Survival International, which is fighting a campaign for Botswana bushpeople it claims have been evicted to enable diamond exploration to take place, has attacked diamond miner De Beers over its role and says the issue could be resolved in 24 hours if De Beers and the Botswana government would simply accept international law on the issue.

 

 

Survival International and De Beers' mutual recriminations have reached a peak in recent weeks, with the miner clearly annoyed at Survival's picketing of the opening of the De Beers LV store in New York City on June 22 and the opening of a major diamond exhibition in London last week, both of which were widely covered by the media.

 

Corry dismissed De Beers' requests to provide evidence that the bushpeople have been evicted to make way for diamond mining, saying the group has provided a lengthy document setting out its proof. De Beers has attacked what it calls Survival's "misleading and dishonest claims" that it says are "based on supposition and hearsay".

 

Corry said that one of the key elements in its documentation is that the bushpeople reported being told by the authorities in 2000 that they were being evicted due to diamonds on their traditional lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). In addition, he claims Botswana's mines minister told local authorities that the relocation was for the development of diamond projects. Survival also claims the number of diamond exploration licenses given out by the government in the CKGR has increased dramatically since the Bushmen were evicted.

 

Botswana is the largest diamond producer in the world and last year reported a record output of 31 million carats.

 

"De Beers accuses us of fabricating evidence, but when we ask them what we fabricated they do not reply," Corry said. "De Beers has had our evidence for years but has never responded to it. The company is very close to the government and knows exactly what is happening. The Botswana president has even described their relationship as 'like that of Siamese twins'.”

 

Corry said he was unimpressed with De Beers' claims that there was no need to mine diamonds now even if deposits are found. "De Beers’s intention … might be not to mine in the CKGR for years, even decades, until other [Debswana-operated] mines are exhausted. Keeping the diamonds in the ground, out of reach of other companies, might be eventually just as profitable for both the company and the government as actually extracting the diamonds would be."

 

Corry said the firm feigned innocence, but had even taken on an anthropologist named James Suzman to study Bushman land rights at one particular site in the CKGR.

 

Corry was equally scathing of the Botswana government which he said had removed the bushpeople with "breathtaking arrogance" regarding them as an inferior tribe. "There is enormous racism by the domestic elite against the bushpeople. It did not occur to the government that there would be an international outcry or that it would need to negotiate a settlement. They are treating the bushpeople with the same disdain as the former white colonists in southern Africa."

 

Botswana President Festus Mogae has described Survival International as "dodgy outsiders", saying the government simply wanted to be able to provide the bushpeople with modern services, but Corry was unfazed by the comment. "Mogae has also described us as terrorists and that we are making everything up, so I don't take comments like that seriously.

 

"Our workers have been to speak to the bushpeople on many occasions. We ask them what they want and check if they are being manipulated by their leaders. They tell us that their leaders do what the people tell them not the other way around.

 

"The government couldn't care less about the bushpeople, just the diamonds. Eventually the government will create an extra burden on itself because the bushpeople will drift to the towns and cities where they don't how to live and possibly get into a life of crime."

 

Corry was also skeptical about the Botswana High Court case involving the government and bushpeople providing any justice. "The government has said it will appeal the decision if it goes against them and that will drag things out for many more years. Worse than that, the government says that if it loses it is planning to change the law."

 

Not surprisingly, De Beers rejected all Corry's claims, saying it had no role in the eviction issue which was purely between SI and the Botswana government.

 

"At a time of significant shortage in the market, it would make absolutely no sense commercially for De Beers to 'keep the diamonds in the ground' as Mr Corry suggests, nor would the government permit it," said Rory More O’Ferrall, De Beers’ Director of External Affairs. "If we had a viable deposit, we would be eager to bring it to production.

 

"The best thing for Botswana and all its people, including the Bushmen, would be the discovery and development of a major diamond deposit anywhere in Botswana. Not only would this provide the infrastructure of roads, schools, hospitals and other social services but, more crucially, the revenues that allow Botswana to fight the AIDS pandemic - Botswana has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world," he added.

 

"Mr Corry must explain how he can justify calling for a boycott of Botswana’s diamonds - thereby potentially destroying the economy of one of Africa’s few successful democracies with a record on financial prudence, transparency and progressive social policies unrivalled in Africa - when the rest of the world is focused on assisting African development,” More O’Ferrall said.

Part of Survival International’s efforts are focused on convincing models not to work with De Beers LV, and the NGO has praised British supermodel Lily Cole, the current face of De Beers, who says she is refusing to work for De Beers again.

 

Survival claims Cole's decision follows the group's lobbying efforts and quotes the model as saying: "I was unaware of these matters when I was booked for the shoot."

 

Stephen Corry, Director of Survival International said: "I am delighted that Lily has heeded our advice and understands the human suffering that diamonds are causing the Bushmen. I now urge other models not to work for De Beers."

 

Survival claims it persuaded supermodel Iman last year to stop working for De Beers over the Botswana issue, although the diamond company has strenuously denied the claims, saying companies do not usually use the same celebrities for long periods.

 

Film star Julie Christie was the star name at a picket by Survival International at the opening of a major diamond exhibition at London's Natural History Museum last week of which De Beers' sales and marketing arm the DTC is one of the sponsors.

 

In addition, at the end of last month, American feminist icon Gloria Steinem led protesters picketing the opening of the first U.S. store, in New York City, by the De Beers LV venture.