Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.
Display:
.
Diego Garcia: Paradise Isle or Britain's shame?

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
 

▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Nov 13th, 2005 at 07:34:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Shame on Blair. Can his government be sued in the European Court of Human Rights for this?

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Nov 14th, 2005 at 07:16:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The situation with regards to Diego Garcia is quite complex. The US has a base there under the terms of a 50-year lease that expires in 2016. The British are responsible for "law enforcement" on the island, and there are supposedly 50 UK personnel stationed there, including military police.

I would guess that it might well be technically possible to sue the UK government over illegal activities at Diego Garcia under both British and EU law. Obviously, any "prisoners" who died there should be subject to an inquest to determine the circumstances and causes of their deaths - but that would presuppose information regarding who is held there and their fates coming to light. It no doubt will....eventually.

I don't know what kind of agreements exist between the US and UK governments regarding DG - they're no doubt highly classified secrets - but the fact of an official UK presence there suggests that we still assert territorial, and therefore, presumably, legal  sovereignty over the island.

by londanium on Mon Nov 14th, 2005 at 09:44:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, if a tenant kidnaps and tortures people on the property they lease from you probably have a legal case to evict them. I think Blair in particular should be familiar with the concept (and legal ramifications) of Anti-Social Behaviour?

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Nov 14th, 2005 at 10:10:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:

Occasional Series