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TITLE:  BOTSWANA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                            BOTSWANA


Botswana is a multiparty, parliamentary democracy.  The
President exercises executive authority; Sir Ketumile Masire,
was reelected for a third 5-year term in October.  The ruling
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) continued to dominate the
National Assembly, holding 31 of 44 seats.  The opposition
Botswana National Front (BNF) has the remaining 13 seats.

The civilian Government exercises effective control over the
security forces.  The military, the Botswana Defense Force
(BDF), and the Botswana National Police (BNP) are responsible
for external and internal security.

The economy is market oriented with strong encouragement for
private enterprise.  Steady diamond revenues and efficient
economic and fiscal policies resulted in steady growth,
although the rate slowed somewhat compared to the previous
year.  Per capita gross domestic product was approximately
$3,100 in 1994.  Over 50 percent of the population is employed
in the informal sector, largely subsistence farming and animal
husbandry.  Rural poverty remains a serious problem.

Respect for citizens' human rights is enshrined in the
Constitution, and the Government has widely observed these
rights.  Despite a number of problem areas, Botswana's overall
human rights record has been consistently positive since
independence in 1966.  However, there were credible reports
that police sometimes mistreated suspects, especially during
interrogation.  The continued arbitrary detention of suspected
economic migrants alongside convicted felons remained a serious
problem in 1994.  Women continue to face significant legal and
societal discrimination, and violence against women is a
growing problem.  Groups not numbered among the eight
"principal tribes" identified in the Constitution still do not
enjoy full access to social services and are marginalized in
the political process.  In many instances the judicial system
did not provide timely fair trials due to a serious backlog of
cases.  Trade unions continued to face some legal restrictions,
and the Government did not always ensure that labor laws were
observed in practice.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.  Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There were no reports of political or other extrajudicial
killings.

     b.  Disappearance

There were no reports of disappearances.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

The Constitution explicitly forbids torture, inhuman, and
degrading treatment or punishment.  The authorities generally
respect this prohibition in practice, and in some cases have
taken disciplinary or judicial action against persons
responsible for abuses.  However, instances of abuse do occur.
While coerced confessions are inadmissible in court, evidence
gathered through coercion or abuse may be used in prosecution.
There were credible reports that police sometimes used
intimidation techniques in order to obtain evidence.  In the
past, police sometimes suffocated criminal suspects with a
plastic bag, but police beatings and other forms of extreme
physical abuse are rare.  A victim of police brutality filed
and won a civil suit against the BNP in 1994; criminal charges
are still pending.

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) has law
enforcement authority within the confines of the 40 percent of
the country that is devoted to conservation.  There were
credible but unconfirmed reports that DWNP wardens sometimes
tortured suspected poachers in remote areas.  There was
insufficient evidence for the DWNP or the courts to assemble
cases against the alleged perpetrators.  The DWNP and the rest
of the Government condemn such practices, but the allegations
continued in 1994.

Prison conditions are generally acceptable, although
overcrowding has increased in the last decade.  The Government
makes efforts to protect women in custody from rape and other
abuse.  Police placed arrested women in the charge of female
officers to reduce the potential for mistreatment, and they
keep female suspects and convicted felons in separate
facilities from men.  Sexual assault against women is not a
problem in the prison system.

The Government does not forcibly repatriate or deport failed
asylum seekers, but does not always permit them to remain
free.  In the absence of a dedicated facility for failed asylum
seekers, the authorities have resorted in some instances to
incarcerating them alongside convicted felons.  While
recognizing this as a problem, the Government is reluctant to
build a separate facility both for budgetary reasons and out of
concern that such a facility would attract asylum seekers.

The Government permits independent monitoring of its prisons,
including by church, nongovernmental organizations (NGO's), and
international groups.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

Under the Constitution, "every person in Botswana" enjoys
freedom from arbitrary arrest as well as due process and the
presumption of innocence.  However, the Government has not
extended those rights to those who enter the country
illegally.  Upon arrest, a suspect must be informed of his or
her legal rights, including the right to remain silent, to be
allowed to contact a person of choice, and generally to be
charged before a magistrate within 48 hours.  A magistrate may
detain a suspect for 14 days through a writ of detention, which
may be renewed every 14 days.  Most citizens charged with
noncapital offenses are released on their own recognizance;
some are released with minimal bail.  Detention without bail is
highly unusual, except in murder cases, where it is mandated.
Detainees have the right to hire attorneys of their choice.

Poor police training and poor communications in rural villages,
however, make it difficult for many detainees to obtain legal
assistance, and authorities do not always strictly follow
procedures.  The Government does not provide counsel for the
indigent, and there is no public defender service.  Two
NGO's--the University of Botswana Legal Assistance Center and
the Botswana Center for Human Rights--provide pro bono legal
services, but their capacity is limited.  Constitutional
protections do not apply to illegal immigrants, although the
constitutionality of denying due process to illegal immigrants
has not been tested in court.

While the Government does not use exile for political purposes,
it has expelled foreigners on political grounds, declaring
foreigners who criticize government policy prohibited
immigrants--a ruling from the office of the President for which
there is no appeal process.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

Botswana has two court systems, the civil courts and the
customary (traditional) courts.  While the Constitution
provides for due process, the civil courts, which include
magistrates' courts and the Court of Appeal, are not able to
provide for timely fair trial in many cases.  In 1994 these
courts continued to face acute resource shortages and a lack of
trained personnel, leading to enormous backlogs, over a year in
many capital cases and longer in lesser offenses.

Most trials in the regular courts are public, although trials
under the National Security Act (NSA) may be held in secret.
As a rule, the courts appoint public defenders only for those
persons charged with capital crimes (murder and treason); those
charged with noncapital crimes are often tried without legal
representation if they cannot afford an attorney.  As a result,
many defendants are not informed of their rights in pretrial or
trial proceedings.

Botswana's civil courts operate with a high degree of
independence.  They are largely unhampered by corruption and
rarely susceptible to political influence.  However, judicial
authority has been undermined by the Government's continued
reluctance to abide by a 1992 decision of the High Court that
the Citizenship Act is unconstitutional because it
discriminates against women.  International human rights
monitors criticized the Government for its failure to revise
the law and respect the Court's ruling (see Sections 2.d. and
5).  The Government has yet to declare publicly how it will
implement the High Court's decision.  President Masire has made
a commitment to address the issue in 1995.

During the debate preceding adoption of the 1994 Anticorruption
Bill, some human rights organizations expressed concern that,
in the case of those accused of misuse of government resources,
the bill would weaken the constitutional provision providing
for the defendants' presumption of innocence.

Most citizens encounter the legal system through the customary
courts under the nominal authority of a traditional leader.
These courts handle minor offenses involving land, marital, and
property disputes.  In these courts, the defendant does not
have legal counsel, and there are no precise rules of
evidence.  Tribal judges, appointed by the traditional leader
or elected by the community, determine sentences, which may be
appealed through the civil court system.  The quality of
decisions reached in the traditional courts varies
considerably.  In communities where chiefs are respected, their
decisions are respected; in communities where the chiefs are
not respected, people seek justice from the civil courts.

The Government held no political prisoners.

     f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

The Constitution provides for the protection of privacy and the
security of the person, and the Government respects these
rights.  While judicial search warrants are normally required,
police officers above the rank of sergeant may enter, search,
and seize property if they have reasonable grounds to suspect
that evidence might be destroyed or that a crime is in
progress.  Evidence gathered without a search warrant is
admissible in court, but judges may and do disqualify such
evidence if it can be shown that the police had time to obtain
a warrant.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution provides for freedom of expression, both
individual and corporate, but also permits restrictions on
these freedoms "reasonably required in the interests of
defense, public safety, public order, public morality, or
public health."  Botswana has a long tradition of vigorous and
candid public discourse, and the Government has not used this
constitutional provision to place unreasonable restrictions on
speech or press.

However, the broadcast media remain a government monopoly, with
radio the most important medium of information in this highly
dispersed society.  Radio Botswana follows government policies
and draws most of its stories from the official Botswana Press
Agency (BOPA).  Opposition leaders have access to the radio,
but they complain--with some justification--that their
broadcast time is severely limited.  The Government also
subsidizes a free daily newspaper which depends heavily on BOPA
for its material.

The independent press is small but lively and frequently
critical of the Government and the President.  It reports
without fear of closure, censorship, or intimidation.  There
are no privately owned radio or television stations, but there
is a semilegal television station broadcasting mostly pirated
programs to viewers in the capital city.  Independent radio and
television from neighboring South Africa are easily received.

On occasion the Government has taken steps, under loosely
defined provisions of the NSA, to limit publication of national
security information.  The Attorney General did not take any
action during 1994 in the case involving two journalists
accused of violating the NSA in 1993, in part because one of
the reporters was abroad on a scholarship.

The Government also has leverage over the independent press
through advertising placed by state-owned enterprises.  Within
the Government, there has been some discussion of withdrawing
such advertising from the independent media, but no such action
had been taken by year's end.

There are no limits placed on academic freedom.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government respects this right in practice.  Police
authorization is needed to hold public demonstrations, but the
authorities withhold permission only in limited cases and then
exclusively for the sake of public safety.  Although
associations must officially register, the Government has not
used the registration process to delay, harass, or otherwise
impede group formation.  There are a multiplicity of political
parties, labor unions, and civic associations

     c.  Freedom of Religion

The Constitution provides for this freedom, and people worship
freely in practice.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

There are no barriers to domestic and international travel or
migration.  Citizenship is not revoked for political reasons,
although once voluntarily relinquished, it can only be regained
through naturalization.

Citizenship provisions of the  Nationality Law discriminate
against women and have been severely criticized by human rights
groups, as well as being the object of legal action (see
Section 5).

The Government does not repatriate refugees against their will,
nor will it forcibly expel those who have applied for, but
failed to gain, refugee status.  Those granted refugee or
asylum status are treated well, but some failed asylum seekers
have been detained without charge for up to 2 years in the same
facilities and cells as convicted felons.  The Government
cooperates with the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and other international refugee organizations,
but it generally applies stricter criteria to asylum seekers
than does the UNHCR.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Citizens have the right to change their government.  In
practice, one party--the BDP--has dominated the lower chamber
of Parliament, the National Assembly, since independence,
although its representation in the Assembly was reduced in the
October 15 multiparty general elections, in which it won 27 of
the 40 elected seats.  While eight parties contested the
election, only the BNF, with 13 seats, joined the BDP in
Parliament.  There are also four appointed seats.  The BNF's
recent performance at the polls (increasing its parliamentary
presence from 3 to 13 seats) reflected a strong following in
urban areas.  Parliament elects the President.  Citizens 21
years of age and older may vote, using a secret ballot.

The House of Chiefs, a ceremonial upper chamber of Parliament
with limited advisory powers, is constitutionally restricted to
the eight "principal tribes" of the Tswana nation.
Consequently, other groups of Botswana citizens, e.g., the
Basarwa (widely known as "bushmen"), Herero, Kalanga,
Humbukush, Baloi or Lozi, are not represented in the House of
Chiefs.  Given the limited authority of the House of Chiefs,
the impact of this discrimination is largely symbolic, but it
is viewed as important in principle by a number of non-Batswana.

Members of the National Assembly are required to be able to
speak English, and one prospective candidate for a seat
representing a Basarwa constituency was not nominated by his
party for this reason.  This restriction has never been
challenged in court.

Women are also underrepresented in the political process.
Although women constitute just over 50 percent of the
population, only 3 of 44 National Assembly seats are occupied
by women, and only 2 women are in the Cabinet.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

The Government does not prevent local and international
organizations from investigating human rights abuses in
Botswana, nor does it make any attempt to suppress any critical
publications.  Local human rights groups operate openly and
independently.  They freely use the independent media to
publicize their findings, which are often critical of the
Government.  Organizations such as Human Rights Watch/Africa
and Amnesty International have criticized certain practices in
Botswana.  The Government often disputes the conclusions of
NGO's but does not attempt to prevent them from being debated.
Officers from international human rights groups enter and
depart Botswana freely.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The Constitution and Penal Code forbid discrimination on the
basis of ethnicity, nationality, or creed but do not address
discrimination based on sex.

     Women

Women in Botswana do not have the same civil rights as men.  A
prominent illustration of this is the highly publicized Unity
Dow lawsuit challenging Botswana's citizenship laws.  Attorney
Unity Dow, a female citizen of Botswana married to an
expatriate, filed a successful suit challenging the
constitutionality of Botswana's Nationality Law.  Under that
Law, a Motswana woman married to a non-Motswana could not
transmit Botswana citizenship to her child whereas a Motswana
man in the same situation could do so.  Although the High Court
declared the law unconstitutional, the Government has since
failed to take action to pass a new law which would treat male
and female citizen parents equally with respect to transmission
of citizenship to their children.  In an effort to force
government action, Unity Dow has since applied for a passport
for her child, but the authorities had declined to act on that
application by year's end.

A number of other laws, many of which are attributed to
traditional practices, restrict civil and economic
opportunities for women.  Women married in "common property"
are held to be legal minors, requiring their husbands' consent
to buy or sell property, apply for credit, and enter into
legally binding contracts.  Women have, and are increasingly
exercising, the right to marriage "out of common property," in
which case they retain their full legal rights as adults.
Polygyny is still legal under traditional law and with the
consent of the first wife, but it is rarely practiced.

Well-trained urban women enjoy growing entry-level access to
the white-collar job market, but the number of opportunities
decreases sharply as they rise in seniority.  Discrimination
against women is most acute in rural areas where women work
primarily in subsistence agriculture.

Violence against women, primarily beatings, remains a serious
problem in Botswana.  Under customary law and in common rural
practice, men have the right to "chastise" their wives.
Statistics are believed to underreport the true level of abuse
against women.  Police are rarely called to intervene in cases
of domestic violence, and there were no cases in which a wife
filed criminal charges against an abusive husband in 1994.
Spouse abuse does not receive widespread media attention.

A number of women's organizations have emerged to promote the
status of women.  The groups vary considerably in their
membership, philosophy, and tactics.  The Government has been
slow to respond concretely to issues raised by these groups.

     Children

The rights of children are addressed in the Constitution and
the 1981 Children's Act.  Under the Act, Botswana has a court
system and social service apparatus designed solely for
juveniles.  There is no pattern of societal abuse against
children.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

The Tswana majority, of which the Constitution recognizes eight
"principal tribes," has a tradition of peacefully coexisting
with "minor" tribes, chief among which are the Kalanga who
represent some 25 percent of the population.  Each of the eight
principal tribes is represented in the advisory House of
Chiefs, while other groups are permitted only a subchief, who
is not a member of the House.  Other than the lack of schooling
in their own language and representation in the House of
Chiefs, Botswana's Bantu minorities and nonindigenous
minorities, such as the white and Asian communities, are not
subject to discrimination.  However, the nomadic Basarwa remain
marginalized and have lost access to their traditional land.
The Basarwa are vulnerable to exploitation, and their
isolation, ignorance of civil rights, and lack of
representation in local or national government have stymied
their progress.

     People with Disabilities

The Government does not require accessibility to public
buildings and conveyances for people with disabilities, and the
NGO community has only recently begun to press for more
government attention to the needs of the disabled.  The
Government does not discriminate on the basis of physical or
mental handicap, although employment opportunities for the
disabled remain limited.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The Constitution provides for the right of association, and in
practice all workers, with the exception of government
employees, are free to join or organize unions of their own
choosing.  Government workers may form associations that
function as quasi-unions but without the right to negotiate
wages.  The industrial or wage economy is small, and unions are
concentrated largely in the mineral, and to a lesser extent, in
the railway and banking sectors.  There is only one major
confederation, the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU),
but unions are free to form other confederations.

Unions are independent of the Government and are not closely
allied with any political party or movement.  Unions may employ
administrative staff, but the law requires elected union
officials to work full time in the industry the union
represents.  This severely limits union leaders'
professionalism and effectiveness and has been criticized by
the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

In addition, the law severely restricts the right to strike.
Legal strikes are theoretically possible after an exhaustive
arbitration process, but in practice none of the country's
strikes to date has been legal.  Employees of two banks, one
private and one state owned, staged strikes in December.  At
year's end, both actions were unresolved.

Unions may join international organizations, and the BFTU is
affiliated with the ICFTU.  The Minister of Labor must approve
any affiliation with an outside labor movement, but unions may
appeal to the courts if an application for affiliation is
refused.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The Constitution provides for collective bargaining for unions
that have enrolled 25 percent of a labor force.  In reality,
only the mineworker unions have the organizational strength to
engage in collective bargaining, and collective bargaining is
virtually nonexistent in most other sectors.

Workers may not be fired for union-related activities, and
dismissed workers may appeal to labor officers or civil
courts.  However, labor officers rarely do more than order
2 months' severance pay.

Botswana has only one export processing zone--in the town of
Selebi-Phikwe--which is subject to the same labor laws as the
rest of the country.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The Constitution specifically forbids forced or compulsory
labor, and it is not practiced.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

Although education is not compulsory, the Government provides
7 years of free education to every child, and most children in
Botswana take advantage of this opportunity.  Only an immediate
family member may employ a child 13 years old or younger, and
no juvenile under 15 may be employed in any industry.  Only
persons over 16 may be hired to perform night work, and no
person under 16 is allowed to assume hazardous labor, including
in mining.  District and municipal councils have child welfare
divisions that are responsible for enforcing child labor laws.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

The minimum monthly wage for full-time labor is $100 (270
Pula), which is just under 50 percent of what the Government
calculates is necessary to meet the basic needs of a family of
five.  The Ministry of Labor is nominally responsible for
enforcing the minimum wage, but there were no known cases in
which the Ministry took actions against an employer paying less
in 1994.

Formal sector jobs almost always pay well above minimum wage
levels.  Informal sector employment, particularly in the
agricultural and domestic service sectors, where housing and
food are included, frequently pay below the minimum wage.
Illegal immigrants, primarily Zimbabweans and Zambians, are
easily exploited as they would be subject to arbitrary and
immediate deportation if they filed grievances against
employers.

Botswana law permits a maximum 48-hour workweek, exclusive of
overtime which is payable at time and a half for each
additional hour.  Most modern private and public sector jobs
are on the 40-hour workweek.

Workers who complain about hazardous conditions cannot be
fired.  The Government's institutional ability to enforce its
workplace safety legislation remains limited, however, by
inadequate staffing and unclear jurisdictions between different
ministries.  Nevertheless, worker safety is generally provided
for by employers, with the occasionally notable exception of
the construction industry.