Moazzam Begg featured across Mauritian press as he completes a short visit to the island

London - CAGE International’s Senior Director, Moazzam Begg, was featured on front pages in Mauritius' leading mainstream and Muslim papers during a short trip to the island, where he addressed thousands at various Muslim institutions, conferences and mosques as part of an official invitation by the FLAG initiative. 

Begg was interviewed by Le Mauricien, the oldest and most read newspaper in Mauritius, as well as featured on the front pages of the mainstream Le Défi Plus, a Saturday publication part of one of the nation’s biggest media outlets. The leading Muslim print paper, STAR, also covered his visit on its front page.

Engagements focused on the work of CAGE International, US prisoner Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, the abuses at Guantanamo and the campaign to close it, and activism within the Muslim community. He also met with the Mauritius Human Rights Commission.

Begg further addressed events on the Gaza genocide and Israel’s apartheid occupation of Palestine. He took part in a reading of the names of dead Palestinian infants at the south shore in Tamarin, organised by Olive Resistance.

There was great public interest in the UK’s recent, conditional transfer of sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago back to Mauritius. Mauritius was forced to ‘sell’ the islands to Britain in exchange for independence in 1968. 

The May 2025 transfer, however, excludes the strategically positioned island of Diego Garcia, which houses a US military base that was a central node in the CIA’s top-secret rendition and torture programme. The UK will now ‘lease’ the island for another 99 years, with the base remaining in place. 

Moazzam Begg, CAGE International Senior Director said:  
“I thank the people of Mauritius for such a warm and loving welcome and unforgettable hospitality. Their desire to learn about the work of CAGE and the people and causes we campaign for was very uplifting. Despite Mauritius’ remoteness, people were attentive and engaged.

“One recurrent question was the role of the British and US governments in the use of Diego Garcia in the CIA torture programme during the War on Terror. Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, infamously, once stated that believing the island was used for US rendition flights was a “wild conspiracy theory.” That was until CIA director Mark Hayden confirmed the use of the island for rendition stopover flights. Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to the former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, confirmed prisoners were held and interrogated there. Palestinian detainee Abu Zubaydah is believed to have been among them. He’s been held without charge for 22 years in Guantanamo. I made sure the people of Mauritius knew his name.”