The Chagos Refugees Group, who were expelled from their homeland to make space for a US air base in 1971, have suffered defeat in the latest round of their long legal battle over their exile.
Former inhabitants sought a ruling that a decision to create a marine park around the British-controlled islands was for the improper purpose of preventing their future resettlement. The UK’s highest court dismissed an appeal on Thursday following a hearing in London last year.
However, the Court of Appeal ‘unanimously held’ that Wikileaks-obtained diplomatic cables, which were rejected as evidence by the Administrative Court, should have been permitted. The cables in question show that the UK contrived to set up a ‘marine protected area’ that would ‘effectively end the islanders’ resettlement claims’ without affecting the US airbase.
This creates a precedent that could enable the use of Wikileaks diplomatic cables as evidence in future UK legal cases, and possibly ‘affect many court proceedings around the world’ according to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.