Botswana

Primary tabs

Botswana Khwedom Council

Country:

Botswana

Working Group(s) / Area(s) of Work:

Women & ESCR

Corporate Accountability

Strategic Litigation

Social Movements & Grassroots Groups

ND v. Attorney General of Botswana and others

High Court of Botswana Protects Transgender Man’s Right to Have Identity Document Reflect His Gender Identity

ND is a transgender man, and his sex assigned at birth was female. Because the gender marker on ND’s national identity card did not match his expressed gender or gender identity, the refusal of the government to change his gender marker exposed him to ongoing and extreme emotional stress and discomfort.

Attorney General and Others v. Tapela and Others, Court of Appeal Civil Case No. CACGB-096-14; Attorney General and Others v. Mwale, Court of Appeal Civil Case No. CACGB-076-15

In 2004 Botswana’s Secretary of Health circulated an internal directive to public medical facilities informing them of a Presidential Directive authorizing “provision of free treatment to non-citizen prisoners suffering from ailments other than AIDS.” HIV-positive Zimbabwean prisoners filed lawsuits challenging this directive after being denied free Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ARV).

Mosetlhanyane and others v. Attorney General of Botswana, Civil Appeal No. CACLB-074-10

In 1985 De Beers mining company drilled a borehole for prospecting purposes and some of the water was supplied to settlements in CKGR. The Government later evicted and resettled the Basarwa outside of the CKGR because they felt that human settlements were incompatible with the conservation of wildlife in the preserve. In an attempt to dissuade the Basarwa from returning, the borehole was also dismantled as it was the only source of water within 40km. In 2006, in the Sesana case, the Court found that this eviction was unconstitutional and allowed the Basarwa to return to the CKGR.