ICJ backs Mauritius in Chagos Islands case against Britain

The World Court on Monday backed Mauritius in a colonial-era dispute over the Chagos Islands, an Indian Ocean archipelago that is home to the Diego Garcia U.S. military base, saying Britain's handling of the decolonisation was "unlawful".

In a non-binding advisory opinion, the top United Nations court for disputes between states said Britain's 1968 decolonization of Chagos Islands was not lawful and said Britain should end rule over the territory as soon as possible.

The U.N. General Assembly asked the court in February 2017 to weigh in on whether the process has been concluded lawfully.