Human Rights Watch on Wednesday (February 15th) accused the United Kingdom and the United States of committing crimes against humanity by displacing indigenous populations on the disputed Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean, charge dismissed “categorically” by London.
In a report of more than 100 pages, the human rights organization relies on dozens of testimonies and official documents to underline that "
racial persecutions
" of London with the support of Washington in this archipelago in the northeast of Mauritius constitute "
a colonial crime
".
"
We categorically reject this characterization of the events
," a spokesperson for the British Foreign Office told AFP, stressing that London has already expressed its "
deep regret
" about the way in which these populations have been displaced.
Contacted by AFP, the American authorities did not respond.
Military base
The Chagos are at the heart of a dispute over five decades old.
Since 1965, the archipelago has been administered by London, which has decided to set up a joint military base there with the United States on the main island of Diego Garcia.
The UK has deported around 2,000 Chagos residents to Mauritius and the Seychelles to make way for the military base.
Mauritians from the Chagos accuse the United Kingdom of "
illegal occupation
".
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According to Human Rights Watch, the United Kingdom and the United States should provide full reparations to the local populations and allow them to return to live in their archipelago.
“
The United Kingdom is today committing an appalling colonial crime, treating the people of Chagos as people without rights
,” reacted Clive Baldwin, the author of the HRW report.
Three crimes against humanity
The organization identifies three crimes against humanity: an ongoing colonial crime with forced displacement, UK obstruction of return home, and UK racial and ethnic persecution.
Mauritius, which obtained its independence in 1968, claims the territory of the Chagos and asks for the return of the archipelago to its bosom.
A resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in May 2019 asks "
to recognize that the Chagos Archipelago is an integral part of the territory of Mauritius, to support the decolonization of Mauritius as soon as possible and to refrain from hindering this process by recognizing or giving effect to any action taken by or on behalf of the ''British Indian Ocean Territory''
.
This resolution followed a similar decision by the International Court of Justice issued a few months earlier.
Last month, the United Kingdom and Mauritius began discussions on the sovereignty of the archipelago but according to British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, the two countries had agreed for the military base to continue to operate.
In 2016, the United Kingdom extended until 2036 a contract on the use of the military base with the United States, which notably played a strategic role during the Cold War and then in the 2000s during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
