by Kevin Akin; this article was originally published in Partisan issue no. 24, printed November 2007.

Blowing a chance to show there was a word of truth in his pronouncements of dedication to human rights, new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown clarified matters immediately by continuing the government's appeal against another court ruling in favor of the exiled Chagossians.

Removed from their islands by trickery and force in the early 1970s, the people of Diego Garcia and the other Chagos Islands have been fi ghting in the courts to return to their islands. The British government keeps losing, but in servile obedience to the United States, Blair and now Brown have refused to obey, using every trick in the book to keep the islanders from their homes.

Diego Garcia has been a U.S. military base for 35 years, and was used to attack Iraq and as an isolated lawless center for the torture of captives. Under the name of "British Indian Ocean Territories," the islands are offi cially ruled by Britain, and it maintains a token military presence at the U.S. base.

Brown's new appeal to the House of Lords will be heard in 2008. The Law Lords ruled that the government must bear all costs of the appeal win or lose, a sign that they consider Brown's case very weak.

For updated information go to www.chagossupport.org.uk for news and background from the U.K. Chagos Support Group.