PILPG Update San of Botswana Return to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve Last week the Botswana government issued a statement assuring the San people that all San are free to return to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve until the government develops a new permanent policy on the issue. In December 2006, the High Court of Botswana ruled that the Botswana government had unlawfully evicted the San people of Botswana from their ancestral land in the reserve. According to the Court, because the San were forcibly and wrongly removed from the Reserve without their consent, they are entitled to return to their lands. The San, the oldest indigenous people in Sub-Saharan Africa, filed their initial complaint in 2001. The San argued that the government of Botswana illegally forced them from their land by cutting off water supplies and threatening them at gunpoint. They were moved to settlements that were functional, but incompatible with their way of life. The government challenged the San’s right to the land and argued that their presence interfered with conservation efforts. In cooperation with the Indigenous Land Rights Fund, PILPG has been providing legal assistance, unrelated to the court case, to the San people through the First People of the Kalahari for the past two years in an effort to help them return to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. For more information on the case see the following Washington Post news article.
About the Public International Law & Policy Group The Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) is a global, pro bono law firm providing legal assistance to governments and states involved in conflicts. To facilitate use of this legal assistance, PILPG also provides policy formation advice and training on matters related to conflict resolution. In 2005 PILPG was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. PILPG's primary practice areas are Peacebuilding, International Justice, Post-Conflict Political Development, and Public International Law. To provide pro bono legal advice and policy formulation expertise, PILPG relies almost exclusively on volunteer legal assistance from more than sixty former international lawyers, diplomats, and foreign relations experts, as well as pro bono assistance from major international law firms. Annually, PILPG is able to provide over $10 million worth of pro bono international legal services.
Because of its diverse network of volunteers, PILPG is able to maintain volunteer points of contact in London, Paris, New York, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Boston, Rome, The Hague, Stockholm, Brussels, Kabul, Nairobi, and Seattle. In July 1999, the United Nations granted official Non-Governmental Organization status to PILPG. The Managing Board of PILPG includes: Paul Williams - Executive Director To learn more about the Public International Law & Policy Group, please visit our website at http://www.pilpg.org. |
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