Assembly/AU/Dec.684(XXX) Page 1 DECISION ON CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO The Assembly, 1. REITERATES its commitment to the fight against all forms of colonialism in Africa in accordance with the OAU/AU legal instruments and decisions, in particular, the 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration adopted at the 21 st Ordinary Session of the Assembly in May 2013, which reaffirmed the need to ensure the completion of the decolonisation process in Africa; 2. RECALLS the United Nations (UN) Resolutions 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 and 2066 (XX) of 16 December 1965 in relation to the continued unlawful occupation by the United Kingdom of the Chagos Archipelago, which forms an integral part of the territory of the Republic of Mauritius and over which the Republic of Mauritius is unable to effectively exercise its sovereignty. FURTHER RECALLS UN Resolution 2232 (XXI) of 20 December 1966 and Resolution 2357 (XXII) of 19 December 1967 which reiterated that any disruption of the territorial integrity of colonial territories in the decolonization process would be contrary to the UN Charter; 3. RENEWS its commitment to UN Resolution 2066 (XX) of 16 December 1965 which reaffirms the inalienable right of the people of Mauritius to freedom and that the UK Government should implement UN Resolution 1514 (XV) fully and invited "the administering Power to take no action which would dismember the Territory of Mauritius and violate its territorial integrity." 4. RECALLS the previous OAU/AU resolutions and decisions on the Chagos Archipelago, in particular the Assembly Resolutions: Assembly/AU/Res.1 (XXV) adopted in June 2015 in Johannesburg as well as Assembly/AU/Res.1 (XXVIII) adopted in January 2017 in Addis Ababa; 5. TAKES NOTE of the resounding success at the vote taken at the UN General Assembly on 22 June 2017 for the adoption of Resolution 71/292 requesting the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to give an Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965, introduced by the Republic of the Congo on behalf of the Member States of the UN that are members of the Group of African States; 6. ACKNOWLEDGES the AU’s request for an extension of the deadline of 30 January 2018 for the submission of a written statement by the AU to the ICJ in relation to the Advisory Opinion requested by the UN General Assembly Resolution 71/292 (2017) on the “Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965” as well as the ICJ Order granting the new deadline of 1st March 2018 and 15 May 2018 for written submissions in accordance with Article 66 of the ICJ Statute; 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly, 28- 29 January 2018, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia