Survival International to Picket London Diamond Exhibition Opening

Survival International is planning a noisy picket at the opening on Wednesday of London's Natural History Museum's Diamonds exhibition in support of a group of Botswana Kalahari Bushmen who claim they have been evicted from their traditional lands.

Bushman supporters will protest outside the exhibition's celebrity opening party. Celebrities invited to the opening are reported to include actresses Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johannson.

The six-month exhibition is sponsored in part by De Beers' sales and marketing arm the DTC, and features some of the most famous diamonds in the world, including De Beers’ 203.04 carat Millennium Star, and seven other unusual diamonds, including the Steinmetz Pink, the world’s largest fancy vivid pink, a flawless 59.60 carat diamond, and a replica of the Koh-i-Noor.

Survival claims the Bushmen have been turfed off their lands in order to enable Botswana and De Beers to carry out exploration work. The two reject Survival's claims and the issue is being heard by Botswana's High Court, which has yet to reach a decision.

The London protest will be Survival's second in two weeks against De Beers, following the picketing of the opening of the De Beers LV in New York City in which its supporters urged U.S. celebrities Teri Hatcher and Lindsay Lohan not to attend the event. The picketers included U.S. feminist icon Gloria Steinem.

Survival said one of the bushman, Roy Sesana, wrote to the Natural History Museum, saying: "The whole world has heard our cries. They know that we have been thrown off our land - the land where we have lived for thousands of years - because of the diamonds underneath? Please do not help De Beers keep our suffering secret."

Survival's director Stephen Corry said: "Most of the world's quality gem diamonds come from De Beers in Botswana. When the Bushmen were evicted, they were told it was to make way for diamonds. How can their destruction be completely ignored by one of the world's foremost museums without us thinking commercial sponsorship has taken precedence over objective education? It's just another big advert for diamonds at the public's expense and the museum should be ashamed."