This is not going away. The United Kingdom is under an obligation to return the Chagos Archipelago to the Chagosians by 22 November. Johnson is facing an election and Trump is facing impeachment. How will their sanctioned racial segregation and political and economic discrimination against nonwhites go down with the people?
In ongoing meetings of the UN 74th General Assembly on 15 October 2019 Jagdish Dharamchand Koonjul of Mauritius, complained that his country’s territory remains partly under colonial control, still, despite a World Court ruling and the unequivocal demand by the United Nations that Britain and America return the Chagos archipelago to the Chagossians by 22 November.
By Micheal John with files from Melissa Hemingway
Denis Healey as Defence Minister (1964-1970) authorised the expulsion of the Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago and the building of the US nuclear base at Diego Garcia. What will Boris Johnson do now that the whole affair has been ruled as a series of crimes
Healey photo credit: by Rob Mieremet with Helmut Schmidt and Duisenberg (see original)
on 22 April 1974;
President Donald J. Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday, 24 September 2019, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Photo Credit (Johnson): Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
Photo Art/Cropping/Enhancement: Rosa Yamamoto / Feminine-Perspective Magazine
Mauritius is Complaining Vigorously
According to Mauritius representative Jagdish Dharamchand Koonjul, “the Mauritian residents of the Chagos archipelago were forcibly removed from their homes and are still systematically prevented from returning there.”
“General Assembly resolution 71/292,” he noted, “called for an advisory opinion on the matter from the International Court of Justice and, in February, the latter concluded that the process of decolonizing Mauritius was not lawfully completed in 1968.”
“As a result,” the Mauritius representative said, “the United Kingdom’s continuing administration of the Chagos archipelago constitutes a wrongful act.”
“On 22 May, 2019, the General Assembly adopted resolution 73/295, reaffirming the Court’s conclusions and demanding that the United Kingdom unconditionally withdraw its administration by 22 November,” he added.
“However,” said the representative of Mauritius, “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.”
Describing the United Kingdom’s position as disrespectful of the Court and the United Nations, the representative of Mauritius stressed: “The time has come for the United Kingdom to comply with the international rule of law which it has so long championed.”
Karen Pierce of the UK responded saying “the United Kingdom is also clear about its sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory,” she continued, noting that it is designing a $50 million support package to improve livelihoods in the Chagos archipelago.
Rubbing Salt in a Deep Wound?
Despite the seldom discussed but monumental accomplishment of Africa in its establishment of the Pelindaba Treaty the British and Americans have occupied the Chagos Islands, which belong to the Chagosians of Mauritius, and have installed a nuclear missiles base in the middle of a Nuclear Free Zone.
“The strategic location of the joint United Kingdom-United States defence facility on Diego Garcia makes a significant contribution to security and to combating challenging threats,” said Karen Pierce, the British Ambassador to the UN, on 15 October.
“But the Chagosians don’t need any submarines or nuclear missiles,” says an African blogger and journalist, “they just want their homes back, says me and 54 African nations that are backing the Chagossians in this decolonization crisis”.
This of course is a sore point because Africa has declared the continent to be a “Nuclear Free Zone“. African nations have raised numerous campaigns for global nuclear disarmament all the while Diego Garcia is both a strategic nuclear weapons base and a tactical nuclear weapons storage facility, in Africa. Citing the Pelindaba Treaty in force since 15 July 2009.
Country Signature Date Ratification Date Deposit
1 Algeria 11/04/1996 23/12/1997 11/02/1998
2 Angola 11/04/1996
3 Benin 11/04/1996 17/07/2007 04/09/2007
4 Botswana 09/06/1998 04/02/1999 16/06/1999
5 Burkina Faso 11/04/1996 12/05/1998 27/08/1998
6 Burundi 11/04/1996 22/06/2009 15/07/2009
7 Cameroon 11/04/1996 11/06/2010 28/09/2010
8 Cape Verde 11/04/1996
9 Central African Rep 11/04/1996
10 Chad 11/04/1996
11 Comoros 11/04/1996
12 Congo 27/01/1997
13 Côte d’Ivoire 11/04/1996 20/05/1999 28/07/1999
14 Democratic Rep. of
Congo 11/04/1996
15 Djibouti 11/04/1996
16 Egypt 11/04/1996
17 Equatorial Guinea 20/12/2002 19/02/2003
18 Eritrea 11/04/1996
19 Ethiopia 11/04/1996 18/02/2008 13/03/2008
20 Gabon 11/04/1996 18/05/2007 12/06/2007
21 Gambia 11/04/1996 03/09/1996 16/10/1996
22 Ghana 11/04/1996
23 Guinea 11/04/1996 26/05/1999 21/01/2000
24 Guinea-Bissau 11/04/1996
25 Kenya 11/04/1996 15/11/2000 09/01/2001
26 Lesotho 11/04/1996 06/03/2002 14/03/2002
27 Liberia 09/07/1996
28 Libya 11/04/1996 12/02/2005 11/05/2005
29 Madagascar 12/12/2003 23/12/2003
30 Malawi 11/04/1996 06/03/2009 23/04/2009
31 Mali 11/04/1996 27/05/1999 22/07/1999
31 Mauritania 11/04/1996 10/01/1998 24/02/1998
33 Mauritius 11/04/1996 19/04/1996 24/04/1996
34 Mozambique 11/04/1996 29/07/2008 28/08/2008
35 Namibia 11/04/1996
36 Niger 11/04/1996
37 Nigeria 11/04/1996 20/04/2000 18/06/2001
38 Rwanda 11/04/1996 23/01/2007 01/02/2007
39 Sahrawi Arab
Democratic Republic 20/06/2006
40 Sao Tome & Principe 09/07/1996
41 Senegal 11/04/1996 20/09/2006 25/10/2006
42 Seychelles 09/07/1996
43 Sierra Leone 11/04/1996
44 Somalia 23/02/2006
45 South Africa 11/04/1996 13/03/1998 27/03/1998
46 Sudan 11/04/1996
47 Swaziland 11/04/1996 13/11/1996 17/07/2000
48 Tanzania 11/04/1996 27/05/1998 19/06/1998
49 Togo 11/04/1996 28/06/2000 18/07/2000
50 Tunisia 11/04/1996 14/09/2009 07/10/2009
51 Uganda 11/04/1996
52 Zambia 11/04/1996 28/06/2010 18/08/2010
53 Zimbabwe 11/04/1996 09/02/1998 06/04/1998
Background
In a session of the UN General Assembly on 22 June 2017, Mr. Balé of the Congo rose to introduce on behalf of the 54 African States Members of the United Nations, a draft resolution A/71/L.73, entitled “Request for an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos archipelago from Mauritius in 1965″.
This was not the first time Africa has raised the issue but politely deferred to the United Kingdom’s request for deferrals.
UN Resolution 1514 of 14 December 1960 and resolution 2066 of 16 December 1965, prohibited colonial Powers from dismembering territory prior to granting independence. In addition, resolution 1514 specifies that any attempt aimed at the total or partial disruption of a national unity and the territorial integrity of a colonial country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
See: Agenda item 87, “Request for an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos archipelago from Mauritius” in 1965 Draft resolution (A_71_PV.88_E)
Chagossians demand their rights. July 2018, Trafalgar Square Photo Credit: David Holt/Flickr
UK and US Crime Against Humanity. An overwhelming UN vote on 22 May 2019 in favour of booting the Americans and Britains out of the Chagos Islands was done with the full knowledge that the two nations had commit horrific crimes against humanity in the radical and forced depopulation of the islands. While many families died in the forced depopulation many lived on in poverty Mauritius to protest every single day of their lives since their homes were stolen from them. They watched and shuddered in horror as a million Iraqis were killed by bombers flown from Diego Garcia from 2003 to 2011. Photo Art: Rosa Yamamoto FPM.news
Lawyer for the Chagos Islanders who had been threatened with bombing while their food supplies were removed. An entire population was written off as expendable. They were deprived of basic supplies. The policy was to terrify the simple people into leaving. Troops killed every dog on Diego Garcia in 1971. American military vehicles were used in 1971 to gas thousands of the pets. The people were told that the people were going to suffer the same fate. Islanders who wanted to go to the Capital City in Mauritius were blocked from doing so. They were loaded onto ships and expelled.
Photo Credit Granada TV – Photo Art: Rosa Yamamoto FPM.news
Map location of Diego Garcia
Photo Credit: GoogleMaps
Photo Art: Rosa Yamamoto FPM.news
The Chagos Islands that Britain and America stole from Mauritius include US and UK Air Force Base Diego Garcia plus US Navy Camp Justice Naval Base. The base is a nuclear outpost that was already used to bomb and kill probably millions. It is currently intended against China. It is cited by China for its current militarization of islands in the South China Sea. Photo Credit: Pinterest – Photo Art: Rosa Yamamoto FPM.news
More Background Reading
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Posted on July 19, 2019 by Sharon Santiago
Britain and USA Stole a Nation [Chagos Islands In Depth] They must now give it back before Christmas 2019. Doing so: Ends the illegal nuclearization of the African Archipelago; Reduces the threat of nuclear war causing retaliation against Africa; Forms . Continue reading
Posted on July 19, 2019 by Micheal John
In the matter of the British and American colonization of the Chagos Islands in the African Archipelago. FPMag makes available the full text of the UK Court of Appeal on The Application of Bancoult Versus the UK Secretary of State . Continue reading
Posted on July 2, 2019 by Micheal John
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Posted on June 16, 2019 by
Indeed, the return of the Chagos Islands was expressly agreed in the Lancaster House agreement of September 23, 1965. Now it is a Court decision. A nation’s military and geo-strategic interests cannot, under international law, prevail over the sovereign . Continue reading
Posted on May 22, 2019 by Micheal John
In February Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of the International Court of Justice in the Hague told Britain, “The UK has an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos archipelago as rapidly as possible.” Mauritius owns the Chagos . Continue reading