
feel free to talk with them as much as you like (or that they will allow)
however please remember we do not endorse aggression, negativity or anything
like this.

Also this Friday, come to (hopefully) celebrate a victory for the Bushmen at
'Kalahari' at the London School of Economics. Money raised from the party will
go towards improving the conditions of life for tribal people in Botwana where
the average life expectancy is 35, and HIV and AIDS are rampant.

www.tribalvibrations.net
www.survival-international.org






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