ARTICLE 20- SELF-DETERMINATION 1) All peoples shall have the right to existence. They shall have the unquestionable and inalienable right to self- determination. They shall freely determine their political status and shall pursue their economic and social development according to the policy they have freely chosen. 2) Colonized or oppressed peoples shall have the right to free themselves from the bonds of domination by resorting to any means recognized by the international community. 3) All peoples shall have the right to the assistance of the States parties to the present Charter in their liberation struggle against foreign domination, be it political, economic or cultural. THE CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO 300. Although Mauritius has sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, it is being prevented from exercising its rights over the Chagos Archipelago because of the de facto and unlawful control of the United Kingdom over the Archipelago. The Government of Mauritius does not recognise the so-called “British Indian Ocean Territory” which the United Kingdom purported to create by illegally excising the Chagos Archipelago from the territory of Mauritius prior to its accession to independence. 301. The excision of the Chagos Archipelago from the territory of Mauritius also involved the eviction by the British authorities of the Mauritians, who were residing in the Archipelago (‘Chagossians’), in total disregard of their human rights. Most of the Chagossians were moved to Mauritius. The Government of Mauritius supports the legitimate aspiration of the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, as Mauritian citizens, to be resettled in the Archipelago. 302. Since this illegal excision, Mauritius has spared no efforts for the completion of its decolonization so that it can effectively and fully exercise its sovereignty over the totality of its territory, including the Chagos Archipelago. 303. A resolution was tabled by African States Members of the United Nations before the UN General Assembly in June 2017 to request an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965. This resolution was adopted on 22 June 2017. 304. The ICJ delivered on 25 February 2019 its Advisory Opinion. The Court considered that the Chagos Archipelago had been unlawfully detached from Mauritius by the United Kingdom. In the light of its findings, the ICJ ruled, by thirteen votes to one, that – 120