Diego Garcia “Island Paradise or Torture Chamber?”

While checking out small islands on Google earth after MH370 disappeared, I stumbled upon this little gem, Diego Garcia.There were airplanes, lots of buildings including these sketchy black buildings: (Spent hours trying to figure out how to use upload to post pic directly on thread but its not working on 3 different computers)

black building and guard towers


Yep they are quite creepy and the are quite a few them. In the center of each group there are what look like guard towers.

close up of black buildings


On the other side of the island is what looks like more housing. There are also tennis courts, a pool, overall much nicer the other side of the island.

nice side of island


There is also a boat dock and an airport

planes

boat


I had to know what this place was so I searched online and discovered Diego Garcia is a US Navy facility also known as Camp Justice. Prior to Diego Garcia being a military installation it was home to the Chagossians who inhabited Diego Garcia along with a few of the other surrounding islands. In the late 60’s to early 70’s the Chagossians were forced to leave their homes by the British Government.

Today, there are no Chagossians that live on the island of Diego Garcia, as it is now the site of the military base Camp Justice.

source

On 30 December 1966, the United States and the UK executed an agreement through an Exchange of Notes which permit the United States to use the BIOT for defense purposes for 50 years (through December 2016), followed by a 20-year optional extension (to 2036) to which both parties must agree by December 2014

source

Now the mission of NSF as stated in paragraph 2.4.3

The main mission of NSF Diego Garcia is to maintain
and operate facilities and provide services and materials in support of afloat
units, operating forces on forward deployment, and tenant shore activities. More
specifically, for the present, the mission of NSF Diego Garcia is “to provide
logistic support to operational forces forward deployed to the Indian Ocean and

link


Not only does this little island, in the middle of nowhere, house the USN but it also alledgely houses terrorist suspectsin a CIA black site. My guess is the black housing units, well house suspected terrorists.

From satellite pictures, Diego Garcia looks like paradise.

The small, secluded atoll in the Indian Ocean, with its coral beaches, turquoise waters and vast lagoon in the centre, is 1,600 kilometres from land in any direction.
A perfect hideaway. But no one is allowed to set foot on it.
The little-known British possession, leased to the United States in 1970, was a major military staging post in the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. It continues to be, in effect, a floating aircraft carrier, housing 1,700 personnel who call it Camp Justice.
But intelligence analysts say Diego Garcia's geographic isolation is now being exploited for other, darker purposes.
They claim it is one in a network of secret detention centres being operated by the Central Intelligence Agency to interrogate high-value terrorist suspects beyond the reach of American or international law.
These prisoners are known as "ghost detainees" or the "new disappeared," and they're being subjected to treatment that makes the abuses at the military-run Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad and Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba look small-time, say intelligence analysts.

island paradise or torture chamber

Are there nukes on Diego Garcia?

Underneath this international support for an African nuclear-weapon-free zone, however, is a low-profile but high-stakes dispute over the status of the Chagos Archipelago, which includes Diego Garcia. This coral atoll in the British Indian Ocean Territory happens to be the site of one of the most valuable (and secretive) U.S. military bases overseas. Both Britain and Mauritius claim sovereignty over the archipelago.

According to the map appended to the Pelindaba Treaty, the nuclear-weapon-free zone explicitly covers the "Chagos Archipelago--Diego Garcia," albeit with a footnote (inserted at the British government's request) stating that the territory "appears without prejudice to the question of sovereignty." (To read more about the negotiations that led to the ominous Diego Garcia footnote, see the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research publication, "The Treaty of Pelindaba on the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone.") Although all of the participating African countries agreed that the Chagos Islands should be included in the treaty parameters, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) did not, stating that it had no doubt as to its sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory, and upon signing the protocols noted that it did "not accept the inclusion of [the Chagos Islands] within the African nuclear-weapon-free zone" without consent of the British government.

link

The lease runs out in December 2014 with the option to extend the lease through 2036. Will the native inhabitnats be able to return once the military leaves the island. Thanks to the British Governemnet making this a marine protected area, the chances are low.

40 years of heartbreak

To make matters worse, in 2010, the British government created a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Chagos. Officials denied it was an attempt to prevent a return no matter the court rulings. Then a secret Wikileaks cable revealed a senior British official saying, "Former inhabitants would find it difficult, if not impossible, to pursue their claim for resettlement on the islands if the entire Chagos Archipelago were a marine reserve." U.S. officials agreed the MPA would likely "be the most effective long-term way to prevent" resettlement. Adding insult to injury, the British official repeated his predecessor's racist slur, saying the MPA would allow no "Man Fridays."

I went ther once on holiday i can assure u its a very nice place

reply to post by Jennyfrenzy


I got a great deal (for this time of year) for 6 days 5 nights on the good side
but when I checked on Kayak Explore I found an even cheaper deal that includes a day trip to the bad side.

reply to post by FinalCountdown


on a serious note, nothing is surprising anymore.

reply to post by FinalCountdown


So true and so sad. It is in such a beautiful setting, too bad there is most likely some seedy snip going on there.

Well seeing as all eyes are on Guantanamo Bay (and rightly so) I guess the USA/UK need to do there torturing somewhere.

If the lids blown on that place Im sure they will just move to somewhere else.

Looks like a SAC base to me. Black buildings most likely hold munitions. Don't know of to many place that hold both prisoners and nukes....

reply to post by Jennyfrenzy


This is a well researched, and presented thread. Something that is vanishing on ATS.

Thank you for putting the work and effort into bringing a well thought out thread for us....

I can only surmise, it's one of many places we know little about...but should.

Des

Thanks I didnt know about this place. We brits robbed it from the original owners and gave it to the USA? Looking at todays problems regarding the Crimea I feel sick. Even more so when I listen to muppets like camoron hague and obumba kerry.

Yes, it has been a widely known "secret" that Diego Garcia is one of the US's largest overseas stockpiles of war-making materials. It is 'owned' and maintained by the US Navy, but it has stocks of supplies for all the other services as well. All the way from repair sets for A-10's to complete battalion sets of equipment for the Cav.

To any who might wish to visit, trust me when I say it will be better protected than nearly any other physical location on the planet.

I never knew it existed either until about 20 or so years ago when I read Robert Anton Wilson's "Illuminati!" Trilogy. From there I did a little digging of my own during the dial-up days of the world wide web on various bbs sites. (Ah, the old conspiracy days...how I wished nothing came true.)

Great thread. And yeah, im sure they have a person of interest or two visiting the lovely island getaway and possibly never leaving at least a few times a year. Especially during "Death to America" Season...I'll bet that is booked for the next few years.

reply to post by Jennyfrenzy


It's also part of the global ground tracking and control network for the GPS system and I assume other space assets.

reply to post by InverseLookingGlass


It is definitely an interesting place. I wonder if Diego Garcia is contributing to the search of MH370?

reply to post by Jennyfrenzy


Ascension Island in the South Atlantic is also leased from The UK by the US Military:-

en.wikipedia.org...

Diego Garcia is a UK airforce / refuelling base isn't it ??

reply to post by andy1972


I am sure RAF planes land and refuel there.

reply to post by andy1972


It is a joint UK/US facility. They're both on the lease through 12/14 with an option to extend through 2036.

Montana
reply to post by andy1972

 

I am sure RAF planes land and refuel there.

The RAF and USAF both refueled there for bombing raids carried out on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Diego Garcia looks a hell of a lot more hospitable from the air, compared to the view from the ground. I spent a little time there back in the 80's while serving in the Navy. It's a truly horrible duty station.

reply to post by alldaylong


The airfield is a joint facility if I understand correctly. I don't think the Depot is, and the MPPF ships are pure US.