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Exhibits: 4 affidavits, 2 webpages (Feb. 14 2002) Bancoult, subsequently, 370 F.Supp.2d 1 (Dec. 21 2004), 445 F.3d 427 (No. 05-5049, April 21 2006) (deportation/exile of the Chagos Islanders).

United States District Court for the District of Columbia

	)
Olivier Bancoult, et al.,	)
Plaintiffs,	)
)
v.	)
)
Robert S. Mcnamara, et al.,	)
Defendants.	)
	)

Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction

{separate document}

 

{Attachments: 4 affidavits}

{Attachment-1: Affidavit of Jacques Gervais Florian}

In the Supreme Court of Mauritius

I, Jacques Gervais Florian, a cook, of Cassis, Port-Louis, holding Mauritius National Identity Card Number F1903598000050 and Ilois Trust Fund Identity Card No. 0245,

 

Make Oath and Say That

1.  I was born on 10 March 1959 on Salomon Island.

2.  I am a cook employed by the company Société d’Investissement de Pêche Ltée (Sodipeche).

3.  I work on vessels that go on fishing campaigns in the Chagos, Nazareth Fishing Bank and Saya de Malha Fishing Bank areas (all in the Indian Ocean).

4.  On the 29th of May 2001, my employer was issued an Inshore Fishing Vessel Licence from Louise Savill, the Director of Fisheries, BIOT Office in order to be licensed to fish in the BIOT fishing waters (BIOT Inshore Fishing Notification No. MU/INF/08). The licence was valid from the 10 June 2001 to 15 August 2001. My employer has been conducting fishing campaigns in the Chagos for over twenty-five years. On average we go on fishing campaigns four times a year but usually only once in the Chagos. In the past, fishing campaigns in the Chagos did not meet with trouble or hindrance by authorities.

5.  I was on the crew of the Mauritius vessel Le Gentilly which left Mauritius for a fishing campaign on 5 June 2001. The vessel reached the Chagos waters on or about 10 June 2001 and we began fishing on 12 June 2001.

6.  On the same day, we were near the Chagos island called Six Islands {Egmont Islands}. A group of us, all native Chagossians, decided to step on the island to get some coconuts. The group included Pierre Willy Jaffa, Vitalingum Soopramanien, Roselin Permal, France Louis, Felix Flore, Luc Azie. We had been on the island about ten minutes when we saw a ship, the Pacific Marlin, rushing towards us. The officer on board, Glen Quelch, approached us and ordered us off the island immediately. He spoke in a threatening and condescending manner causing us all to feel belittled. We politely informed Mr. Quelch that we were all Chagossian and had been allowed by the High Court of London to be on the Chagos islands. He replied that the judgment was not binding on him and that he was the one to decide whether we could be on the island or not. He then stated that he had decided that if we did not leave the island in three minutes, we would be prosecuted and liable to pay a fine of £200,000. His statements offended us all and made us feel that our efforts to go to the High Court in England had been worthless if not implemented. All of us are extremely poor so we had no choice but to return to the boat before the three minutes expired.

7.  This experience was very frustrating particularly since I have seen sailors and yachtsmen landing on various Chagos islands without any problems and without being questioned by BIOT officers. The difference between people allowed on the Chagos islands and us, besides the fact that we are Chagossian, is that we are black and they are white. I feel that this plays a significant part in the BIOT officer’s attitude towards us. He seemed furious that we dared to tell him that we had a right to be on the islands, a right which he vehemently denied.

8.  The group of us was shaken up because we enjoy drinking fresh coconut milk and sitting for a couple of hours or so on the islands which after all, are our native lands where we used to have a formidable life and where our parents, grandparents and great grandparents are buried.

9.  After our run in with the Pacific Marlin, we could not go on the islands again and had to stay far away because the vessel kept watch over us.

10.  On our return to Mauritius, the captain of our ship had a request to take an English observer on board. The man’s name was A.J.N. King and he was part of the staff conducting the feasibility study for the UK on the islands. Mr. King caused a lot of problems on board. He irritated many of the Chagossians by telling us that we would never get our islands back and that he had received instructions from London that no Chagossians would ever set foot in any lagoon in Chagos. He used foul and racist language against the Chagossians on board.

11.  Our employer has now informed us that we should never step on the islands, otherwise we would be summarily dismissed from our employment. I understand that our employer does not want to have to pay such a large fine but I feel that we have a right to go on the islands and that it is neither right nor fair that the BIOT officer prevents Chagossians from doing so. I fear that our employer may be prohibited from taking Chagossians on board its vessels.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on 7 January 2002.

Sworn by the abovenamed deponent]
At Supreme Court House, Port-Louis]
This 9th day of January 2002]

 

 

Drawn up and explained by me	Before me
{Signature}	{Signature}
Manon Mardemootoo Attorney at Law	Y. A. Beebeejaun Chief Registrar Supreme Court of Mauritius

{Yousouf Abdool Ally Beebeejaun}

 

{Attachment-2: Affidavit of Pierre Willy Jaffa}

In the Supreme Court of Mauritius

I, Pierre Willy Jaffa, a fisherman, of Cassis, Port-Louis, holding Mauritius National Identity Card Number J050159800002E and Ilois Trust Fund Identity Card No. 0480,

 

Make Oath and Say That

1.  I was born on 5 January 1959 on Salomon Island.

2.  I am a fisherman employed by the company Société d’Investissement de Pêche Ltée (Sodipeche).

3.  I work on vessels that go on fishing campaigns in the Chagos, Nazareth Fishing Bank and Saya de Malha Fishing Bank areas (all in the Indian Ocean).

4.  On the 29th of May 2001, my employer was issued an Inshore Fishing Vessel Licence from Louise Savill, the Director of Fisheries, BIOT Office in order to be licensed to fish in the BIOT fishing waters (BIOT Inshore Fishing Notification No. MU/INF/08). The licence was valid from the 10 June 2001 to 15 August 2001. My employer has been conducting fishing campaigns in the Chagos for over twenty-five years. On average we go on fishing campaigns four times a year but usually only once in the Chagos. In the past, fishing campaigns in the Chagos did not meet with trouble or hindrance by authorities.

5.  I was on the crew of the Mauritius vessel Le Gentilly which left Mauritius for a fishing campaign on 5 June 2001. The vessel reached the Chagos waters on or about 10 June 2001 and we began fishing on 12 June 2001.

6.  On the same day, we were near the Chagos island called Six Islands {Egmont Islands}. A group of us, all native Chagossians, decided to step on the island to get some coconuts. The group included Pierre Willy Jaffa, Vitalingum Soopramanien, Roselin Permal, France Louis, Felix Flore, Luc Azie. We had been on the island about ten minutes when we saw a ship, the Pacific Marlin, rushing towards us. The officer on board, Glen Quelch, approached us and ordered us off the island immediately. He spoke in a threatening and condescending manner causing us all to feel belittled. We politely informed Mr. Quelch that we were all Chagossian and had been allowed by the High Court of London to be on the Chagos islands. He replied that the judgment was not binding on him and that he was the one to decide whether we could be on the island or not. He then stated that he had decided that if we did not leave the island in three minutes, we would be prosecuted and liable to pay a fine of £200,000. His statements offended us all and made us feel that our efforts to go to the High Court in England had been worthless if not implemented. All of us are extremely poor so we had no choice but to return to the boat before the three minutes expired.

7.  This experience was very frustrating particularly since I have seen sailors and yachtsmen landing on various Chagos islands without any problems and without being questioned by BIOT officers. The difference between people allowed on the Chagos islands without any problems and without being questioned by BIOT officers. The difference between people allowed on the Chagos islands and us, besides the fact that we are Chagossian, is that we are black and they are white. I feel that this plays a significant part in the BIOT officer’s attitude towards us. He seemed furious that we dared to tell him that we had a right to be on the islands, a right which he vehemently denied.

8.  The group of us was shaken up because we enjoy drinking fresh coconut milk and sitting for a couple of hours or so on the islands which after all, are our native lands where we used to have a formidable life and where our parents, grandparents and great grandparents are buried.

9.  After our run in with the Pacific Marlin, we could not go on the islands again and had to stay far away because the vessel kept watch over us.

10.  On our return to Mauritius, the captain of our ship had a request to take an English observer on board. The man’s name was A.J.N. King and he was part of the staff conducting the feasibility study for the UK on the islands. Mr. King caused a lot of problems on board. He irritated many of the Chagossians by telling us that we would never get our islands back and that he had received instructions from London that no Chagossians would ever set foot in any lagoon in Chagos. He used foul and racist language against the Chagossians on board.

11.  Our employer has now informed us that we should never step on the islands, otherwise we would be summarily dismissed from our employment. I understand that our employer does not want to have to pay such a large fine but I feel that we have a right to go on the islands and that it is neither right nor fair that the BIOT officer prevents Chagossians from doing so. I fear that our employer may be prohibited from taking Chagossians on board its vessels.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on 7 January 2002.

Sworn by the abovenamed deponent]
At Supreme Court House, Port-Louis]
This 7th day of January 2002]

 

 

 

Drawn up and explained by me	Before me
{Signature}	{Signature}
Manon Mardemootoo Attorney at Law	Y. A. Beebeejaun Chief Registrar Supreme Court of Mauritius

{Yousouf Abdool Ally Beebeejaun}

 

Not part of the Court document:

in contrast

 

{Attachment-3: Affidavit of Louis Olivier Bancoult}

In the Supreme Court of Mauritius

I, Louis Olivier Bancoult, an Electrician, of Royal Road, Cassis, Port-Louis, holding a British Indian Ocean Territory Passport No. 750176141 issued by the British Government and Mauritian National Identity Card number B150264800002F,

Make Oath and Say That

1.  I was born on Peros Banhos, in the Chagos Archipelago, on 15 February 1964.

2.  My family and myself were forcefully removed from our native land, i.e Chagos, in 1971 and we have been prohibited from going back to the Chagos since then.

3.  Since our removal, we have been living in exile in Mauritius in extremely difficult conditions, so that our living conditions are way below the standard of poverty.

4.  I have applied on at least nine occasions for jobs on Diego Garcia, following advertisements made in the press in relation to vacancies there. I have applied for the various jobs available as per the said advertisement, including that of electrical assistant, electrician and/or anything that had to do with assisting in electricity works.

5.  Each time, I had to fill an application form, on which I disclosed that I was born on the Chagos; I was never called for the jobs and when upon seeing Mauritians getting the jobs and leaving for Diego Garcia I would go and enquire about my application, the recruitment officer would straight away state that my application was ‘irrecevable’ (not receivable) since my status of Chagossian debarred me from applying for the jobs.

6.  I kept on applying each time I saw vacancies ads in the press, hoping that there would be a change in recruitment policy, but after nine attempts, I gave up, because it had become too emotional for me to be discriminated on the basis of my status as a Chagossian to work on my own native land. I felt degraded by the treatment I received and felt I was inferior to the Mauritians, Philipinos and Sri Lankans who are employed there without problem.

7.  I am aware of several hundreds of Chagossians who, like me, have applied for similar jobs, but who have also been ‘automatically disqualified’ by reason of their status of Chagossians.

8.  I also know of children of Chagossians who were born in Mauritius and who during the interviews were asked the birthplace of their parents; when they answered ‘Chagos’, they were told that they could not have any link to the Chagos and therefore disqualified.

9.  I also know of children of Chagossians who were born in Mauritius and who lied during the interviews about the birthplace of their parents. Many of them got the jobs because they had concealed the fact that they were linked to the Chagos.

10.  I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct.

 

Sworn by the abovenamed deponent]
At Supreme Court, Port-Louis]
This 29th day of January 2002]

 

 

 

Drawn up by me	Before me
{Signature}	{Signature}
Sivakumaren Mardemootoo Attorney at Law	Supreme Court Republic of Mauritius (M. Sanasee) Chief Court Officer {Moonsamy Sanasee}

 

{Attachment-4: Affidavit of Benoit Emilien}

In the Supreme Court of Mauritius

I, Benoit Emilien, a citizen of the Republic of Mauritius, holding Mauritius Passport No.0688310, issued on 19 September 1997,

 

Make Oath and Say That

1.  I am 38 years old. I was born in Rodrigues Island, located one and a half hour’s flight from Mauritius. I am by religion a Roman Catholic; I am married and a father of one daughter aged 12.

2.  I completed my High School education at the age of 19, i.e in 1983. After my schooling, I was unemployed for two years until April 1985 when I was recruited for training as a Pupil Nurse at Victoria Hospital in Mauritius. I completed my training in May 1987. I then left Mauritius and went back to Rodrigues where I was confirmed in a substantive capacity in the Health Division of the Ministry for Rodrigues. I remained in that employment until July 1988 when I left back to Mauritius for training as Physiotherapist Assistant at Victoria Hospital. I did that for a period of six months, during which I contracted marriage. After the six months training, I resigned from public service and settled down in Mauritius.

3.  Since then, I have assumed duties in several positions in various private health care institutions, hotel resorts and manufacturing industries.

4.  In or about 1991, it was brought to my knowledge that there were job opportunities in Diego Garcia. There were vacancies for the post of ‘Nurse’ and I applied on two occasions, in 1991 through Mr. Aboobakar, then the Recruiting Agent and in 1995 through BJS International Ltd. I heard nothing from my first application; in 1997, I was informed that my second application was successful and was invited for an interview. They were happy with the interview and I flew to Diego Garcia in October 1997.

5.  It was a contract of one year and I stayed there until November 1998 when I went back to Mauritius and decided not to renew my contract of employment.

6.  I remained unemployed. In or about March 1999, I decided to apply again but since there was at that time a transition between the Base Operating Support Contractors in Diego Garcia, my application was delayed until October 1999 when I heard that DG21 had sent someone to Mauritius to appoint a local recruitment agent. I also learnt that De Chazal du Mée (hereinafter ‘DCDM’) obtained the representation contract; I was informed that my name was already on the list of persons who DG21 would like to recruit. I then went to the office of DCDM in Port-Louis to remind them of my interest to go back on Diego Garcia. In the course of a conversation with two Executives of DCDM, namely Mrs. Sophia Serret and Dr. Eric Charoux, I was asked about the different steps in the recruitment procedure of Mauritians desiring to be employed on Diego Garcia. I felt that they had obtained the contract to be the recruitment agency but did not know how to go about it in practice. So, I explained them in details, based on what I knew and on my personal experience. I left them, expecting that I would soon thereafter be called to resume procedures for me to go back to Diego Garcia, with other persons.

7.  On that same afternoon, Mrs. Sophia Serret called me at home and asked whether I would be interested to work for DCDM in Mauritius as a Recruitment Consultant for people seeking employment in Diego Garcia. She told me that the decision to offer me the job was motivated by my knowledge and experience in the field of employment in Diego Garcia, especially since they intended to employ one person to be responsible for that specific duty inside DCDM. I considered the offer and after a few days, I accepted the same.

8.  The terms and conditions of that job were as follows :

9.  The Base Operating Support Contractor could only recruit citizens of Philippines and Mauritius. Vacancies were mostly in relation to jobs for ground maintenance, janitors, food service personnel, masons, general trade helpers, electricians, administrative personnel and nurses. For some of these jobs, such as ground maintenance and janitors, there were no qualifications needed per se.

10.  Those from Mauritius could not be Chagossians, i.e people who were born in the Chagos Archipelagos, including Diego Garcia.

11.  In the course of our duties, we were called upon to place advertisements in various newspapers in Mauritius, for example the daily l’express and the weekly Week-End.

12.  The prohibition to recruit Chagossians was obvious in the form that those advertisements were designed and drafted: DCDM not only acted as recruitment agency for DG21 but also acted in that capacity for various employers, local (in Mauritius) and regional (Madagascar, Seychelles and Réunion Island). When DCDM advertised positions in countries or islands other than Diego Garcia, the name of the country or island was expressly mentioned. For example, for vacancies in a company operating in Madagascar, the advertisement would name Madagascar as being the country where the employment would be. A copy of such an advertisement is annexed herewith and marked ‘Exhibit A’ {omitted}. However, when we had to publish advertisements for vacancies in Diego Garcia, we received strict instructions to conceal, i.e not to mention the name of Diego Garcia in order not to attract the attention of Chagossians, whom we did not want to recruit. We would only say ‘an island’ and not state the name. A copy of such an advertisement is annexed herewith and marked ‘Exhibit B’. Both of these advertisements were processed while I was on duty.

13.  Furthermore, to enhance this strict instruction, applicants from Mauritius had to be aged between 20 and 40 years old, while there were, on the other hand, employees from Philippines who were recruited well over 50 years old. The idea is that many Chagossians removed from the Chagos would be over the age limit and would not qualify.

14.  We never processed any application made by Chagossians because if such applications were made, they would be automatically turned down by the client, i.e DG21. Quite naturally, we did not want to do anything that would cause problems between ourselves (DCDM) and our client, especially given the widely publicised Chagossian problems.

15.  I worked for DCDM as a recruitment consultant for a period of three months and I resigned in end of December 1999. The reason for my resignation was that I strongly felt that I was not being fairly and justly remunerated for the work I was doing; employment in Diego Garcia was much more lucrative and I preferred to apply for a job in Diego Garcia since there was still one vacancy for a post of ‘Nurse’ there. As a matter of fact, I recruited myself.

16.  I left for Diego Garcia in January 2000 and stayed there for six months until July 2000 when I returned back to Mauritius. I decided to return because for the six months that I was there, I was the only Nurse at the Civilian Medical Department (when there should have been two), meaning that I was working practically on a 24 hours basis. I finally broke down and could not take it anymore.

17.  During the two periods when I was in Diego Garcia, I never saw any chagossian. I knew all the Mauritians working there (about a hundred) and there were never any chagossian.

18.  I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct.

 

Sworn by the abovenamed deponent]
At Supreme Court, Port-Louis]
This 14th day of February 2002]

 

 

 

Drawn up by me	Before me
{Signature}	{Signature}
Sivakumaren Mardemootoo Attorney at Law	Supreme Court Republic of Mauritius Chief Court Officer (D. Hurkoo) {Dhananjay Hurkoo}

{Note: Filed with the Court in Washington DC was a faxed copy of the original, sworn the same day in Mauritius.}

 

{Attachment-4, Exhibit-B}:

newspaper advertisement

 

{Attachment-5:
a 2-page print-out from this website}:

Benoit Kaisin and Ghislaine Bovy Minuit:

http://www.minuit.net/engpages/where/ past/txt/chagos/june02.htm {50 kb}

{The 2 pages filed in Court from this website no longer contain the text filed in Court, as they pertained to a trip to the Chagos planned for the then future (later reported in the above link). Here is the then text of those 2 pages, printed-out and filed in Court as Attachment-5}:

http://www.minuit.net/engpages/where/ futur/futur.htm 2/14/02 {no longer contains this text}

http://www.minuit.net/engpages/welcome/ bordframe.htm 2/14/02 {no longer contains this text}

 

Certificate of Service

I hereby certify that on February 14, 2002, I served a true copy of the foregoing Memorandum for Preliminary Injunction:

By facsimile and by first class mail, postage pre-paid, addressed to defendant’s counsel as follows:

Richard Montague
Department of Justice
Civil Division
1425 New York Ave., N.W.
Suite 8122
Washington, DC 20005

By first class mail, postage pre-paid, addressed to Defendant’s counsel as follows:

Cynthia Andreason
LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae
1875 Connecticut Ave. N.W.
Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20009

By facsimile and by first class mail, postage pre-paid, addressed to defendant as follows:

De Chazal Du Mee
C/O Jean Louis Imhoff
1819 H Street, N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20006

By hand delivery (to be accomplished by Mauritian Counsel), addressed to defendant as follows:

De Chazal Du Mee
10, Frere Felix de Valios Street
Port Louis
Mauritius

 

{Signature}

Andrew Rapp

 

This document is not copyrighted and may be freely copied.

Charles Judson Harwood Jr.

Posted Dec. 11 2002. Updated May 20 2008.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jksonc/docs/bancoult-d3a.html