The exploitation of Diego Garcia

Quickgun Murugan

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Mauritius Silent As Diego Garcia USA Military Base Expands

Mauritius Silent As Diego Garcia USA Military Base Expands

Mauritius’s territory island of Diego Garcia is expected to undergo major development and expansion in the coming weeks. For now, the Mauritian government has not said anything on this news but anonymous sources from the Mauritian Ministry of External Affairs said that the government will raise the matter with American officials at the Copenhagen Summit.



Admiral Douglas McAneny, Commander of the Submarine Force, US Pacific Fleet said that the base is expected to be turned into a supply and repairs base for Tomahawk missiles equipped submarines moving in the Indian Ocean. The Diego Garcia military base will also be upgraded so that it can accommodate up to 4 submarines at the same time.

The upgraded floating port at Diego Garcia will be able to provide food, water, electricity and medical services to submarine members.

For a recap, Diego Garcia was excised from Mauritius just before the 198 independence. The Chagos Archipelagos was then rented to the USA by the British. Since then the US has built a big air force base on the main island of Diego Garcia and the citizens of the Island were drop like abandoned dogs in Mauritius by the British and Americans!



Since years now, the citizens of Diego Garcia are still fighting for their right to return to the Island which was in some way “cheated and seized” from them. On this very topic the US government has always been silent and played the deaf while the British are playing the Yoyo with the citizens.

Mauritius Silent As Diego Garcia USA Military Base Expands
 
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All preprations by USA for the chinese rise, the island is even more valuable now then in the past, any hope of mauritius getting it back are unlikely at this point in time.
 

sob

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US has spent Billions on developing the base and it is strategically too important for them to leave it.

The best bet for Mauritus would be to negotiate with the Americans to get some money for the rental.


By the way do we know what effect would the base have on the economy of Mauritus if the US were to close it down.
 

enlightened1

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They've spent over half a billion of $ no way they're getting out of there. Even the government here doesn't do anything..just blowing hot air. They are going to the European Human rights court if I remember correctly. The House of Lords rejected their appeals to return on the island.
 

civfanatic

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Watch these videos to learn how the British deprived an entire population of their country, their property, and their loved ones, and forced them into a life of exile, poverty, and despair.

The reason? To give the Yankees a military base from which they could rule the Indian Ocean, and destroy "rogue" countries that stepped out of line.

Also, please visit this website to learn more about British injustice against the people of Diego Garcia, and how you can help them regain their country: http://www.chagossupport.org.uk/





 
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The Messiah

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The british made no secret of what they are but the yanks are even more vile by doing all these things whilst deluding there own population to believe they are fighting for freedom and democracy.
 

civfanatic

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The british made no secret of what they are but the yanks are even more vile by doing all these things whilst deluding there own population to believe they are fighting for freedom and democracy.
In Part 3 the former American MoD practically lied through his teeth. Can't really blame the old bugger, though.
 

civfanatic

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Bump. Everyone should watch this video to learn more about the forgotten injustices that have taken place so close to India's shores.
 

LurkerBaba

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Human rights and democracy anyone ?


Britain must end its sordid treatment of the Chagossian people now



That the US could use the Chagos Islands to bomb Iran is another good reason why the UK must restore them to Mauritius


David Cameron met Navin Ramgoolam, the prime minister of Mauritius, today. It appears they discussed what Robin Cook called "one of the most sordid and morally indefensible" episodes in our postwar colonial history: namely the deceitful treatment of the Chagossian people. Ramgoolam told a Guardian reporter that the meeting was "very cordial" so perhaps there is now hope Britain will finally mitigate its complicity in an international crime – that is, the use of Diego Garcia for torture and rendition – and prevent any involvement of the UK if the US uses it to launch an attack on Iran in the future. The Chagos archipelago should be restored to its rightful owner.

That owner is Mauritius, of which the Chagos Islands were always part, ceded to the UK by France in the 1814 treaty of Paris. When decolonisation was ordered by the UN in the 1960s, it came with the international law requirement that the whole of a colonial territory should be granted independence. But the US wanted the islands for a cold war base and secretly offered the Wilson government a discount on Polaris missiles if it excised Chagos from Mauritius and got rid of the Chagossians.

So Britain lied to the UN, pretending that there were no permanent inhabitants on the islands – the 2,000 Chagossians, settled there for almost 200 years, were described as "itinerant labourers". Then, claiming ownership of the archipelago, Britain deported them to Mauritius and leased all the islands to the US until 2016, allowing construction of a naval base on the largest one, Diego Garcia. So should this lease – for which the UK receives no rent – be renewed?


The first problem is that the UK may not own the Chagos archipelago: an international court would be likely to find that it has unlawfully taken this property from Mauritius. Although Mauritius wants its claim adjudicated, the UK refuses to arbitrate and has excluded recourse to the international court of justice. Successive UK governments say they are confident they have sovereignty, but they are afraid to have the question authoritatively decided.

Then there is the solemn promise made when Mauritius became independent, that Chagos would "revert" or "be returned" to Mauritius in 50 years, if it was no longer required for UK defence needs. The UK now has no conceivable need to occupy the Chagos Islands for its own defence and Diego Garcia is only of strategic interest to the US – it was used to launch the 2003 bombing of Baghdad and is the closest base if the US were to decide to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. The possibility of this would be one good reason for the UK to shed all responsibility for Diego Garcia.

That island has been used as a transit to torture. It is widely surmised that US naval vessels berthed there have been one location for the waterboarding of terrorist suspects. In 2008 the then foreign secretary, David Miliband, was forced to admit to parliament (it had previously been denied) that the base had been used at least twice by the Americans for illegal rendition. Even this admission, however, was incomplete: it is now clear from documents found in the Libyan foreign ministry that MI6 arranged for an anti-Gaddafi dissident to be "rendered" through Diego Garcia to torture in Tripoli in 2004. This means the UK has not merely turned a blind eye to the unlawful use of the island by the US. In law it is as guilty as any landlord who knowingly permits his premises to be used for criminal purposes by his tenant – all the more so when he joins in committing the crime.

If this were not enough morally to disentitle the UK to hold on to Chagos, there is a judgment to be delivered later this month by the European court of human rights which may require it to permit the Chagossians to return. They succeeded in their claim for this relief in the high court (two judges) and the court of appeal (three judges) but lost two to three in the Lords. There is a reasonable prospect they will win in the European court, which will impose an obligation on Britain to facilitate their return to the islands. The UK cannot discharge that obligation while the US refuses to permit Chagossians to return to live in their own homes.

Cameron can cut this Gordian knot by agreeing that sovereignty over the archipelago should henceforth repose in Mauritius, its rightful owner, and where most of the Chagossians still live.
Mauritius is a modern democracy that has no truck with torture, and although the US would doubtless persuade it to grant a new lease for the naval base, there would be guarantees against it being used again for rendition, and a substantial rent that could fund the return of Chagossians to other islands in the group at least. The UK has long shown itself unworthy to possess this territory. Do we really want to give our tenants permission to use it if they decide to bomb Qom?
Britain must end its sordid treatment of the Chagossian people now | Geoffrey Robertson | Comment is free | The Guardian
 

sob

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Love the slant to the article in the last paragraph,

Mauritius is a modern democracy that has no truck with torture, and although the US would doubtless persuade it to grant a new lease for the naval base, there would be guarantees against it being used again for rendition, and a substantial rent that could fund the return of Chagossians to other islands in the group at least. The UK has long shown itself unworthy to possess this territory. Do we really want to give our tenants permission to use it if they decide to bomb Qom?
Rendition, Bombing of Qom-- do the Chagossian people really care about these issues?
 

W.G.Ewald

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Rendition, Bombing of Qom-- do the Chagossian people really care about these issues?
There are what? 2000 of them? Give them each US$1000000. End of problem.
 

sob

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There are what? 2000 of them? Give them each US$1000000. End of problem.
there are hundreds of islands lying vacant in the area. Pick one and settle them with all the amenities. Uncle Sam would be more than willing to underwrite these expenses.
The same guys were warning that the islands would be under water due to global warming, so it in the end they would be better off somewhere else.
 

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