Avec le cas des 89 exilés du Sri Lanka, retenus en détention sur la base américaine de Diego Garcia depuis la fin de l’année dernière, prenant de plus en plus une dimension internationale, Lalit propose aux conseils légaux une stratégie légale en vue d’une sortie de crise. Ragini Kistnasamy et Lindsey Collen ont écrit officiellement aux Leigh Day Chambers à Londres pour faire le point sur la situation avec en toile de fond l’Advisory Opinion de la Cour internationale de Justice (ICJ) et la Résolution de l’Assemblée générale des Nations unies portant sur la souveraineté de Maurice sur l’archipel des Chagos.
« As you know, the UN General Assembly sent the issue of Chagos’ sovereignty to the International Court of Justice at The Hague for an Advisory Opinion. The ICJ, in turn, considered the matter at length and decided nearly-unanimously that the whole of Chagos, including Diego Garcia, where the USA had meanwhile set up its military base, must be decolonized at once. Chagos, they said, is part of the Republic of Mauritius. The BIOT is thus an illegal occupation and the Chagos is Mauritian. The UN General Assembly then, by an overwhelming majority, voted that the UK should withdraw its occupation within six months. (The degree of isolation of Britain on this is clear from the small number of countries that voted with the UK and USA: Hungary, Israel, Australia, and the Maldives.) All that was in 2019 », soulignent d’emblée les représentantes de Lalit à l’intention des hommes de loi britanniques, assurant les intérêts des Srilankais retenus en détention depuis leur sauvetage des eaux des Chagos depuis la fin de l’année dernière.
Lalit revient également sur le Pronouncement de l’International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea remettant en cause la thèse du Royaume-Uni en tant que Coastal State avec le British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), déclaré occupation illégale. “The ITLOS judgment is binding on Britain. Britain will no longer, for example, even be able to fish in these waters that it used to claim through its BIOT colony. The United Nations has recognized a new map of the Indian Ocean in which Chagos, including Diego Garcia, is part of the Republic of Mauritius and BIOT has been crossed out », ajoute Lalit dans cette communication comme pour bien situer l’enjeu de la « souveraineté territoriale » dans la conjoncture.
S’appuyant sur la décision de l’Union Postale Universelle de ne plus reconnaître les timbres-poste du BIOT, Ragini Kistnasamy et Lindsey Collen s’appesantissent sur le fait que « all this to say that we thus believe that a habeas corpus action could perhaps be entered by you on behalf of your clients before the Mauritian Supreme Court justices. The Supreme Court would have to be guided by the Mauritian Constitution on the definition of Mauritius ».
À l’intention des hommes de loi britannique, Lalit cite des extraits de la Constitution à l’effet que « “Mauritius” includes – (a) the Islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues, Agalega, Tromelin, Cargados Carajos and the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia and any other island comprised in the State of Mauritius; (b) the territorial sea and the air space above the territorial sea and the islands specified in paragraph (a); (c) the continental shelf; and (d) such places or areas as may be designated by regulations made by the Prime Minister, rights over which are or may become exercisable by Mauritius ».
Lalit, élaborant sur cette stratégie, fait comprendre que « this would be a move with not only legal implications, but also obviously political ones. It might well have a strong political effect – both on Mauritius and on the UK to cause them both to act in the interests of the people being held illegally ». Les représentantes de Lalit ajoutent que “we would urge you to consider pursuing this idea. The UK Authorities need to be reminded that the UK is illegally occupying Chagos ».
En conclusion à cette correspondance, Ragini Kistnasamy et Lindsey Collen soutiennent que « our only locus standi for writing this letter to you is that we have been struggling on this issue for over 40 years, as a political party in Mauritius and as part of common fronts with the Chagossian peoples’ organizations and the trade union movement and women’s movement. We will continue this struggle for de-colonization, the right to return and for free movement in the whole of Mauritius, and for the de-militarization of our country, for as long as is necessary. »