The Story About Diego Garcia

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Exploring Global Realities Section 3

November 20, 2014

Aj. Nicholas Ferriman

Final Presentation

Topic:                        Diego Garcia, a disgraceful island.

General Purpose:        To inform

Specific Purpose:        To inform the audience about a British Indian Territory located at the middle of the Indian Ocean named Diego Garcia.

Central Idea:        Diego Garcia is an island collaborated between US and UK which deals with issue concerning US foreign policy

Type of speech:        Object

Introduction:

        Does anyone know that there is an island called Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean? Diego Garcia is located at the middle of the Indian Ocean and it is a part of the Chagos Archipelago. Diego Garcia was declared to have been discovered in 1532 by a Portuguese navigator, Diego Garcia de Moguer, and the island was named it after his name (Diego Garcia, n.d.). The Portuguese were the main explorer in the region, as there has also been settlement in Ayutthaya as well. In 1968, the United Kingdom claimed Diego Garcia from Maritius prior to its independence, and leases it to the US in return of receiving $14 million discount on Polaris nuclear submarines, to build a US military base (Vine, 2009). There have been several human rights issue happened in Diego Garcia. My topic today is “Diego Garcia, a disgraceful island”. I am interested in this topic because very few people know about Diego Garcia. In my research in this topic, I have found several interesting issues about it and would like to share with you. In my speech, I will discuss about Diego Garcia in terms of its depopulation of island, strategic location, and rendition.

Transition: [Let’s start with depopulation of Diego Garcia and its uses.]

Body

1. Depopulation of Diego Garcia

1. The expulsion of Chagossians started at 1968 when the U.S requests that Diego Garcia become unpopulated in order to build a military base (Leung, 2003).

1. About 2,000 inhabitants were expelled to Mauritius and Seychelles. They were not allowed to return to their home. Their dogs were killed, and they were threatened to be killed like their dogs (Pilger, 2004).
2. Chagossians died of sadness, suicide, poverty (Pilger, 2004).

1. Outcome and consequence

1. In 1980, Chagossians protest for compensation and right to return, the British government gave less than 3,000 pounds per person, and trick them to signing away contract of their right to return (Gardner 2012).
2. They won their right to return by the British High Court twice in the year 2000 and 2006, but they were denied to return with an Order-in-Council in 2004, and Government appeal in 2008 (Tweedie, 2006).
3. In 2010, the British government made the Chagos a marine nature reserve, and there were evidence from WikiLeaks that this was to prevent Chagossians from returning home (Vidal, 2010) (Viewing cable 09LONDON1156, n.d.)
4. Crime against humanity. Violations such as rights to privacy and fair trial. Magna Carta - right to not be exiled (The Magna Carta, n.d.).

1. The contract ends in 2016, but the renewal is at December 2014

1. Will they be able to return home or get compensation?

[Probably the contract will be renewed, due to the fact that Diego Garcia is very important to U.S and it is a strategic location in the region.]

1. Strategic location

1. Diego Garcia’s location

1. Indian Ocean is rich in natural resources – 62 percent of world’s proven oil reserves, 35 percent of its gas, 40 percent of its gold, 60 percent of its uranium, and 80 percent of its diamonds (Erickson, LudwigIII & Mikolay, 2010).
2. Distance from Africa, Middle East, and Asia allow strategic military action to control and pressure. Approximately 1,800 km from India, 3,500 km from Tanzania, and 4,700 km from Australia (McGranahan, 2010).

1. Diego Garcia strategic role in many wars of the US.

1. Stock of equipments, marine power, air power, and communication stations (Erickson, LudwigIII & Mikolay, 2010).
2. Refueling and support station in Persian Gulf War.
3. Bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan (Diego Garcia, n.d.)

 [As strategic location is one important reason why the contract would probably renewed, let’s move on to another reason, which is rendition.]

1. Rendition

1. Diego Garcia and many places including Thailand have been suspected as a CIA black site (Marty, 2007).

1. Location is in the middle of the ocean, and only accessible by military transport. Journalists were banned from the area (Grey, 2006).
2. UK admitted that Diego Garcia have been used by CIA renditions flights. However, they claimed that the evidence was destroyed due to water damage (Cobain & Norton-Taylor, 2014).
3. Examples of rendition program.

1. In 2012, European Court ruled that CIA tortured a suspect Khaled El-Masri (European court says CIA tortured, 2012).  
2. In 2014, European Court ruled that Poland cooperate with CIA in rendition (Poland ‘helped in CIA rendition’, 2014).

1. Violations of ICCPR, which are article 6 – right to life, article 7 – no torture, article 9 – no arbitrary arrest, article 14 – equal before the court, and article 16 – recognition before law.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Diego Garcia is a very important strategic location base for the US in which they impose a crime against humanity which are depopulation and rendition. Diego Garcia is just one example of how the world is run by the powerful by exploiting human rights. As US and UK preach about human rights, they are the one who violate it. In relation to democracy theme, the UK performs a non-democratic action in which they used order-in-council to overturn the High Court. The US uses Diego Garcia to excise global control in threatening and pressuring countries around the world. Looking forward, let’s see whether the contract of Diego Garcia will be renewed and justice will be given to the people, and whether the secret rendition will be exposed. The crime against humanity is a crime against all of us. I would like to motivate you to support human rights and put pressure on governments or any organization that poses a crime to us human. For more information about the expulsion of the inhabitants, I would like to recommend you to watch a documentary film named Stealing a Nation, by John Pilger.