'Alternative Nobel' Bushmen Journey To Europe

'Alternative Nobel' Bushmen Journey To Europe

Two Kalahari Bushmen are journeying to Britain, Sweden and Germany on a desperate mission to stop the Botswana government arresting, shooting and torturing their people and starving them off their land. The two Bushmen will be in London from 29 November to 2 December, before travelling to Sweden to accept the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' for 2005.

Roy Sesana and Jumanda Gakelebone were arrested and beaten in September as they and twenty-six others tried to break the government's blockade and take food and water to the last remaining Bushmen in the Central Kalahari.

They will travel to Sweden from 5 to 11 December to accept the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' or Right Livelihood Award in the Swedish parliament, which Roy and the Bushmen's organisation First People of the Kalahari were awarded for 'resolute resistance against eviction from their ancestral lands, and for upholding the right to their traditional way of life.' The award was announced the day after they were released from custody.

The Bushmen will then visit Berlin from 11 to 16 December to gain support for their struggle among the German public.

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