Human rights in Botswana are protected under the constitution. The 2022 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.
Constitution The constitution of Botswana addresses human rights principles such as freedom of speech, Freedom of assembly and the right to life.
Civil and political rights
Political freedom Botswana has a dominant-party system in which the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) won every parliamentary election since independence until 2024. Elections in Botswana are recognised as free and fair, and there are no legal restrictions against opposition parties, but the opposition alleges that the BDP has access to unfair electoral advantages while it is in power.
Speech and expression The media landscape of Botswana is dominated by state media. Independent journalism is heavily regulated, and independent journalists have been arrested or harassed by the government on multiple occasions. Insulting the nation of Botswana, its associated symbols, or any public official is illegal and subject to a fine. Freedom of assembly is subject to government approval.
Due process and punishment The Constitution of Botswana prohibits arbitrary detention, and detained individuals are entitled to legal representation. Most law enforcement comply with these requirements, but the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services unlawfully detained political opponents in at least two instances in 2022. The government only provides free legal representation for capital crimes. Customary tribal courts do not offer the same legal protections as government courts, though they are popular with the public. The independence of the judiciary is generally upheld.
The Botswana Defence Force has been criticised for its aggressive actions against suspected poachers, including a shoot-to-kill order from 2013 to 2018.
Prison conditions in Botswana meet international standards, and prison officials are held responsible for inhumane conditions. The government of Botswana has been criticised by human rights groups for some of its criminal penalties, including capital punishment and corporal punishment.
Labour rights The right to unionise is protected for all workers except for police, military, and prison workers, and union activity is protected for registered unions. Unregistered unions do not receive the same protections. Strike action is legally protected for all industries except aviation, health, electrical, water and sanitation, fire, and air traffic control services, though significant restrictions are applied and strikes are only allowed under limited circumstances.
The government guarantees a minimum wage for all workers. As of 2022, this is 7.22 pula ($0.56 USD) per hour. Work hours are limited to 48 hours per week before overtime pay is required.
Discrimination Indigenous people
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. 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. On the reservations, they struggle to find employment and alcoholism is rampant.
On 24 August 2018 the UN Special Rapporteur on Minorities, Fernand de Varennes, issued a statement calling on Botswana "to step up efforts to recognise and protect the rights of minorities in relation to public services, land and resource use and the use of minority languages in education and other critical areas." He also expressed, “Many minority children living in remote areas of the country are torn from their families and forced to stay in boarding school hostels, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away from their communities; they may be taught in a language they do not yet speak, with over-burdened care-givers not familiar with their culture, and often lacking material and emotional support. This form of institutionalisation leads to forced assimilation that has a serious negative impact on the performance in school of many, if not most, of these children, and often forces them to drop out, at a heavy personal and social cost. Less intrusive and harmful approaches to providing education for these children, particularly those of a very young age, must be explored and put into force.” He continued, saying, “Since its independence in 1966, Botswana has not provided for the official recognition of its numerous tribes, with the exception of the Wayeyi and the Basubiya. In addition, it has maintained a three-tiered legislative and institutional framework that appears to award privileges to the eight constitutionally recognized Tswana tribes, both in terms of representation in the House of Chiefs as well as with regard to control of local administration structures.”
According to Varennes, however, “Botswana has made considerable progress in economic development and other areas including education and literacy, religious freedom, the fight against HIV/AIDS and corruption, but more must be done for minorities.”
LGBT rights
LGBT rights are a controversial subject in Botswana, and members of the LGBT community are often stigmatised. As with many countries in Africa, Botswana has a significant population that rejects the existence of homosexuality on the continent, considering it to be a Western phenomenon. LEGABIBO has been the primary LGBT rights organisation in Botswana since 1998.
Botswana's sodomy laws were unanimously overturned by the High Court of Botswana on 11 June 2019. Prior to this, it was a crime to engage in "carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature" or "acts of gross indecency". In the same ruling, it was determined that sex-based legal protections also applied to sexual orientation. It was made illegal to fire an employee on the basis of sexual orientation in 2010. The High Court of Botswana ruled in 2017 that transgender people had a constitutional right to have their gender identity legally recognised.
Women's rights The issue of women's rights was prominent in the 1980s and 1990s, often referred to as the time "when women started talking". Emang Basadi was the most prominent Botswanan women's rights organisation during this period, focusing at first on challenging laws that limited women's rights and later on political education for women. The Botswana Caucus for Women in Politics was formed by Emang Basadi in 1997 to take over these responsibilities, but it has not seen the same level of activity.
Attorney General of Botswana v. Unity Dow was a landmark case in Botswana women's rights, in which Unity Dow challenged the Botswanan nationality law that only allowed citizenship to be inherited paternally.
The Woman's Affairs Department is the government agency responsible for addressing women's issues. It has been criticised by women's activists for being ineffectual. As of 2010, Botswana and Swaziland were the only countries in southern Africa not to have a women's issues agency at the department level.
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".
+ Historical ratings Year Political Rights Civil Liberties Status President 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 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 3 2 Free Ian Khama 2013 3 2 Free Ian Khama 2014 3 2 Free Ian Khama 2015 3 2 Free Ian Khama 2016 3 2 Free Ian Khama 2017 3 2 Free Ian Khama 2018 3 2 Free Ian Khama 2019 3 2 Free Mokgweetsi Masisi 2020 3 2 Free Mokgweetsi Masisi 2021 3 2 Free Mokgweetsi Masisi 2022 3 2 Free Mokgweetsi Masisi 2023 3 2 Free Mokgweetsi Masisi
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 United Nations1948 - - International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination United Nations 1966 - 1974 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights United Nations1966 - - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights United Nations 1966 2000 2000 First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights United Nations1966 - - Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity United Nations1968 - - International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid United Nations1973 - - Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women United Nations 1979 - 1996 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment United Nations 1984 2000 2000 Convention on the Rights of the Child United Nations 1989 - 1995 Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty United Nations1989 - - International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families United Nations1990 - - Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women United Nations 1999 - 2007 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict 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 United Nations 2000 - 2003 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities United Nations 2006 - - Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities United Nations2006 - - International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance United Nations2006 - - Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights United Nations2008 - - Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure United Nations2011 - -
See also LGBT rights in Botswana
Notes
References
External links Freedom in the World 2012 Report, by Freedom House