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State Co-offending: The Case of the Recolonization of the Chagos Archipelago and the Forced Eviction of the Chagossians

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Abstract

State crime research has included studying the cooperation between states and corporate entities and their interaction with supranational actors. This article extends research on state crime through an exploration of co-offending by multiple powerful state actors—what I refer to here as “state co-offending.” The study analyzes the recolonization of the Chagos Archipelago (in the Indian Ocean) and the forced eviction of its Indigenous population as a type of state crime that involved the collusion of two powerful countries. The case study explores the conspiracy between the United Kingdom and the United States to recolonize the archipelago and depopulate the Chagos Islands, identifying behavior that violated international law and illuminating the scale of collaboration between the two governments. The article explores how such behavior was normalized, causing extensive social harm to an entire Indigenous population and disrupting—and discouraging—adherence to international norms.

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Notes

  1. Decolonization can also refer to the devolution of dependent territories in earlier times, such as in the Americas (1776–1820) and in Europe (1917–1920) (Kennedy 2016).

  2. Despite the US and the USSR becoming post-World War II superpowers, neither viewed colonialism favorably. For the USSR, colonialism was counter to Soviet ideology of defending the international proletariat and achieving communism. For the US, colonialism conflicted with the ideals of a sovereign republic formed after the American Revolutionary War (Immerwahr 2019; Kennedy 2016).

  3. Art 5(e) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1965; Articles 2.3, 12.1, and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966; Article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 1979; Article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989; and Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 1998.

  4. Ratified by all 192 member states of the UN.

  5. Signed and ratified by 150 countries including Mauritius and the UK. The US signed the ICESCR in 1977 but has yet to ratify it.

  6. Forced eviction also violates the right to security of the person; rights to education, food, health, home, information, participation and self-expression, water, work/livelihood; freedom from cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment; and freedom of movement.

  7. The definition of the term, “British subject,” has changed over time. At the time the Charter came into force, it referred to the citizens of the British Empire (with the exception of protectorates and protected states). After 1949, the term was used to designate a Commonwealth citizen. Therefore, Chagossians are considered British subjects throughout the process of recolonization and forced eviction.

  8. The naval communications facility was needed because, at the time, radio and espionage bases in western Australia were not able to cover the entire Indian Ocean (Immerwahr 2019). The base on Diego Garcia has since grown and was vital in the recent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq (Vine 2004).

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Cases

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dawn Rothe, Avi Brisman, and the anonymous reviewers for the very insightful and helpful feedback on previous drafts of this article.

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  1. Stonehill College, 235 Martin Institute for Law & Society, 320 Washington St, Easton, MA, 02357, USA

    Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal

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Twyman-Ghoshal, A. State Co-offending: The Case of the Recolonization of the Chagos Archipelago and the Forced Eviction of the Chagossians. Crit Crim 29, 311–328 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-021-09570-4

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