LALIT proposes Supreme Court to decide fate of illegal prisoners on Diego Garcia
15.06.2022
Here is a copy of LALIT's letter to lawyers of Sri Lankan prisoners held illegally on Diego Garcia by the British state.
To
Leigh DayPanagram, 27 Goswell Road, London EC1M 7AJ.
13 June 2022
Dear Sir/Madam,
We write from the Republic of Mauritius to propose a possible legal strategy for your consideration in the case involving the Sri Lankan nationals, many of whom we believe you represent, being held illegally on Diego Garcia by the so-called British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).
As you know, the UN General Assembly sent the issue of Chagos’ sovereignty to the International Court of Justice at The Hague for an Advisory Opinion. The ICJ, in turn, considered the matter at length and decided nearly-unanimously that the whole of Chagos, including Diego Garcia, where the USA had meanwhile set up its military base, must be decolonized at once. Chagos, they said, is part of the Republic of Mauritius. The BIOT is thus an illegal occupation and the Chagos is Mauritian. The UN General Assembly then, by an overwhelming majority, voted that the UK should withdraw its occupation within six months. (The degree of isolation of Britain on this is clear from the small number of countries that voted with the UK and USA: Hungary, Israel, Australia, and the Maldives.) All that was in 2019. Since then, the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea has handed down its judgment that the BIOT does not make the UK a “coastal state”, simply because Britain occupies Chagos illegally. The ITLOS judgement is binding on Britain. Britain will no longer, for example, even be able to fish in these waters that it used to claim through its BIOT colony. The United Nations has recognized a new map of the Indian Ocean in which Chagos, including Diego Garcia, is part of the Republic of Mauritius and BIOT has been crossed out. Even the Universal Postal union (that came into effect as early as 1875), has outlawed the stamps the UK had already printed last year for BIOT. These are all healthy reactions to the ICJ Opinion and the UN General Assembly resolution.
All this to say that we thus believe that a habeas corpus action could perhaps be entered by you on behalf of your clients before the Mauritian Supreme Court justices. The Supreme Court would have to be guided by the Mauritian Constitution on the definition of Mauritius. It reads:
“Mauritius” includes – (a) the Islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues, Agalega, Tromelin, Cargados Carajos and the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia and any other island comprised in the State of Mauritius; (b) the territorial sea and the air space above the territorial sea and the islands specified in paragraph (a); (c) the continental shelf; and (d) such places or areas as may be designated by regulations made by the Prime Minister, rights over which are or may become exercisable by Mauritius [our bold letters]
This would be a move with not only legal implications, but also obviously political ones. It might well have a strong political effect – both on Mauritius and on the UK to cause them both to act in the interests of the people being held illegally.
We would urge you to consider pursuing this idea. The UK Authorities need to be reminded that the UK is illegally occupying Chagos.
Our only locus standi for writing this letter to you is that we have been struggling on this issue for over 40 years, as a political party in Mauritius and as part of common fronts with the Chagossian peoples’ organizations and the trade union movement and women’s movement. We will continue this struggle for de-colonization, the right to return and for free movement in the whole of Mauritius, and for the de-militarization of our country, for as long as is necessary.
Yours sincerely,
Ragini Kistnasamy and Lindsey Collen
for LALIT, 153 Main Road, Grand River North West, Port Louis, Republic of Mauritius.
