LALIT proposes Minister Ganoo Calls in Red Cross to Diego Garcia to visit illegally detained prisoners from Sri Lanka
24.06.2022
LALIT is publishing below a copy of our letter sent on 20 June to Foreign Minister, Hon. Alan Ganoo. In the letter we call on Minister Ganoo to invite the International Committee of the Red Cross to conduct a formal visit on prisoners being held on Diego Garcia, part of Mauritius.
Dear Mr. Alan Ganoo,
We write to you to propose, as part of a strategy to challenge the continued illegal occupation by the UK of Chagos that you, as the Foreign Minister of the State with sovereignty i.e. the Republic of Mauritius, submit a formal request to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) through its regional Headquarters in Pretoria, to arrange to visit the 119 Sri Lankan nationals being held illegally on Diego Garcia by the British Authorities there.
The ICRC have a mandate to visit such prisoners to ensure their safety and well-being. Perhaps you could discuss this proposal with the Prime Minister (since it concerns sovereignty) as soon as possible and get the go-ahead.
As you know, the UN General Assembly sent the issue of Chagos’ sovereignty to the International Court of Justice for an Advisory Opinion. The ICJ, in turn, called for immediate decolonization of Chagos. Chagos is thus part of the Republic of Mauritius. The UN General Assembly then voted that the UK should withdraw its occupation within six months and return Chagos to Mauritius. Since then, the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has statuted that BIOT is not a “coastal state”. This judgment is binding on Britain. The Universal Postal union has rejected BIOT stamps as illegal. And the UN has drawn a new world map with Mauritius’ sovereignty over Chagos clear as a bell. All this you know as well as we do, if not better.
We are aware that the ICRC was prepared to conduct such an official visit to prisoners at the time of the Guantanamo-style illegal rendering of prisoners held on Diego Garcia in 2004. At that time, the UK and US Governments were still denying the existence of such prisoners on and around Chagos. Later they conceded that there had been prisoners there all along. At the time, all that the ICRC was waiting for in order to conduct a visit was a formal request from the then Mauritian Government. We know this because we wrote to the ICRC (copy below in Appendix) and later spoke to their representative, who telephoned us at the LALIT offices. We were unable to get the Government at the time to make this formal request.
We now call on you to make such a request for an ICRC visit to the detainees being held there now.
In taking this decision, you need, of course, to be guided also by the Constitution on the definition of Mauritius. It reads, as you know:
“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]
A demand for such a Red Cross visit would, itself, give a strong signal to the UK, especially at this time, when the UK and USA are posturing high moral ground on international law issues, in particular on “sovereignty” as they oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the basis of international law. The time is also ripe when the UK is under attack for its new policy to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda. Moving prisoners like these 119 Sri Lankan asylum seekers may, infact, be one of the secretly-intended functions of the British “Rwanda initiative”. As it is, there are parts of the British State that oppose this initiative, including no less than Prince Charles and the whole of the Church of England, while the biggest civil service trade union, the Public and Commercial Services union, has taken the British Government to Court over the issue!
Should the Red Cross agree to come and do a visit, this would be an important way both to support the prisoners being held illegally and, at the same time, make the UK’s continued flaunting of the ICJ and the UNGA better known world-wide.
We hope you will take up our proposal for Government to extend a request for a visit to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Yours sincerely,
Ragini Kistnasamy and Lindsey Collen
for LALIT, Republic of Mauritius
APPENDIX: LALIT requests Red Cross inspection on Diego Garcia
LALIT
153 Main Road, Grand River North West, Port Louis, Republic of Mauritius.
Tel/fax: 230 208 2132, 230 208 5551 email: lalitmail@intnet.mu
To: Ms Francoise Krill, The Head of Operations for Southern Africa,
International Committee of the Red Cross Regional Delegation for Southern Africa,
Church Street 794, PO BOX 29001, Sunnyside 0132, PRETORIA, S A. (Fax 27 11 430 4471)
Dear Ms. Krill,
Request for International Committee of the Red Cross to Contact Republic of Mauritius for Inspection concerning Prisoners Held in Diego Garcia (Chagos, Republic of Mauritius)
We have noted the concern expressed recently by Mr. Francois Stam, ICRC head of operations for North America and Europe, about the United States' "ghost prisoners", some of whom may be held on or near the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, which is one of the "unspecified locations" for holding suspects. We write to you because Diego Garcia in Mauritius, is under the responsibility of your Regional Delegation.
Being aware that the ICRC wishes to account for these prisoners, and as a peoples' organization which has been involved in the struggle around Diego Garcia, we write this letter to suggest formally that the ICRC contact the Mauritian Government to request permission for an inspection.
The Mauritian Constitution at Section 111, 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 ...”
The Mauritian Coast Guard has the legal right to patrol around Diego Garcia.
Mauritius gained Independence in 1968. The Charter of the United Nations specifically outlaws the breaking up of colonies on Independence. The Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, was, nevertheless, excised illegally by the British State at the time of Mauritian independence.
Chagos is today what the UK and USA call by the name "British Indian Ocean Territories" (BIOT), a colonial "fiction" recognized by no other State in the world. (The Government of Seychelles has since the initial invention of this fiction, subsequently successfully reclaimed its stolen Islands - Aldabra, Farquar and Desroches - which, together with Chagos, made up the original BIOT).
From 1965 to 1973 all the Mauritians living on Chagos were forcibly removed, mainly to the main island of Mauritius. The Chagossian people won a High Court Case in 2000 in London, awarding them the right to return to Chagos.
Moreover, on 10th June, 2004, only three weeks after the ICRC communique, the British Government passed Orders in Council prohibiting everyone including Chagossians from going to the entire Chagos. These Orders are being challenged in Court in the UK.
All this to inform you that Chagos, including Diego Garcia where prisoners are held, is part of Mauritius. As such, we believe that it would be appropriate for your Regional Office of the International Committee of the Red Cross to approach the Mauritian Government, which holds sovereignty, to seek permission for a formal visit of inspection to Diego Garcia.
Yours sincerely,
Lindsey Collen
for LALIT, 23rd June, 2004
