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Hearings Before the Special Subcommittee On HEARINGS BEFORE THE SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NINETY-FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JUNE 5 AND NOVEMBER 4, 1975 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 63-320 WASHINGTON : 1970 Diego Garcia: 1975 Congressional hearings ii COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THOMAS E. MORGAN, Pennsylvania, Chairman CLEMENT J. ZABLOCKI, WILLIAM S. BROOMFIELD, Wisconsin Michigan WAYNE L. HAYS, EDWARD J. DERWINSKI, Ohio Illinois L. H. FOUNTAIN, PAUL FINDLEY, North Carolina Illinois DANTE B. FASCELL, JOHN H. BUCHANAN, Jr., Florida Alabama CHARLES C. DIGGS, Jr., J. HERBERT BURKE, Michigan Florida ROBERT N. C. NIX, PIERRE S. du PONT, Pennsylvania Delaware DONALD M. FRASER, CHARLES W. WHALEN, Jr., Minnesota Ohio BENJAMIN S. ROSENTHAL, EDWARD G. BIESTER, Jr., New York Pennsylvania LEE H. HAMILTON, LARRY WINN, Jr., Indiana Kansas LESTER L. WOLFF, BENJAMIN A GILMAN, New York New York JONATHAN B. BINGHAM, TENNYSON GUYER, New York Ohio GUS YATRON, ROBERT J. LAGOMARSINO, Pennsylvania California ROY A. TAYLOR, North Carolina MICHAEL HARRINGTON, Massachusetts LEO J. RYAN, California CHARLES WILSON, Texas DONALD W. RIEGLE, Jr., Michigan CARDISS COLLINS, Illinois STEPHEN J. SOLARZ, New York HELEN S. MEYNER, New Jersey DON BONKER, Washington MARIAN A. CZARNECKI, Chief of Staff Special Subcommittee on Investigations, LEE H. HAMILTON, Indiana, Chairman L. H. FOUNTAIN, PIERRE S. du PONT, North Carolina Delaware GUS YATRON, LARRY WINN, Jr., Pennsylvania Kansas MICHAEL HARRINGTON, Massachusetts DON BONKER, Washington MICHAEL H. VAN DUSEN, Subcommittee Staff Consultant ALISON L. BRENNER, Minority Subcommittee Staff Consultant MELINDA MURPHY, Staff Assistant ( II ) Diego Garcia: 1975 Congressional hearings iii CONTENTS Preface WITNESSES Thursday, June 5, 1975: Noyes, James H., Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs) for Near Eastern, African and South Asian Affairs.....5 Vest, George S., Director, Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, Department of State.....2 Tuesday, November 4, 1975: Churchill, George T., Director, Office of International Security Operations, Department of State.....59 Culver, Hon. John C., a U.S. Senator from the State of Iowa.....38 Sick, Comdr. Gary G., Country Director for the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Department of Defense.....62 STATEMENTS, MEMORANDUMS, AND TABLES SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Justification for the Presidential Determination on the Construction of Limited Support Facilities on Diego Garcia.....12 Soviet naval activity in the Indian Ocean.....23 1973-75 Soviet naval port calls in Indian Ocean.....23 Soviet naval deployments in the Indian Ocean.....26 Development costs for Diego Garcia.....28 Summary of U.S. Navy Indian Ocean operations.....33 ACDA visits to the Persian Gulf.....36 October 10 report on the resettlement of inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago.....40 1966 public agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.....50 Accrued R. & D. surcharges against the Polaris sales agreement.....57 Current construction on Diego Garcia.....62 APPENDIX Biographies of witnesses : George T. Churchill.....83 James H. Noyes.....83 Comdr. Gary G. Sick.....83 George S. Vest.....84 Letter of June 19, 1975, from Congressman Lee H. Hamilton to John Duke Anthony of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies requesting information and Dr. Anthony‘s reply entitled, ―Relations Between the United States and the People‘s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY): Problems and Progress‖.....85 ―Diego Garcia, The Islanders Britain Sold,‖ from the Sunday Times of London, September 21, 1975.....93 ―Islanders Were Evicted for U.S. Base,‖ by David B Ottaway, from the the Washington Post, September 9, 1975.....102 ―The Diego Garcians,‖ editorial from the Washington Post, September 11, 1975.....105 Correspondence dated August 26, 1975, between the Defense Department and a private research company with regard to a study of arms limitation prospects for the Indian Ocean.....106 Letter dated January 16, 1976, to Chairman Lee H. Hamilton from Jan S. F. van Hoogstraten, Director, Material Resources Program, Church World Service with general remarks and comments on the Diego Garcia issue.....108 ( III ) Diego Garcia: 1975 Congressional hearings v PREFACE During 1975 there was renewed debate in the Congress over the plans of the U.S. Navy to expand base support facilities on the island of Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The subcommittee held two hearings in 1975 in which three important aspects of the debate were discussed in considerable detail. SOVIET ROLE First, considerable attention was given to the activities and presence of, and facilities available for, the Soviet Union in various littoral states of the Indian Ocean. Special emphasis was given to Soviet dealings with Somalia, the People‘s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), and the Republic of Iraq. In addition to trying to assess Soviet ties with these states, the subcommittee sought to obtain detailed statements from American experts on those three states. One useful paper, submitted by Dr. John Anthony of the Johns Hopkins University, appears as an appendix to these hearings and it focuses on recent developments in the PDRY or the Aden Yemen Government and United States dealings with that state. Unfortunately, we were unable to obtain statements on Somalia and Iraq in time for publication of these hearings. ARMS LIMITATION PROSPECTS Second, several congressional inquiries have sought to promote more serious attention by the executive branch to the prospects of arms limitation talks dealing with the Indian Ocean. It is felt by many of us that the United States has not pursued vigorously enough such arms control options for the Indian Ocean and, that since a Soviet feeler on the subject in 1971, little effort has been made to find out what the Soviet Union might be interested in. Now that Diego Garcia is being expanded, many members continue to want to see the executive branch pursue more seriously this alternative or, at least, give it a higher priority. This theme was also examined in these hearings. Some limited attention is being given to this subject. Appendix 6 contains correspondence between the Defense Department and a private research concern relating to a study of arms limitation prospects for the Indian Ocean. The progress of the study should be watched carefully by the Congress, although the study will likely represent little more than a preliminary examination of some technical aspects of a possible naval arms limitation agreement in the area. STATUS OF FORMER ISLANDERS A third theme of these hearings relates to the circumstances under which the former inhabitants of Diego Garcia left or were forced from ( V ) Diego Garcia: 1975 Congressional hearings vi VI the island and the current status of these former islanders on the island of Mauritius. In one hearing, the subcommittee heard testimony from Senator John Culver and the Departments of State and Defense that related largely to this matter and the role of the United States and its responsibility for what happened to these people and their poor condition today. The subcommittee also pursued this theme with the Church World Service which has a representative working in Mauritius with these former islanders. A statement, submitted for the record by Jan van Hoogstraten, Director of the Material Resources Program of the Church World Service and Ms. Nancy Robinson of the Mauritius Council for Social Services, appears as an appendix and it responds to many of the statements made by the Departments of State and Defense in its October 10, 1975, report to the Congress (page 40) on the former inhabitants of Diego Garcia and neighboring islands who were forced to leave when the U.S. base facilities were proposed. It is the intention of the subcommittee to continue to keep a close watch on developments in these three areas which relate directly to our growing involvement and more permanent presence in the Indian Ocean. These hearings and the appendixes are an important addition to previous inquiries on U.S. policy in the Indian Ocean. This is the fifth time in 4 years that a subcommittee of the International Relations Committee, formerly the Foreign Affairs Committee, has examined issues relating to the Indian Ocean in hearings. In 1971 the Subcommittee on National Security Policy and Scientific Developments had a series of hearings entitled ―The Indian Ocean: Political and Strategic Future‖ and in 1972 and 1973 the Subcommittee on the Near East and South Asia held several hearings on the Persian Gulf during which U.S. policy in the Indian Ocean was a central focus. In 1974, the Subcommittee on the Near East and South Asia held a series of five hearings entitled ―Proposed Expansion of U.S. Military Facilities in the Indian Ocean.‖ Developments for the last few years and expansion of U.S. base support facilities on Diego Garcia have brought the Indian Ocean and U.S. policy there to the attention of the U.S. Congress and Americans interested in all new areas of foreign policy concern. This vast region and U.S. naval presence and policy there must continue to receive careful congressional attention. Continuing scrutiny of the three themes developed in this print should be one important aspect of the ongoing oversight work of Congress on this area. Lee H. Hamilton,
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