Overall standing
Botswana is often held up as one of Africa's more stable, longer-running democracies, but Freedom House's 2026 report notes it was dominated by a single party from independence until the 2024 election, and many institutions still answer to the office of the president. Freedom House
Indigenous rights — the San/Basarwa people
This is probably the longest-running and most documented issue. The San (Bushmen), numbering roughly 60,000, have faced decades of dispossession from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, tied to diamond mining and conservation policy. A landmark 2006 High Court ruling found their eviction "unlawful and unconstitutional" and affirmed their right to live on their ancestral land, but implementation has been contested since — including disputes over access to water boreholes and, more recently, a Court of Appeal ruling denying a San family the right to bury an elder on ancestral land. The UN's Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples' rights visited Botswana in September 2025 to examine land rights, justice, discrimination, and violence against Indigenous women, with a full report due to the Human Rights Council in September 2026. Freedom House notes the San continue to face discrimination alongside migrants, refugees, LGBT+ people, and people with disabilities.
Press freedom and digital rights
Amnesty International reports that in 2025 parliament enacted the Digital Services Act and the Cybersecurity Act, both of which centralized executive control over the digital sector without robust independent safeguards for privacy and free expression. Botswana ranked 81st of 180 countries in RSF's 2025 World Press Freedom Index; RSF noted fewer serious abuses against journalists but continuing obstacles to their work. Freedom House separately flags hostile lawsuits against journalists as a threat to media freedom. Amnesty International Botswana
Freedom of assembly
Amnesty documented that police blocked a planned student march in Gaborone in August, organized by groups affiliated with Student Power Botswana, who wanted to petition for higher monthly allowances amid rising living costs. Amnesty International
US Department of State - 2023 Report
This slightly older report highlights various historiacl issues - the full report can be downl;oaded by {CLICK this LINK}
Gender-based violence and women's rights
Amnesty notes gender-based violence remained widespread, and marital rape was not outlawed. Amnesty International
LGBTQ+ rights
This is an area of notable progress — Botswana's courts decriminalized same-sex relations in a series of rulings, described by OHCHR as advancing equality and dignity for LGBTIQ+ people. That said, U.S. State Department and civil society reports have noted continued societal violence, harassment, and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, with victims rarely reporting to police due to stigma.
Death penalty
Botswana retains capital punishment, including for non-lethal offenses such as espionage and terrorism-related crimes — a point raised by advocacy groups before the UN Committee Against Torture as out of step with global trends toward abolition.
Want me to go deeper on any one of these — the San land rights case, press freedom laws, or the LGBTQ+ legal history?