13.09.2012
We are publishing reply to a letter which LALIT addressed to the Minister Arvin Boolell, calling the Mauritian Government to support the Ecuadorian Government on the issue of diplomatic Asylum for Julian Assange. It is interesting to note that in his reply, Minister Boolell says wikileaks cables are extremely valuable and help to support claim over Diego Garcia. LALIT's letter was signed by LIndsey Collen
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade
07 September 2012
Dear Madam,
Subject: U.K-Ecuador discussions on the case of Mr Julian Assange
I thank you for your letter of 22 August 2012, requesting Mauritius to support the Latin American States on discussions relating to the recent decision of Ecuador to grant diplomatic asylum to Mr. Julian Assange.
You would be aware that the meeting of 24 August 2012 referred to in your letter came out with a positive outcome through political dialogue. Mauritius is a party to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and in this regard, we express our solidarity with the position of the OAS on the issue of inviolability of premises of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
Mauritius does recognize the rights of other Sovereign States to grant political asylum in line with universally agreed Human Rights principles. On the other hand, as a country that abides by the rule of law, we would like all concerned parties to follow due process in the allegations of sexual assault against Mr Assange.
As regards the Wikileaks cables, the information pertaining to the Chagos Archipelagos is extremely valuable for the furtherance of our sovereignty claim over the Archipelago. I am glad that you made this important connection in your letter. You may rest assured that we are forcefully engaged already in various ways to affirm our sovereignty claim. We also appreciate that Wikileaks has helped bring into open certain important information that might otherwise never been revealed regarding Chagos Archipelagos.
I wish to thank you again for raising such an important matter and look forward to receiving the contribution of LALIT on important subjects such as these.
Dr. Arvin Boolell, GOSK
Minister
Level 11, Newton Tower-Sir William Newton Street, Port Louis
Tel : (230) 405-2512- Fax : (230) 208 9215- Email : aboolell@mail.gov.mu
Hereunder is LALIT's Letter, sent to the Minister on 22th August 2012
LALIT
153 Main Road, GRNW, Port Louis
Tel: 230 208 5551 lalitmail@intnet.mu
www.lalitmauritius.org
Hon. Arvin Boolell,
The Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Newton Tower, Cnr Sir William Newton & Remy Ollier Strs
Port Louis.
22 August, 2012.
Dear Sir,
We write to you on a subject that is very much in the news right now, an international issue concerning human rights and asylum, as well as the important background issue of free expression and public access to information.
Would it not be appropriate for the Mauritian Government, through your Ministry, to lend your support to those Latin American states meeting on Friday, 24 August, 2012 in order to discuss asylum for Julian Assange, founder of the WikiLeaks organization? As you are aware the Foreign Minister of Ecuador put forward airtight arguments as to why the Ecuador Government is offering asylum to Julian Assange. The Government of a small state has taken a brave stand against the powerful nations of the world. We at the same time suggest that you request the High Commissioner representing South Africa to ask for his Government take a similar stand over the next few days. This could be the beginning of building up an Africa-wide support network for the Latin American countries that stand together with Ecuador.
We suggest that you take a position both on principle on the grounds of human rights, and also because the Swedish Government has not arranged to send its enquiring officers to the Ecuadorian Embassy in order to take a statement in order to see if there are charges to be laid. We also believe that a Mauritian stand would be appropriate in the sense that there are some Mauritian connections.
1. The State is relying, in part, on the WikiLeaks Cables that Mr. Assange released, for its case against the UK State under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The WikiLeaks Cables have also recently been accepted as evidence in the case Mr. Olivier Bancoult has put into the UK Courts, also on the Chagos issue. The WikiLeaks Cables may therefore have a key role in questions of national sovereignty and the right to return.
2. The WikiLeaks Cables enabled the people of Mauritius to begin to be aware of the heavy-handed diplomatic pressure put on States like Seychelles for a State of Forces Agreement (SOFA), and how much pressure the Mauritian Government, including your Ministry, has had to resist against similar imperialist military designs.
3. A Mauritian national, the late Chief Justice Rajsoomer Lallah, broke the ground first in the world on the question of giving asylum in cases where the country seeking to arrest the person concerned has the death penalty (in this case the USA has clearly been shown to be bent on getting Mr. Assange extradited from Sweden). Mr. Lallah made way for new grounds for protection under international law. He did it in a pioneering dissenting judgment in the UN Human Rights Committee. (Would you like a copy by e-mail?) You will note that Mr. Lallah stood by what he believed in, refusing to just go along with the status quo, and that today his opinion has finally become international law.
We put on record our receipt of your clear reply, outlining the Mauritian Government’s position, to our letter about the international convention on nuclear arms limitation.
Yours faithfully,
Lindsey Collen (Copy to Press)