15th April 2021
Amnesty International (AI) has noted widespread food insecurity in Botswana during 2020 and restrictions on the right to freedom of expression due to the State of Public Emergency legislation.
In its 2020/2021 report, the human rights body (NGO) observed that in Botswana, “Police subjected political activists to torture and other ill-treatment and death by hanging was maintained as a punishment for crimes including murder.”
Alluding to torture and other ill-treatment, AI stated that, “According to the NGO Ditshwanelo (the Botswana Centre for Human Rights), a 16- year-old boy was flogged at a traditional court in Mahetlwe village in Kweneng District by the village’s Deputy Chief, and on instructions from the police, for not wearing a face mask.”