Editing Diego Garcia (section)

==Politics==
[[File:Diego Garcia map - British Indian Ocean Territory.svg|right|thumb|250px|A detailed map of Diego Garcia]]

Diego Garcia is the only inhabited island in the British Indian Ocean Territory, an [[overseas territory of the United Kingdom]], usually abbreviated as "BIOT". The [[Government of the British Indian Ocean Territory|Government of the BIOT]] consists of a [[Commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory|commissioner]] appointed by [[King Charles III]]. The commissioner is based in London, resident in the [[Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office]] (FCDO), and is assisted by an administrator and small staff.

Originally colonised by the French, Diego Garcia was ceded, along with the rest of the Chagos Archipelago, to the United Kingdom in the Treaty of Paris (1814) at the conclusion of a portion of the Napoleonic Wars.<ref name="Stoddart_209_218"/> Diego Garcia and the Chagos Archipelago were administered by the colonial government on the island of [[British Mauritius|Mauritius]] until 1965, when the UK purchased them from the self-governing colony of Mauritius for £3 million, and declared them to be a separate [[British Overseas Territory]].<ref name="Edis_84">[[#Edis|Edis (2004)]], p. 84.</ref> The BIOT administration was moved to [[Seychelles]] following the independence of Mauritius in 1968 until the independence of Seychelles in 1976,<ref name="Edis 2004, p. 80">[[#Edis|Edis (2004)]], p. 80.</ref> and to a desk in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London since.<ref>[[#Edis|Edis (2004)]], p. 89.</ref>

===Military administration===
The UK represents the territory internationally. A local government as normally envisioned does not exist.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/british-indian-ocean-territory/ CIA World Factbook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117034125/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/british-indian-ocean-territory/ |date=17 January 2021 }}, accessed 23 August 2010.</ref> Rather, the administration is represented in the territory by the officer commanding British Forces on Diego Garcia, the "Brit rep". Laws and regulations are promulgated by the commissioner and enforced in the BIOT by Brit rep.

Of major concern to the BIOT administration is the relationship with the United States military forces resident on Diego Garcia. An annual meeting called "The Pol-Mil Talks" (for "political-military") of all concerned is held at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to resolve pertinent issues. These resolutions are formalised by an "Exchange of Letters".<ref name="Sand_24"/>

Neither the US nor the UK recognises Diego Garcia as being subject to the [[African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty]], which lists BIOT as covered by the treaty.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones at a Glance |publisher=Arms Control Association |url=http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/nwfz.asp |access-date=28 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060809134008/http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/nwfz.asp |archive-date=9 August 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="10.1093/jel/eqn034">{{citation |title=Diego Garcia: British–American Legal Black Hole in the Indian Ocean? |first=Peter H. |last=Sand |date=29 January 2009 |periodical=Journal of Environmental Law |publisher=Oxford Journals |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=113–137 |doi=10.1093/jel/eqn034}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/RATPAKPELINDABATREATYOCT08.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121130925/https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/RATPAKPELINDABATREATYOCT08.PDF |archive-date=21 November 2016 |url-status=live |title=Info |publisher=issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com |access-date=29 December 2019}}</ref> It is not publicly known whether [[nuclear weapon]]s have ever been stored on the island.<ref>{{cite journal |pages=20–21 |url=http://www.unidir.org/files/publications/pdfs/nuclear-weapon-free-zones-en-314.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402163456/http://www.unidir.org/files/publications/pdfs/nuclear-weapon-free-zones-en-314.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=live |title=The Treaty of Pelindaba: towards the full implementation of the African NWFZ Treaty |author=Noel Stott |journal=Disarmament Forum |year=2011 |access-date=28 February 2015}}</ref> [[Noam Chomsky]] and Peter Sand have observed and emphasised that the US and UK stance is blocking the implementation of the treaty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/17/denied_entry_israel_blocks_noam_chomsky|title=Denied Entry: Israel Blocks Noam Chomsky from Entering West Bank to Deliver Speech|publisher=democracynow.org|date=17 May 2010|access-date=2 February 2017|archive-date=27 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427204341/https://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/17/denied_entry_israel_blocks_noam_chomsky|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/13/issue/12/african-nuclear-weapon-free-zone-force-what-next-diego-garcia|first=Peter H.|last=Sand|title=African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Force: What Next for Diego Garcia?|journal=ASIL Insights|volume=3|issue=12|date=28 August 2009|publisher=The American Society of International Law|archive-date=1 May 2015|access-date=21 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501085204/http://www.asil.org/insights/volume/13/issue/12/african-nuclear-weapon-free-zone-force-what-next-diego-garcia|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Transnational political issues===
There are two transnational political issues which affect Diego Garcia and the BIOT, through the British government.

*The island state of Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago (which is conterminous with the BIOT), including Diego Garcia. A subsidiary issue is the Mauritian opposition to the UK Government's declaration of 1 April 2010 that the BIOT is a marine protected area with fishing and [[extractivism|extractive industry]] (including oil and gas exploration) prohibited.<ref>[http://www.afriqueavenir.org/en/2010/05/14/mauritius-to-reiterate-its-conditions-for-renewed-talks-with-uk-on-chagos/ "Mauritius to reiterate its conditions for renewed talks with UK on Chagos"], ''Afrique Avenir'', 14 May 2010. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223113708/http://www.afriqueavenir.org/en/2010/05/14/mauritius-to-reiterate-its-conditions-for-renewed-talks-with-uk-on-chagos/ |date=23 December 2011 }}.</ref>
*The issue of compensation and repatriation of the former inhabitants, [[Expulsion of the Chagossians|exiled since 1973]], continues in litigation and as of August 2010 had been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights by a group of former residents.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7052088.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924105418/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7052088.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 September 2011 |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |access-date=23 August 2010 |title=Chagossians fight for a home in paradise |date=6 March 2010 |first=Catherine|last= Philp}}</ref> Some{{Who|date=June 2012}} groups allege that Diego Garcia and its territorial waters out to {{convert|3|nmi|km|0}} have been restricted from public access without permission of the BIOT Government since 1971.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

On 3 November 2022, the British Foreign Secretary [[James Cleverly]] announced that the UK and Mauritius had decided to begin negotiations on sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory, taking into account international legal proceedings. Both states had agreed to ensure the continued operation of the joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia.<ref name=guardian-20221103>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/03/uk-agrees-to-negotiate-with-mauritius-over-handover-of-chagos-islands |title=UK agrees to negotiate with Mauritius over handover of Chagos Islands |last=Wintour |first=Patrick |newspaper=The Guardian |date=3 November 2022 |access-date=3 November 2022 |archive-date=3 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103141218/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/03/uk-agrees-to-negotiate-with-mauritius-over-handover-of-chagos-islands |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=hansard-20221103>{{cite web |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2022-11-03/debates/22110340000007/ChagosArchipelago |title=Chagos Archipelago |last=Cleverly |first=James |publisher=UK Parliament |work=Hansard |id=HCWS354 |date=3 November 2022 |access-date=3 November 2022 |archive-date=4 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104013303/https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2022-11-03/debates/22110340000007/ChagosArchipelago |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Prison site allegations===
In 2015, U.S. Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]]'s former chief of staff, [[Lawrence Wilkerson]], said Diego Garcia was used by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] for "nefarious activities". He said that he had heard from three US intelligence sources that Diego Garcia was used as "a transit site where people were temporarily housed, let us say, and interrogated from time to time" and, "What I heard was more along the lines of using it as a transit location when perhaps other places were full or other places were deemed too dangerous or insecure, or unavailable at the moment".<ref name="guardian-20150130">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/30/cia-interrogation-diego-garcia-lawrence-wilkerson |title=CIA interrogated suspects on Diego Garcia, says Colin Powell aide |first=Ian |last=Cobain |newspaper=The Guardian |date=30 January 2015 |access-date=27 February 2015 |archive-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227184955/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/30/cia-interrogation-diego-garcia-lawrence-wilkerson |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="telegraph-20150130">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11380992/Terror-suspects-were-interrogated-on-Diego-Garcia-US-official-admits.html |title=Terror suspects were interrogated on Diego Garcia, US official admits |agency=Press Association |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=30 January 2015 |access-date=27 February 2015 |archive-date=28 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228020659/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11380992/Terror-suspects-were-interrogated-on-Diego-Garcia-US-official-admits.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In June 2004, the British [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]] [[Jack Straw]] stated that United States authorities had repeatedly assured him that no detainees had passed in transit through Diego Garcia or were disembarked there.<ref>{{Cite journal | title=Written Answers to Questions 21 June 2004 | journal=Hansard House of Commons Daily Debates | volume=422 | issue=part 605 | url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/vo040621/text/40621w13.htm#40621w13.html_wqn9 | access-date=21 February 2008 | archive-date=13 May 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060513034414/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/vo040621/text/40621w13.htm#40621w13.html_wqn9 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Diego Garcia was first rumoured to have been one of the locations of the [[CIA]]'s [[black sites]] in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hurst |first=Lynda |date=2 July 2005 |title=Island paradise or torture chamber? |url= |newspaper=[[The Toronto Star]]}}</ref> [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]] is one of the "[[high-value detainees]]" suspected to have been held in Diego Garcia.<ref>{{cite news |last=Selsky |first=Andrew |date=16 March 2006 |title=Detainee transcripts reveal more questions |url= |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> In October 2007, the [[Foreign Affairs Select Committee]] of the British Parliament announced that it would launch an investigation of continued allegations of a prison camp on Diego Garcia, which it claimed were twice confirmed by comments made by retired U.S. Army general [[Barry McCaffrey]].<ref name=guardian>{{Cite news| first1=Ian |last1=Cobain |author2=Richard Norton-Taylor | url=https://www.theguardian.com/usa/story/0,,2194649,00.html | title=Claims of secret CIA jail for terror suspects on British island to be investigated | work=The Guardian | date=19 October 2007 | access-date=21 October 2007 | location=London}}</ref> On 31 July 2008, an unnamed former White House official alleged that the United States had imprisoned and interrogated at least one suspect on Diego Garcia during 2002 and possibly 2003.<ref>{{Cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1828469,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080805004921/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1828469,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=5 August 2008 | magazine=Time | title=Source: US Used UK Isle for Interrogations | date=31 July 2008 | access-date=1 May 2010 | first=Adam | last=Zagorin}}</ref>

[[Manfred Nowak]], one of five [[United Nations special rapporteur]]s on [[torture]], said that credible evidence exists supporting allegations that ships serving as black sites have used Diego Garcia as a base.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/19/alqaida.usa |title=Claims of secret CIA jail for terror suspects on British island to be investigated |first1=Ian |last1=Cobain |author2=Richard Norton-Taylor |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=19 October 2007}}</ref> The human rights group [[Reprieve (organisation)|Reprieve]] alleged that United States-operated ships moored outside the [[territorial waters]] of Diego Garcia were used to incarcerate and torture detainees.<ref>{{Cite news| first=Jamie|last= Doward | title=British island 'used by US for rendition' | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/02/ciarendition.unitednations | work=The Observer | date=2 March 2008 | access-date=27 March 2008 | location=London}}</ref>

===Rendition flight refuelling admission===
Several groups claim that the military base on Diego Garcia has been used by the United States government for transport of prisoners involved in the controversial [[extraordinary rendition]] program, an allegation formally reported to the [[Council of Europe]] in June 2007.<ref>{{Cite journal| first=Dick |last=Marty|location= Switzerland, ALDE | title=Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states: second report | version=Section 70; page 13 | publisher=Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights | url=http://www.sacc.org.uk/sacc/docs/coe-rendition-second-marty-report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926201517/http://www.sacc.org.uk/sacc/docs/coe-rendition-second-marty-report.pdf |archive-date=26 September 2007 |url-status=live | date=7 June 2007 | access-date=21 February 2008}}</ref> On 21 February 2008, British Foreign Secretary [[David Miliband]] admitted that two United States extraordinary rendition flights refuelled on Diego Garcia in 2002, and was "very sorry" that earlier denials were having to be corrected.<ref>{{cite news | author=Staff writers | title=UK apology over rendition flights | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7256587.stm | work=BBC News | date=21 February 2008 | access-date=21 February 2008 | archive-date=21 May 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090521211747/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7256587.stm | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Leaked diplomatic cables===
According to [[United States diplomatic cables leak|leaked diplomatic cables]], in a calculated move planned in 2009, the UK proposed that the BIOT become a "marine reserve" with the aim of preventing the former inhabitants from returning to the islands. A summary of the diplomatic cable is as follows:<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/12/british-government-mauritius |title=WikiLeaks, a forgotten people, and the record-breaking marine reserve |first=Sean |last=Carey |date=8 December 2010 |journal=New Statesman |access-date=21 June 2012 |archive-date=5 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005232303/http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/12/british-government-mauritius |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2 December 2010 |title=US embassy cables: Foreign Office does not regret evicting Chagos islanders |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/207149 |access-date=23 November 2023 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=7 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707141257/http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/207149 |url-status=live }}</ref><blockquote>[[Her Majesty's Government|HMG]] would like to establish a "marine park" or "reserve" providing comprehensive environmental protection to the reefs and waters of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), a senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) official informed Polcouns on 12 May. The official insisted that the establishment of a marine park—the world's largest—would in no way impinge on USG use of the BIOT, including Diego Garcia, for military purposes. He agreed that the UK and United States should carefully negotiate the details of the marine reserve to assure that United States interests were safeguarded and the strategic value of BIOT was upheld. He said that the BIOT's former inhabitants would find it difficult, if not impossible, to pursue their claim for resettlement on the islands if the entire Chagos Archipelago were a marine reserve.</blockquote>