An unprecedented ruling by the United Kingdom’s High Court in finding two British Government Orders-in-Council to be an abuse of power against the people of a Colony could have far-reaching ramifications for all of the UK’s Overseas Territories.
The two orders were made in 2004; four years after the exiled population of Chagossians had won their 35-year legal right through the UK courts to return to their homeland.
The Chagossians were forcefully removed by the UK from their homeland in the Indian Ocean after the UK made a secret deal with the United States in 1967 to lease the land for military uses. One island in the Chagos Archipelago, Diego Garcia, became an important US airbase and naval refuelling station during the Vietnam war, and again more recently during the American wars with Afghanistan and Iraq.
The UK’s Orders-in-Council, which contradicted the 2000 court rulings, were found to be an abuse of power by the UK High Court because the UK government did not give proper regard for the interests of the Chagossians.
The UK has used Orders-in-Council to get its way in other matters concerning its overseas territories, including the Cayman Islands.
One example in the Cayman Islands was the abolition of the death penalty for murder.
More recently, in 2003, the UK threatened to impose an Order-in-Council if the Cayman Islands did not agree to the implementation of the European Union Savings Tax Directive. In face of threat, the Cayman Islands unwillingly agreed to the Directive.
However, the High Court ruling in Chagos’ favour sets a precedent that requires any UK Orders-in-Council with respect to Chagos to be in the best interests of the people of that territory. The Non-Governmental Organisation, People for Referendum, says that the ruling paves the way for the challenging, in court, of any UK Order-in-Council deemed to not be in the best interest of the Caymanian people.
People for Referendum President, Dennie Warren Jr., compared the UK’s threat of the Order-in-Council to the way elephants are domesticated.
‘You just tie the elephant up to a tree until it submits to your will,’ he said. ‘Our people and politicians must now understand and use the power this ruling gives us in negotiating for constitutional changes, to ensure our people get a revised constitution serving our needs and not just those of the UK. The Cayman Islands does not have to continue subjecting itself to the previously unchallenged will of the UK especially if that will is not in the best interests of the Caymanian People.’
PFR member Billy Adam said he believes the ruling has wide-ranging implications, including the just restarted constitutional review.
‘Caymanians need to recognise how relevant and significant the Chagos ruling applies to our constitutional review process,’ he said. ‘We have to be prepared to defend against any more external rule by the UK, specifically when it is detrimental to our economy, our culture and way of life.’
An online video documentary, Stealing a Nation by John Pilger, is freely available on the internet. Go to http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/video1027.htm or Google Stealing a Nation.
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