US embassy cable - 05GABORONE1426

UNCLAS  GABORONE 001426 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
AF/S FOR MUNCY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, BC, SAN/CKGR Relocation 
SUBJECT: TENSIONS HIGH BETWEEN GOB AND FIRST PEOPLE OF THE 
KALAHARI 
 
REFERENCE: GABORONE 1228 
 
1. (SBU)  SUMMARY:  Tensions between the GOB and the First 
People of the Kalahari (FPK) have reached a new high with 
the arrest of 21 individuals trying to force entry through a 
closed gate into the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) on 
September 24.  Government officials reportedly had followed 
and harassed FPK members and American activists traveling 
with them outside the Reserve earlier that week.  The 
Government also reversed its practice of granting FPK 
permits to use radios within the Reserve or to enter the 
park at all on the grounds that FPK abused these privileges 
to encourage illegal acts, namely poaching and resettling 
within the CKGR.  In remarks at Ambassador Canavan's 
presentation of credentials and in subsequent conversations, 
the GOB has signaled its continued defensiveness on this 
issue and wariness of external intervention.  END SUMMARY. 
 
FPK LEADERS ARRESTED 
 
2. (U)  On September 24, FPK leader Roy Sesana, his 
associate Jumanda Gakelebone, and 19 other individuals were 
arrested outside New Xade while trying to force entry 
through a closed gate into the CKGR.  The group had 
conducted a peaceful protest undisturbed but was taken into 
custody when they tried to enter the park, which is 
temporarily closed due to an outbreak of disease.  On 
September 27, the Ghanzi Senior Magistrate released the 
accused on bail pending a trial scheduled to begin on 
October 25. 
 
3. (U)  Earlier that week, a group of Americans led by 
Gloria Steinem who had been on safari within the Reserve 
complained of having been followed and harassed by 
Government officials.  Department of Wildlife and National 
Parks staff drove into their camp at 4:00 am, asked if they 
were "having meetings," and said that the officers were 
checking up on the visitors on orders of the Office of the 
President.  The group had sought an appointment with 
Government officials but assent to their request came too 
late to make the necessary arrangements before they left 
Botswana. 
 
OUTBREAK OF VIOLENCE IN CKGR 
 
4. (U)  This incident followed reports of an outbreak of 
violence within the CKGR earlier that month.  During the 
week of September 5, DWNP officials approached the compound 
of some suspected poachers within the Reserve.  According to 
the Special Advisor to the President, Sidney Pilane, when 
the officials tried to search for evidence they were 
attacked by a group of 11 women and 5 children with sticks 
and spears, who also tried to set fire to a Government 
vehicle.  The officials left after one was injured and later 
more officers were sent to arrest the assailants.  FPK 
claimed that DWNP officials had actually started the 
violence and injured the residents, not the reverse. 
 
GOVERNMENT CRACKS DOWN ON FPK 
 
5. (SBU)  Mr. Pilane told PolOffs in an October 3 meeting 
that the Government had refused to grant FPK permission to 
enter the park (reftel) because it had been abusing that 
privilege to promote illegal acts, i.e. resettling in the 
Reserve and poaching.  Pilane conceded that the Government 
had previously allowed the FPK into the Park but had 
determined in July this year that this was no longer 
warranted. 
 
6. (SBU)  Mr. Pilane offered the same explanation for the 
decision not to renew radio licenses held by the FPK.  He 
explained that Botswana Telecommunications Authority (BTA) 
previously had granted these licenses without consulting 
other Government agencies, as required by regulation.  When 
the Office of the President realized this, Pilane stated, 
they advised the BTA that it opposed issuance of the 
licenses because the radios would be used to facilitate 
poaching and resettling within the Reserve.  BTA's CEO 
directed press inquiries on this subject to the Department 
of Wildlife and National Parks. 
 
GOVERNMENT SET TO REMOVE ANIMALS 
 
7. (U)  As reported in reftel, Mr. Pilane sent a team into 
the CKGR in early July to observe conditions there and 
question returned residents.  The group found evidence of 
highly contagious sarcoptic mange among domestic stock. 
This led to the quarantining of domestic animals within the 
 
 
Reserve and closure of most of the park to visitors. 
According to Alice Mogwe, Director of human rights group 
Ditshwanelo, which is working with some of the relocated 
San, witnesses not sympathetic to the Government had 
confirmed that the disease was indeed afflicting livestock 
there. 
 
8. (U)  After any quarantined livestock were found healthy, 
owners were given 14 days to remove them from the Reserve. 
Mr. Pilane told PolOffs that since none of the residents had 
taken their livestock out of the Reserve, the Government 
would begin doing so. 
 
HEARINGS ADJOURN AGAIN 
 
9. (U)  On September 15, the High Court approved an 
application to adjourn hearings in the CKGR relocation case 
until February 6, 2006, to allow the applicants time to 
raise additional money to fund the suit.  Earlier in the 
week, the two sides had reached an agreement that enabled 
the state to significantly shorten its list of witnesses by 
allowing some to provide written testimony.  Despite this 
compromise, applicants' attorney Mr. Bennett told the court 
that without an adjournment, his clients likely would have 
to withdraw their case.  Despite the objections of State 
attorney Sidney Pilane, the judges granted the applicants a 
second adjournment to raise funds. 
 
PRESIDENT MOGAE DEFENSIVE ON CKGR 
 
10. (SBU) As reported on the front page of the state-owned 
Daily News, President Mogae, in his remarks to Ambassador at 
her presentation of credentials, said Botswana's "homegrown" 
democracy does not deny the benefits of development to any 
population group "even under the pretext of preserving their 
culture."  He urged the Ambassador to visit remote areas 
herself to get a "more balanced understanding of the 
situation there than is afforded by a handful of special 
interest groups."  (FYI: The Office of Protocol had 
requested and received an advance copy of the Ambassador's 
initial credentials presentation speech, which referred to 
this issue.   Embassy later shortened the speech due to time 
constraints. Embassy believes there was nothing "unbalanced" 
in the original draft remarks.  End FYI.) 
 
11.  (U) The draft speech sent to the MFA had said: quote We 
would encourage Botswana to assure that all groups within 
the country, especially those in remote areas, can easily 
access the basic material necessities of life.  It may not 
be easy to increase their educational, economic, and other 
opportunities that will raise their living standards while 
also preserving their distinctive cultures and languages. 
We also encourage you to be open to those with alternative 
views on how to do this, because it is through debate and 
dialogue that win-win solutions can be achieved. Botswana is 
not alone in facing such a challenge; we too have had to 
deal with this issue.  The U.S. is already giving financial 
assistance to projects that serve these remote area 
dwellers, and we remain committed to assisting you and these 
groups and peoples in the difficult task of improving their 
conditions. end quote 
 
12.  (SBU) That same day, the privately-owned daily Mmegi 
editorialized against the government's relocation policies, 
criticizing them as unnecessarily weakening Botswana's 
international standing. During an October 3 conversation 
with PolOff, Press Secretary to the President Jeff Ramsay 
and Special Advisor to the President Sidney Pilane expressed 
the Government's unwillingness to negotiate on this issue at 
all.  The Government would consult with the FPK only if it 
dropped its legal charges, they said.  Ramsay scoffed at 
calls by Ditshwanelo to begin a dialog between the 
Government and the persons relocated from the CKGR, 
suggesting that Ditshwanelo is no longer involved in the 
issue.  Pilane stressed that the Government would not 
consult with any external group and expressed his hope that 
the U.S. was not allowing itself to be drawn into the 
matter. 
 
COMMENT 
 
13. (SBU)  The fact that FPK won a second adjournment to 
raise funds and that its members were granted bail, both 
over the objections of Government attorneys, demonstrates 
that they continue to receive fair treatment from Botswana's 
judiciary.  On the other hand, recent events seem to have 
hardened the Government's resolve to enforce its policy of 
removing all residents from the Reserve, and to use the 
 
 
fullest possible range of pressures to compel compliance. 
 
14. (SBU)  Although Mr. Ramsay and Mr. Pilane acknowledged 
that international opinion is important to Botswana's 
national interests, it was clear that both are committed to 
a `stay-the-course' approach to the relocation issue. 
Beyond the technical and legal aspects of the case, both 
officials referred to Botswana's "sovereign right" to make 
its own decisions about the relocations, and both were 
particularly critical of British government and media 
pressures.  As President Mogae's remarks to the Ambassador 
indicate, the Government continues to be hypersensitive to 
any references to or questions about its relocation policy. 
The Mission will continue to reach out to Government 
officials who see value in rethinking this policy and its 
implementation, and to stress the importance to Botswana of 
maintaining its strong record and image of respect for human 
rights. 
CANAVAN 
 
 
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