Protesters arrested in waters off Diego Garcia

[Truth2Tell]

From: The Guardian

Excellent to see. Take it to 'em.

British campaigners arrested at sea in Diego Garcia protest
'People's Navy' veterans detained by UK authorities
Move to highlight military use and plight of islanders

Duncan Campbell The Guardian, Wednesday March 12 2008

Two British human rights campaigners have been arrested at sea off Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean after protesting against the island's use in British and US military operations. The two men were demonstrating against the island's admitted use by the US for rendition flights and the historic removal of the Chagos islanders from their homes nearly 40 years ago.

Peter Bouquet, 59, originally from Devon, and Jon Castle, 56, originally from Guernsey, were detained by UK authorities after allegedly failing to leave the waters around Diego Garcia on board their vessel, Musichana. Both men are former captains of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior and veterans of environmental and human rights direct actions around the world.

They are currently part of a group called the People's Navy which has been seeking to highlight the plight of the Chagossians and to protest against the military use of the islands, which form part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. In a statement before their arrest, the men said that they wanted to show "the serious nature of our concerns about the plight of the Chagossians and about ... military activities on Diego Garcia".

The pair hope to draw attention to the cause of the Chagos islanders, who were removed by the UK in 1971 to make way for the base, following an agreement with the US, and have still not been able to return permanently, despite victories in high court actions in London. The statement said the protest was also against the recent use of Diego Garcia by the US for the transportation of prisoners being "rendered ... without regard to even the most basic and accepted concepts of justice". It added that although some Chagossians had been allowed to return temporarily to clean and restore graveyards, they should be allowed to return permanently.

More:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/12/humanrights.military?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

[dipsydoodle]

1. Some history on the subject

for those not familiar with it.

There are times when one tragedy, one crime tells us how a whole system works behind its democratic facade and helps us to understand how much of the world is run for the benefit of the powerful and how governments lie. To understand the catastrophe of Iraq, and all the other Iraqs along imperial history's trail of blood and tears, one need look no further than Diego Garcia.

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/pilger.php?articleid=3702

Whole documentary can be viewed here : http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3667764379758632511