The Case of the Chagos Archipelago Crimes puts Britain in serious violation of UN Resolutions while it operates a nuclear weapons base in a Nuclear-Free zone of Africa and the original inhabitants live in forced exile.
Does Britain now see an end to United Nations Resolutions? What about the sanctions against Iran and North Korea?
by Micheal John
If Britain and America ignore UN Resolutions, what right do they have to enforce resolutions against Iran and North Korea.
For example, Canada must immediately free Meng Wanzhou because the alleged sanctions she allegedly violated have no force, no value.
Does Britain and America trashing the Chagos UN Resolution end Iran / DPRK sanctions?
By ignoring the UN Resolution demanding the return of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius are Britain and America saying UN Resolutions have no meaning any longer? That would imply for example that sanctions against Iran and North Korea never had force and are now off. Image source: United Nations; Photo Art: Rosa Yamamoto / Feminine-Perspective Magazine
This matter is about reversing the forced colonization that took place during darker times of oppression, slavery, imperialism and attack directed against civilian populations for the purpose of genocide, stealing their assets, stealing their land or both.
Decolonization and its oversight is the task of an ongoing UN Committee which may well consider sanctions against the offending Power.
As the legal arguments of the Chagossians explain, and an International Court of Justice heard in early 2019, the United Kingdom is in some considerable trouble within the global community for violating the rights of a group of islanders it forcibly deported from their homes in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1960s the United Kingdom was compelled by UN Resolution 1514 to decolonize the regions it has illegally obtained by:
- Extermination including the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population;
- Deportation or forcible transfer of population which means forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law; and/or
- Torture by intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused.
Photo Credit: Stealing a Nation Video Screen Capture (see https://fpm.news/chagos/
Chagossians demand their rights. July 2018, Trafalgar Square Photo Credit: David Holt/Flickr Photo Art: Rosa Yamamoto / Feminine-Perspective Magazine
Britain did not decolonize the Chagos Islands. Based on the testimony of the Chagossians whom Britain laughingly with racist remarks about their colour and livelihoods drove from the Chagos archipelago, all of the above applied and in context comprise serious violations of international and domestic laws in each the United States and in Great Britain.
According to testimony of Chagossians and their legal advocates, “In the case of Mauritius and its Chagos Archipelago, Britain and America stole the islands and forced the inhabitants out of their homes by killing their pets and burning their homes; preventing food and medicine from reaching them; and by loading the people on to ships and throwing them overboard on the shores of Seychelle and Mauritius.”
This was all done in secret. The British Parliament did not know at the time what was happening.
A 2009 cable released by WikiLeaks revealed a high level of racism toward the Chagossians and a secret plan to create some kind of phony ‘Marine Protected Area’.
In Wikileaks documents the UK Office Territories director Colin Roberts in 2009 assured the US Embassy that continuation of military operations from Diego Garcia was not in any danger, because the UK will not allow any ‘human footprint’….. ‘no man Fridays’!
“We do not regret the removal of the population,” and promised to fake the Chagos archipelago as a ‘Marine Protected Area’ a wildlife reserve where no human can go. The US base could stay on Diego Garcia and the American fuel leaks and coral reef demolitions could continue unobserved,” claimed Colin Roberts.
Roberts told the Americans that “environmentalist groups in the UK fell for it. No need to worry about the Chagossians because the UK’s environmental lobby is far more powerful than the Chagossians. Establishing a marine park would, in effect, put paid to resettlement claims of the archipelago’s former residents.”
There is much history in this matter but in recent times, the boom has come down and both Britain and America are in violation of:
- the Rome Statute;
- a 25 February 2019 International Court of Justice advisory opinion (169-20190225-01-00-EN) on the legal consequences of separating the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965, demanding that the United Kingdom unconditionally withdraw its colonial administration from the area within six months; and
- a May 22 United Nations Resolution that gave the UK an ultimatum of decolonizing the Chagos islands by 22 November 2019.
This is not going unnoticed. On 15 October the fourth committee of the UN General Assembly heard representations from several delegates.
The UN Committee on Decolonization reported that, “the representative of Mauritius recalled that the International Court of Justice concluded in February 2019 that the process of decolonizing his country was not lawfully completed in 1968 and the United Kingdom’s continuing administration of the Chagos Islands archipelago therefore constitutes a wrongful act. On 22 May, the General Assembly adopted a resolution reaffirming the Court’s conclusions and demanding that the United Kingdom unconditionally withdraw its administration by 22 November, he recalled further. However, “the response of the United Kingdom to these developments has been one of outright defiance,” he said, adding that the administering Power has made it clear that it does not intend to comply.
South Africa’s representative also addressed the matter, underlining that the complete decolonization of Mauritius must be undertaken in accordance with the Assembly resolution adopted in May 2019. That action sent a strong signal from the international community that control of the Chagos archipelago should return to Mauritius, he said.
Since 22 November, 2019 has come and gone, African delegates have expressed considerable anger at Britain and America using the Islands as a nuclear weapons and missiles base in te midst of the African non-nuclear zone. “There is much trouble in the wind,” was the unofficial word from one diplomatic contact.
Watch and Listen to Chagossians as they Explain their Plight
Watch and Listen to Chagossians as they Explain their Plight