Chagos Archipelago: Human Rights Watch accuses UK of 'crime against humanity'
Chagossiennes, some of whom are natives of the archipelago, gathered before the presentation of the Human Rights Watch report in Mauritius.
© Abdoollah Earally/RFI
Text by: Abdoollah Earally Follow
4 mins
Human Rights Watch accuses in a report released Wednesday, February 15 in Mauritius, the United Kingdom of "crime against humanity" for the fate it had reserved for the population of the Chagos Archipelago, expelled from 1965 to 1973 in Mauritius and the Seychelles to be able to maintain the American demand for the installation of a base in Diego Garcia, the main island of the Chagos.
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The American human rights organization, based in New York, maintains that three crimes against humanity have been committed against the Chagossians by the British authorities: "deportation or forcible transfer of population", "
other
inhumane
acts which may include banning people from returning to their homes
” and “
persecution on racial, ethnic or other grounds.
»
In a 116-page report entitled "
This is where the nightmare began
", HRW is of the opinion that at least one of these "crimes", namely the expulsion of the indigenous people of Chagos, was committed jointly by British and American authorities.
►To listen also: Great report - The Exiles of Chagos
“
During our research, which lasted almost a year, we interviewed Chagossians in Mauritius, the Seychelles and London.
We searched for historical documents.
But you know the work of investigation and documentation never stops
, ”explains RFI Mausi Segun, director of the Africa division of HRW.
The HRW report documents the expulsion of a population of 1,500 Chagossians, all former African and Malagasy slaves who worked in the coconut plantations of the French and then English colony.
HRW accuses the UK of lying to the UN when it said the islands were uninhabited.
"
The reality is that a community has lived in the Chagos for centuries
," insists HRW.
A strategic archipelago from a military point of view
The Chagos Archipelago is made up of 55 islands, three of which were inhabited, Diego Garcia, Peros Bahnos and Solomon.
Its location, in the heart of the Indian Ocean, almost equidistant between Africa and Indonesia, makes it
highly strategic from a military point of view.
“
Almost 60 years ago, the British government secretly planned, together with the United States, to force an entire indigenous people, the Chagossians, from their homes in the Chagos Archipelago.
The United States and British governments agreed to build a military base on Diego Garcia, the largest and most populous of the islands in the Chagos Archipelago of Mauritius, creating a new colony in Africa as the British Territory of the Indian Ocean
," documents HRW.
From 1965 to 1973, in small groups, the inhabitants were expelled by sea mainly to Mauritius and the Seychelles.
Since then, the Chagossians in exile in Mauritius in particular have been fighting on all fronts to demand their return to the archipelago.
HRW's position offers new visibility to their cause.
“
This is a powerful report from Human Rights Watch.
This is a new motivation for us in our fight to assert our right to return to our lands.
We will now use this report to support our claims
,” announces Olivier Bancoult, the leader of the Chagos Refugee Group.
This group estimates the Chagossian population today at more than 10,000 and estimates that 350 natives of the archipelago are still alive.
“
I was born in Diego Garcia, I want to go back to Diego Garcia
”
Roger Alexis, born in 1955 in Chagos, was expelled at the age of 12.
At 68 years old and after having lived all his life in Pointe aux Sables in Mauritius, he harbors the hope of being able to return home.
“
I was born in Diego Garcia and I want to go back to Diego Garcia,
even though there is a military base there
.
There is room for our relocation.
Why else can the inhabitants and the military live together?
Why can other nationalities coexist with Americans?
But not the Chagossians on their land
,
”
asks the Chagos native.
HRW calls on the UK and US governments to right the wrongs done to the Chagossian people.
He first pleads for the immediate and permanent return of the Chagossians to the Chagos Islands.
He then insisted on financial reparation and the full support of the United Kingdom and the United States in order to rehabilitate the islands and allow the Chagossians to return and work in the archipelago.
“
To this day, the United Kingdom and the United States deprive the Chagossians of this right which every human being needs.
We call on both of his governments to allow their immediate return, that there is financial compensation, that there is restitution of the islands, and that there are also assurances of non-recurrence of his crimes against the people. Chagossian
,” insists Bruno Stagno, HRW’s global advocacy chief.
The Chagos Refugee Group and HRW are not calling for the dismantling of the Diego Garcia military base, but insisting that “
human rights violations
” stop on the ground.
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