Speech
of Olivier Bancoult, OSK in PAN African Parliament.
During the Global African Diaspora
Parliamentarians Summit (GADPS) from 22nd and 23rd May
2012, in Midrand, Republic
of South Africa.
Imagine,
one day you were all informed that your home is actually no longer your home
and you must immediately leave. You are given no explanation, you have received
no prior warnings but you are now warned that at the slightest protest and the
moment that you refused to abide by this new order you would be starved to
death. Every single family in your
village is being forcibly removed from their home. Dogs are shot, gassed or
simply burnt alive and you will suffer the same fate if you do not leave.
I
need not ask how you would feel.
Honourable
Members, this is the story of the Chagossians. This is the story of my brothers
and sisters from the Chagos Archipelago. Indeed, the Chagossians were deported
from our home land and the eviction of that entire nation lasted from 1967 to
1973. They forcibly boarded on ships to Seychelles and Mauritius. The trip was appalling and in effect amounted
to inhuman and degrading treatment. Not only have they lost their homes but
they were treated worse than animals.
My
story? I was 4 years old when I left the Island with my parents and
sister. We were going to Mauritius
because my sister had to undergo medical treatment. Sadly, she passed away and
when my mother went to make the necessary arrangement for us to go back home,
she was told that we were not allowed to return. How would you feel if you were
told that you would never be able to go back home again? How would you feel if
you were informed that you could not go back even to simply collect your
belongings? My life changed, dramatically, overnight!
In 1968, approximately 2500 Chagossian were
evicted from the Chagos Archipelago.
Presently we have less than 800 Chagossians.
In 2010, 3 natives passed away.
In 2012, Mrs Talatte, a well known Chagossian
lady who was shortlisted among 1000 women eligible for the Nobel Prize, a
fighter to the core, passed away. Sadly,
after years of struggle, she could not be buried in her homeland.
Today, the number of natives has reduced
significantly.
Even
those who are alive do not know the real significance of freedom.
We,
the Chagossians, ladies and gentlemen, are proud of our roots, culture, values
and legacy. Many of us are natives of the British Indian Ocean Territory and
therefore we are entitled to a fundamental right of abode in Chagos now known
as the British Indian Ocean Territory. Nobody can tamper with this indisputable
fact, irrespective how hard they try.
The
quasi refusal of the British Government to respect our fundamental human rights
must be condemned by the whole international community. The deportation of an
entire population constitutes a crime against humanity that Africa cannot and
should not condone.
Honourable
Members, it must be highlighted that the United Kingdom scrupulously planned
this atrocious and despicable crime. The UK was fully aware of the fact that
the deportation would be against the principles of international law. The whole
operation was shielded from the purview of the United Nations.
30
years later, declassified documents revealed the extent of the sheer
manipulation of facts avoid the fury of the international community.
Indeed,
throughout internal discussions about resettlement options for the Chagossians,
memoranda from this period show that the U.K. Government was fully aware that
it proposed to expel native islanders from their homeland, and insofar as they
considered the legal rights of the islanders, showed determination to override
such legal rights. In 1965, the Queen
enacted the BIOT Order, empowering the Commissioner to ‘make laws for the
peace, order and good governance of the territory’.
Let
me read you a memorandum that was sent by a British official:
“[The Colonial
Office wishes] to avoid using the phrase ‘permanent inhabitants’ in relation to
any of the islands in the territory because to recognize that there are
permanent inhabitants will imply that there is a population whose democratic
rights will have to be safeguarded and which will therefore be deemed by the UN
Committee of Twenty four to come within its purview… it may be necessary to
issue [the inhabitants] with documents making it clear that they are
‘belongers’ of Mauritius or the Seychelles and only temporarily resident in the
BIOT. This device, though rather transparent, would at least give us a
defensible position to take up in the Committee of Twentyfour… It would be
highly embarrassing to us if, after giving the Americans to understand that the
islands in the BIOT would be available to them for defence purposes, we then
had to tell them that we proposed to admit that they fell within the purview of
the Committee of Twenty four.”
One UK official
even admitted that he is ‘not sure...about the validity of the argument that
the Ilois have lived in Chagos ‘only on sufferance of the owners,’ since the
point at issue is ‘belonging’ in a national sense rather than rights of
residence on private property.”
These are
concrete proofs that self proclaimed advocates of human rights such as the
United States and the United Kingdom knew that they were about to conduct an
illegal operation. They must provide
redress to the Chagossian Community. We must be allowed to return and resettle
in our homeland and we know we will be successful in our struggle if the whole
of Africa stands united and supports us in our cause.
In August 1998, I brought an action in London,
challenging the validity of the BIOT Immigration Ordinance of 1971.
On 3 November 2000, the Divisional Court in its
judgment concluded that the Order was illegal
because the power to make legislation for "peace, order and good
government” did not allow legislation
to exclude the population from the territory. It issued a declaration that the
Ordinance was invalid.
On 3 November 2000, the Foreign Secretary
announced that they were examining the feasibility of resettlement of the
Chagossians and that they would issue a new immigration ordinance which would
allow us to return to the outer islands.
On 3 November 2000, the BIOT Immigration
Ordinance 2000 issued, allowing our return to Peros Banhos and Salomon, while
stipulating that Diego Garcia could only be accessed by those holding a permit.
We were excluded from obtaining such permits.
People
often say that we did not go back to resettle when we were allowed to and thus
use this fact against us to supposedly show that we are not genuine. Yet my question is how could we have gone
back absent any assistance for resettlement?
Despite the strong statement by the Foreign
Secretary on the 3rd of November 2000, on 10th June 2004
the U.K. Government passed into law the British Indian Ocean Territory
(Constitution) Order 2004 and the BIOT (Immigration) Order 2004. These are Orders in Council under the Crown’s
prerogative powers and have not been subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Therefore, by declaring that no person has
the right of abode in the territory, or the right to enter it except as
authorized, these Orders purport to abrogate existing rights to live in the
territory which the Chagossians possess.
In addition, in June 2004, the Government issued
a statement announcing the abandonment of the Feasibility Studies which had
provided a favourable report on the feasibility of returning the population but
included some general comments about the possibility of difficulties for a
resettled population which had not been based on any scientific study. No attempt had been made to identify costs
and benefits of resettlement, and no attempt had been made to identify
partnership funding from public or private source.
In 2006, the UK Court held the Orders to be
irrational.
In the
Court of Appeal the Orders were unanimously held to be a breach of a legitimate
expectation created by the Foreign Secretary, held them to be an abuse of
power.
We
have also petitioned the European Court of Human Rights on the basis that our
treatment from 1965 to date by the Government of the United Kingdom constitutes
violations of articles of the European Convention on Human Rights and
cumulatively amount to inhuman and degrading treatment.
The
stance adopted by the US Courts was that “all the claims in this case present
non-justiciable political questions” and that the political question doctrine
precluded the Court from exercising subject matter jurisdiction. It is
basically a matter for the executive. In
2008, the UK House of Lords basically held that this was a matter of foreign
policy and the judiciary should not interfere.
On
the 21st February 2008, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband,
admitted before the House of Commons, the use of Diego Garcia by U.S. planes on
extraordinary rendition flights.
On the 1st April 2010, U.K. Foreign
Secretary announced the creation of a Marine Protected Area in the British
Indian Ocean Territory. This will
include a “no-take” marine reserve where commercial fishing will be
banned. Leaked diplomatic cables later
revealed that the purpose of that action was to render it even more difficult
for the Islanders to return to their islands.
In August 2011, application for judicial review
was filed and on the 9th of March 2012, leave was granted.
Honourable Members, the above is a faithful
summary of our litigation efforts. However, today, I make an urgent request to
all members and officials present. The Chagossians urge you to support their
cause. We have only one small request and that is to simply respect our
fundamental human rights.
We believe in our fundamental human rights and we
have faith in Africa. Today, the time is riper than ever for Africa to show
that it will no longer stay silent when its own people are being denied their
rights. The Chagossians make an appeal to Africa to stay united and to denounce
this injustice vociferously. Resolutions can be adopted both at the regional
and at the international levels. Hopefully Africa will make us Chagossians
proud and ensure that the plight of the Chagossians is addressed on every
forum. We are of African descents and we hope that the whole African continent
will be bold enough to sanction the UK and the US for the treatment inflicted
upon the Chagossians.
The UK Prime Minister recently stated that the ‘Britain remains staunchly committed to upholding the
right of the Falkland Islanders, and of the Falkland Islanders alone, to
determine their own future. That was the fundamental principle that was at
stake 30 years ago: and that is the principle which we solemnly reaffirm today’. How ironical! When a whole population was
being wiped out from the Chagos Archipelago, in the 1960s, the UK did not even
once find it important to inform and secure our consent? Again, in 2010, when
the Chagos Archipelgo was declared a Marine Protected Area, the principle of
free prior, informed consent was not abided by. The UK should crease applying
an ‘a la carte’ policy according to its whims and fancies.
Honourable Members, so long that Africa shies
away from its duty to protect its brothers and sisters, other countries, will
continue to shamelessly trample our rights. The Wiki leaks revealed that in
1966, the Chagossians were described as “few Tarzans and Man Fridays”! The use
of such racist terms in 1966, when decolonization was at its peak, indicates a
sham!
The Universal Declaration on Human Rights was
drafted in 1949 and 17 years later the Chagossians are being described in such
derogatory terms. In 2010, 51 years later after the Universal Declaration on
Human Rights was adopted, again the UK, without the slightest consideration to
our rights, our hopes and last but not the least to our dignity, declared the
Islands a Marine Protected Area! Once more, leaked diplomatic cables revealed
that this initiative was taken solely to prevent us from returning to our home.
I am but a humble man who has been given the
opportunity to address you honourable gentlemen and yet, here we all are,
united by the spirit of brotherhood, determined to forestall human rights
violations. Africa should proudly and fearlessly stand up for its people. Other
countries may self proclaimed themselves as the pioneers of human rights but
every single person of African descent knows that we are the real advocates of
human rights. The Banjul Charter on Human Rights that came into force on the 21st
of October 1986, is proof of our commitment but more importantly of our
resilience despite of decades of oppressions. We have the opportunity to teach
self proclaimed pioneers of human rights how far and to what extent they should
put into practice what they preach! Let us not be afraid!
We the Chagossians are fearless, committed and we
will not give up our struggle until we have reached our goal. We are
unstoppable. I sincerely and genuinely believe that we have inherited this
‘fighters’ spirits’ from our African legacy!
I make an appeal to each and every person present today, to stand up to
our cause.
A crime of
humanity perpetrated against a group of people of African descents is a crime
committed against the whole of Africa and as Martin Luther King said, ‘Injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable
network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one
directly, affects all indirectly. ’Let us show that our African garment of
destiny is strong, united and unbreakable and hands in hands, the cause of the
Chagossians will triumph!
Let my fight be your cause, my hope be your
inspiration, my trust be your motivation and my faith be your determination.
Honourable members, thank you for your kind
attention.
Olivier
Bancoult, OSK in PAN African Parliament.
21st of May 2012
