Chagos issue: Lalit issues first Declaration for concerted action

Left wing political party Lalit secured more than a hundred signatures of parliamentarians taking part in the first international conference held in Mauritius this month giving support its demand for a full decolonization of Mauritius. On 23 September, at the United Nations General Assembly, the Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, voiced out his strong feelings about the excision of the Chagos archipelago from the Mauritian territory in 1965, prior to the country achieving Independence three years later.

The head of government also convinced members of the African Union, the Non-Aligned Movement to lend their support in order for Mauritius to take this matter to the International Court of Justice. At the same time, the Attorney General of Mauritius went to Venezuela to lobby for the support of members of the Non-Aligned Movement during its Summit prior to the UN summit of September 2016. The Mauritian Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York also actively sought the support of other UN Member States. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo sought the support of ACP countries on this issue.

The Minister of Finance, Pravind Jugnauth, following his official visit to India (13-18 September 2016), stated that both the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shusma Swaraj and the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, reiterated their full support to Mauritius in its struggle to regain sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago.

International conference in Grande Rivière

The second international conference on the Chagos held at Grande Rivière gathered around 160 participants on 1st and 2nd October 2016. A final declaration issued at the end of the conference recalled the that Mauritius has been successful in putting a Resolution on the agenda at the UN General Assembly to take the issue of sovereignty to the International Court of Justice and noted with satisfaction that the Mauritian State has included a representative of the Chagossians in its official delegation.

The conference reached a consensus confirming the conviction expressed in the First Declaration of Grande Rivière of 2010 with the combined aim of: “the complete decolonization of the Republic of Mauritius, the dismantling of the British Indian Ocean Territories colony, and the re-unification of the country; the closing down of the US military base on Diego Garcia, and its ecological clean-up by the US; and the right of return and full reparations for all Chagossians,”

Adding a refined previous definition of “right of return” to include freedom of movement within the Republic of Mauritius for all citizens.

During the Second Conference participants asked: To organize a formal State visit on the MV Trochetia to Chagos (including Diego Garcia), a part of Mauritian territory as defined by the Constitution, for a delegation including the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition. While not having been put into action yet, this option has gained the support of the Leader of the Opposition.

The conference also called Mauritius “to make a formal demand for UN inspections under the Pelindaba Treaty, as soon as the administrative mechanism for doing so comes into force.” The National Assembly has recently passed a domestic law outlawing cluster munitions on all Mauritian territory, including Diego Garcia.

Among the points noted is that the country continues “to face the danger of imperialist and private capitalist interests setting their sites on different islands and territories of Mauritius, including Chagos; the ongoing danger of foreign military bases; the importance of mobilizing the Mauritian people in the movement to decolonize and demilitarize Mauritius; the importance of finding practical ways to oppose creeping militarization by the USA; and the importance of building international support of peoples, as well as of States, for the movement to decolonize and demilitarize Mauritius.”

However, participants warned that the coming six months represent both opportunities and dangers for Mauritius because the illegal lease between the UK and USA expires in December, and because the next six months during which the debate-and-vote on Mauritius’ UN General Assembly Resolution is on “hold” leaves opportunities for occult pressures to be applied on the Mauritian State by the UK and USA.

“We therefore re-iterate our mise-en-garde that Government does not withdraw the Resolution from the UN Agenda, and we call on the Mauritian Government to activate the UN Resolution which is on “hold” when the time comes, and to go ahead with the ICJ case for an Advisory Opinion,” read the conference’s final declaration.

Lalit also calls upon the Mauritian State to act so as to implement the UNCLOS Tribunal judgement, including preventing the UK acting unilaterally on Chagos. Also, the party re-iterates its call for a formal State visit to Chagos including Diego Garcia and for a delegation of Chagossians to be invited on board.

“We re-iterate our demand for the Mauritian State to call for inspections under the Pelindaba Treaty; and we also commit ourselves to sending, in the name of the Conference, a request to the Executive Secretary of AFCONE, Dr. Mohamed Derdour, for an investigation on Diego Garcia.”

Mauritius should also seek UN inspections under the Convention on Cluster Munitions. And we call for Government to set up a Chagos Island Council and a Constituency of Chagos. Also, the Constitution should be amended so as to outlaw the setting up of any foreign military base on Mauritian territory in future.

Participants also ask the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth, who is the last living participant in pre-Independence negotiations held at Lancaster House, to come forward to give public testimony; and ask the government to launch a massive media campaign, and an educational campaign in all schools, to popularise knowledge about not only the continued colonisation of Chagos, the military occupation of Diego Garcia and the suffering that the military base has caused the Chagossians, but also, about recent events, including the UNCLOS judgement, the UK-US joint communiqué, the pressures and delaying tactics of the UK and USA.

“We pledge to encourage people world-wide, including the people of Mauritius, to put pressure on respective governments to decrease all SOFAs (Status of the Armed Forces Agreements) that the USA is always augmenting; and we encourage all NGOs, students, unions, journalists and media to be vigilant to the dangers of accepting money and scholarships from the US Embassy so long as military occupation of the Republic of Mauritius continues,” declared the participants following the conference.

The Conference has delegated Alain Ah Vee, Jean Claude Bibi, Lindsey Collen, Ragini Kistnasamy and Cassam Uteem to present the Declaration of Grande Rivière to the Prime Minister and also to make it public.