Human rights in Botswana

Human rights in Botswana are protected under the constitution. The 2009 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State noted that in general the government of Botswana has respected the rights of its citizens.[1]

Botswana
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Botswana
Constitution
Government
Parliament
Administrative divisions
Elections
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Constitution

The constitution of Botswana addresses human rights principles such as freedom of speech, Freedom of assembly and the right to life.[2]

Issues

Freedom of speech and press

The constitution addresses the notion of freedom of speech and this is generally respected by the government.[1]

Death penalty
Main article: Capital punishment in Botswana

The High Court in Johannesburg, South Africa has described Botswana as a "pariah state not synchronized with the majority of African countries that have either abandoned or are refusing to implement the death penalty". Thirty-two people were hanged in Botswana between independence in 1966 and 1998 and a further six were executed between 2001 and 2006.

Indigenous people
See also: Ancestral land conflict in Botswana

Many of the indigenous San people have been forcibly relocated from their land onto reservations. To make them relocate, they were denied from accessing water from their land and faced arrest if they hunted, which was their primary source of food.[3] Their lands lie in the middle of the world’s richest diamond field. Officially, the government denies that there is any link to mining and claims the relocation is to preserve the wildlife and ecosystem, even though the San people have lived sustainably on the land for millennia.[3] On the reservations, they struggle to find employment and alcoholism is rampant.[3]

Historical situation

The following chart shows Botswana's ratings since 1972 in the Freedom in the World reports, published annually by Freedom House. A rating of 1 is "free"; 7, "not free".[4][lower-alpha 1]

Historical ratings
Year Political Rights Civil Liberties Status President[lower-alpha 2]
1972 3 4 Partly Free Seretse Khama
1973 2 3 Free Seretse Khama
1974 2 3 Free Seretse Khama
1975 2 3 Free Seretse Khama
1976 2 3 Free Seretse Khama
1977 2 3 Free Seretse Khama
1978 2 3 Free Seretse Khama
1979 2 2 Free Seretse Khama
1980 2 3 Free Seretse Khama
1981 2 3 Free Quett Masire
1982[lower-alpha 3] 2 3 Free Quett Masire
1983 2 3 Free Quett Masire
1984 2 3 Free Quett Masire
1985 2 3 Free Quett Masire
1986 2 3 Free Quett Masire
1987 2 3 Free Quett Masire
1988 2 3 Free Quett Masire
1989 1 2 Free Quett Masire
1990 1 2 Free Quett Masire
1991 1 2 Free Quett Masire
1992 1 2 Free Quett Masire
1993 2 3 Free Quett Masire
1994 2 3 Free Quett Masire
1995 2 2 Free Quett Masire
1996 2 2 Free Quett Masire
1997 2 2 Free Quett Masire
1998 2 2 Free Quett Masire
1999 2 2 Free Festus Mogae
2000 2 2 Free Festus Mogae
2001 2 2 Free Festus Mogae
2002 2 2 Free Festus Mogae
2003 2 2 Free Festus Mogae
2004 2 2 Free Festus Mogae
2005 2 2 Free Festus Mogae
2006 2 2 Free Festus Mogae
2007 2 2 Free Festus Mogae
2008 2 2 Free Festus Mogae
2009 3 2 Free Ian Khama
2010 3 2 Free Ian Khama
2011 3 2 Free Ian Khama
2012[5] 3 2 Free Ian Khama
2013[6] 3 2 Free Ian Khama
2014[7] 3 2 Free Ian Khama

International treaties

Botswana's stances on international human rights treaties are as follows:

International treaties
Treaty Organization Introduced Signed Ratified
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide[8] United Nations 1948 - -
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination[9] United Nations 1966 - 1974
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights[10] United Nations 1966 - -
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[11] United Nations 1966 2000 2000
First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[12] United Nations 1966 - -
Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity[13] United Nations 1968 - -
International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid[14] United Nations 1973 - -
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women[15] United Nations 1979 - 1996
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment[16] United Nations 1984 2000 2000
Convention on the Rights of the Child[17] United Nations 1989 - 1995
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty[18] United Nations 1989 - -
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families[19] United Nations 1990 - -
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women[20] United Nations 1999 - 2007
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict[21] United Nations 2000 2003 2004
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography[22] United Nations 2000 - 2003
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities[23] United Nations 2006 - -
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities[24] United Nations 2006 - -
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance[25] United Nations 2006 - -
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights[26] United Nations 2008 - -
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure[27] United Nations 2011 - -

See also

Notes
  1. Note that the "Year" signifies the "Year covered". Therefore the information for the year marked 2008 is from the report published in 2009, and so on.
  2. As of January 1.
  3. The 1982 report covers the year 1981 and the first half of 1982, and the following 1984 report covers the second half of 1982 and the whole of 1983. In the interest of simplicity, these two aberrant "year and a half" reports have been split into three year-long reports through interpolation.

References
  1. , U.S Dept of State Human Rights Report: Botswana
  2. "Constitution of Botswana 1966 - Table of Contents". Commonlii.org. 1966-09-30. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  3. "Botswana bushmen: Modern life is destroying us". BBC News. 7 January 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-03-25. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  4. Freedom House (2012). "Country ratings and status, FIW 1973-2012" (XLS). Archived from the original on 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
  5. Freedom House (2013). "Freedom in the World 2013: Democratic Breakthroughs in the Balance" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  6. Freedom House (2014). "Freedom in the World 2014" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-07-12. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  7. Freedom House (2015). "Freedom in the World 2015" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-10-18. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  8. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 1. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Paris, 9 December 1948". Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  9. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 2. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. New York, 7 March 1966". Archived from the original on 11 February 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  10. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 3. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. New York, 16 December 1966". Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  11. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 4. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. New York, 16 December 1966". Archived from the original on 1 September 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  12. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 5. Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. New York, 16 December 1966". Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  13. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 6. Convention on the non-applicability of statutory limitations to war crimes and crimes against humanity. New York, 26 November 1968". Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  14. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 7. International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. New York, 30 November 1973". Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  15. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 8. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. New York, 18 December 1979". Archived from the original on 23 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  16. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 9. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. New York, 10 December 1984". Archived from the original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  17. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11. Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York, 20 November 1989". Archived from the original on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  18. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 12. Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. New York, 15 December 1989". Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  19. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 13. International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. New York, 18 December 1990". Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  20. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 8b. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. New York, 6 October 1999". Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  21. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11b. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. New York, 25 May 2000". Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  22. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11c. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. New York, 25 May 2000". Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  23. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 15. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New York, 13 December 2006". Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  24. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 15a. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New York, 13 December 2006". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  25. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 16. International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. New York, 20 December 2006". Archived from the original on 2012-08-21. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  26. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 3a. Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. New York, 10 December 2008". Archived from the original on 2012-09-24. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  27. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11d. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure . New York, 19 December 2011. New York, 10 December 2008". Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
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