San arrested, tortured

2007-10-05 08:43

Johannesburg - Ten Bushmen have been arrested and assaulted by wildlife officials in Kaudwane resettlement camp in Botswana, says the Bushmen human rights organisation, Survival International.

Spokesperson Miriam Ross said Motsoko Ramahoko was tortured as officials attempted to force him to admit that he had been hunting without a permit.

In a landmark legal case in December 2006, Botswana High Court ruled that Ramahoko and hundreds of bushmen had been evicted illegally from their land in the central Kalahari by government.

Ross said: "The court heard that government had broken the law in refusing to issue them with hunting permits."

The organisation also accused the Botswana government of refusing to transport back the Bushmen to their land.

Ramahoko and other bushmen's hopes of returning home were dashed, as ten months later that still had not happened, said Ross.

Survival International director, Stephen Corry, called for an investigation into the beatings of bushmen by authorities.

- SAPA