DECISION ON DECOLONISATION OF MAURITIUS
The Assembly,
RECALLS Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.788(XXXIII), adopted at the 33rd Ordinary Session, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 2020, regarding the decolonisation of Mauritius;
ALSO RECALLS the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of 25 February 2019 on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965, which has authoritatively determined that:
the Chagos Archipelago is, and has always formed, an integral part of the territory of Mauritius;
the process of decolonisation of Mauritius was not lawfully completed upon its accession to independence in 1968, in view of the excision of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius;
the United Kingdom’s continued administration of the Chagos Archipelago constitutes a wrongful act entailing the international responsibility of that State, and is an unlawful act of a continuing character, which arose as a result of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius;
the United Kingdom is under an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible;
all Member States are under an obligation to cooperate with the United Nations in order to complete the decolonisation of Mauritius.
FURTHER RECALLS UN General Assembly Resolution 73/295 of 22 May 2019, which, inter alia, affirmed, in accordance with the Advisory Opinion of the ICj’ that the Chagos Archipelago forms an integral part of Mauritius, and demanded the United Kingdom to withdraw its colonial administration from the Chagos Archipelago unconditionally within a period of no more than six months from the adoption of the resolution;
WELCOMES the Judgment of the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) of 28 January 2021, which confirmed that Mauritius has sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago and endorsed the ICJ determinations that the detachment of the Chagos Archipelago was unlawful and that the United Kingdom’s administration of the Chagos Archipelago constitutes an unlawful act of a continuing character;
CONDEMNS the continued illegal occupation of the Chagos Archipelago by the United Kingdom in disregard of the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ, and UN General Assembly Resolutions 73/295 and 26/25 (XXV) on the UN Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations;
REITERATES ITS CALLS TO the United Kingdom to comply with international law by immediately withdrawing its colonial administration from the Chagos Archipelago;
CALLS UPON the Member States and all partners to respect UN General Assembly Resolution 73/295, which expressly urged Member States, UN bodies and regional and international organisations to refrain from any action that will impede or delay the completion of the process of decolonisation of Mauritius in accordance with the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ and the UN resolution;
EMPHASISES the commitment of the African Union and its Member States towards the full decolonisation of Africa and CALLS UPON Member States to support all efforts in (and in relations with) all international, regional and intergovernmental organisations, including the United Nations and its specialized agencies (including the Universal Postal Union and the International Civil Aviation Organization), the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission and the European Union, through initiatives, decisions, resolutions and other actions aimed at enabling Mauritius to assert its sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago pursuant to the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ, UN General Assembly Resolution 73/295 and the Judgment of the Special Chamber of ITLOS;
REQUESTS the Commission to undertake all necessary steps towards the decolonisation of Mauritius;
REQUESTS the PRC to consider the necessary budget for the implementation of this Decision, and DECIDES to remain actively seized of the matter.