The case of the missing British waters by Dr Joe Garcia - Panorama Report

The case of the missing British waters

PANORAMIC VIEW, BY Joe Garcia
Gibraltar may have lost a large chunk of British Gibraltar territorial waters, where the Spanish have built a marina and a mole, while the Foreign Office gives the impression of not being too keen to get to the bottom of this vitally important matter.
Is it that they have been caught napping (again) or that they were wide awake and chose to look the other way?
The case of the missing British waters is serious enough to warrant an in-depth official investigation. We have spent a week asking questions, since GBC stumbled onto a map from the UN's International Maritime Organisation when filming a feature about the work of the RN's Gibraltar Squadron.
One evening last week they said in Newswatch that in the second part of the programme they would air the feature, but as viewers noticed, nothing was shown until the next day. What happened here?
When we asked to be allowed to visit the Gibraltar Squadron to take our own photographs of the IMO map, we were told that GBC had not been given access to film the map. It had been a 'fluke', the Command British Forces told us.
Another UK source in The Convent reiterated that no one had been given permission to access the map, but it was available from UK sources.
The whole thing confirmed our suspicion that there was more to it than met the eye.
QUESTIONS
We started off by asking a number of questions, channelling them through official Foreign Office sources in The Convent.
When we asked how long had the present IMO navigational charts been in use with RN Gibraltar Squadron, we were told: 'I have asked colleagues at the Tower but unlikely you will have an answer today.'
We await a reply.
Has the UK Government at any time informed or warned the Spanish that certain Spanish developments have transgressed onto BGTW?
This was the reply: 'We have protested in the past over construction in this area. This does not affect the determining of the Median Line between British Gibraltar and Spanish territorial waters.'
The Foreign Office answer to this question was not specific enough, saying that they had protested in the past over construction in this area.
"In the past" - when was this?
"In this area" - what area?
We got back to them and asked: "Further to FCO reply where it is stated that the UK has "protested in the past over construction in this area", could you please be more specific about the area you refer to and state if this area is within BGTW?"
MEDIAN LINE
Since the FCO had also made a reference to the all-important Median Line, we also asked: "Can you please elaborate what you mean when you say that 'this does not affect the determining of the Median Line between British Gibraltar and Spanish territorial waters' - are you saying that the Median Line goes over built-up 'Spanish' territory?"
As the UN puts it, where the coasts of two states are opposite or adjacent to each other neither of the two is entitled to extend its territory beyond the median line, every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baseline.
That being the international ruling, it would appear that parts of the Spanish marina and mole encroached into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters - and the UK position was evidently not properly defended.
The Foreign Office was taking its time to answer our follow-up questions, no doubt because we were getting too close for comfort to crucial points. When it came, the terse FCO reply was this: "Our line stands that we have formally protested construction this area and we continue to maintain sovereignty over BGTW, including the area north of the Spanish mole. We will not be drawn into a blow to blow account of diplomatic discussions we have had over this issue."
WHY NOT?
This begs the question: Why not? Why is it that the FCO does not want to be drawn any closer to the burning issue?
If they say that they have protested in the past over construction in the area where the Spanish built a marina and mole, it is obvious that the said protests were ineffective because the Spanish took no notice and went ahead with building within British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. What kind of defence of Gibraltar's sovereignty was this?
If the Foreign Office really thinks that the UK continues to hold sovereignty over the large chunk of waters where part of the Spanish marina and mole have been built, then surely they could send a Royal Navy vessel to the area and install the Union Jack there, demanding that port dues be paid to Gibraltar.
And why has this vitally important matter been swept under the carpet for so long and has only come to light now through what they term a 'fluke'?
If possession is nine-tenths of the law, is there a real risk that this large chunk of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters may have been lost forever?
The Foreign Office has much more to answer.
13-01-14 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR

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Foreign Office Allows Spain to
Undermine International law!

by Leo Olivero
The Foreign Office has seriously let the Rock down by failing to effectively protect Gibraltar’s maritime sovereignty; It’s as easy as that.

Recently released data corroborates this, together with information regarding the blatant hijack of British waters for Spanish development. Which is another disturbing and serious aspect that also confirms the FCO in London is not protecting the UK’s or Gibraltar’s interests. In fact they are doing the exact opposite.

To explain my opening remarks: When a nation talks about “sovereignty”, it means its right to determine what goes on inside its borders. If sovereignty over territory didn’t need defending, countries wouldn’t be in need of armed forces WOULD THEY?

500 Gobsmacking Incursions!

Unfortunately the latter comment is not the case, because whole armies are employed all over the world to robustly defend borders and territorial waters. Except of course here on our own doorstep. Because with only a few miles of territorial sea requiring some determined defending, the docile attitude of the Foreign Office in London, whether they like it or not, is compounding the problem. This is a British diplomatic strategy that has effectively encouraged the Spanish Government through the Guardia Civil to make over 500 gobsmacking incursions in only 12 months!

Countries attach great geographical, economic, and cultural importance to their territory because such an area could provide the bases for extended territorial claims over land, sea, and airspace as the Spanish Government have continuously demonstrated. This is precisely why nations take such an important issue into account when formulating their respective defence and national security strategies.

However, the latest news is incomprehensible, where the Foreign Office has again failed Gibraltar by allowing the Spanish Government to build multi-million pound marina complex in a part of British Sovereign Waters without the FCO making any real noises, something that is beyond belief?

What makes the whole story even more ironic, is that whilst the FCO was casually staring at the new marina complex slowly rising from the ground, a few yards away even deeper into BGTW the Spanish Government were going politically ballistic when the Gibraltar Government decided to build the artificial reef!

And also at no time during the ‘Spanish Reef Hysterics’ did the FCO make a sound or even a veiled threat to Madrid to ‘shut the hell up’ warning them they had knowingly infringed international law by illegally developing in British waters. Something that in anybody’s book must be a serious international issue… Except of course in the Foreign Office Manuals of Diplomacy When Defending the Realm!

Sadly the situation is not all new. Even our own politicians have attempted many times over the years to draw the attention of the FCO of the dangers of allowing the Spaniards to get a foothold (for the sake of a better word) in this manner. This is what

Dr Joseph Garcia said in Parliament 2010 on the same issue during one of his interventions “ Gibraltar has seen incursions by the Spanish navy, the Civil Guard and the Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera. The nature of these incidents has moved from one where the Spanish authorities were content to assert their claim as they moved through Gibraltar waters to one where they openly and recklessly challenge the authority of the Royal Navy and the Royal Gibraltar Police. The issue is not only about sovereignty any more, it has become about maritime safety and security as well”.

It is obvious the people at the FCO do not see it that way, allowing such a dangerous, important and delicate territorial problem to go on without once robustly putting their foot down to at least deter the Spaniards. 500 incursions in a year can hardly be classed as a deterrent, but I suspect the FCO will argue with that.

No one wants a pitch battle out in the bay. But for Christ sake, what is the FCO up to when the Spaniards are building whole development under their noses in BGTW and making many hundreds of incursions a year!

How can statements from the FCO notably the Europe Minister David Lidington be taken seriously or even believed when he comes out with some real pearls like the recent comment when he said “the incursions are intolerable and do not constitute a danger to sovereignty of the waters” - what utter rubbish in my opinion.

Of course 500 incursions are intolerable Mr Europe Minister, they are 500 incursions too many, but what have people like you done about it?

Even the MOD as one would expect, has also fallen into the same deluded FCO

mind-frame on this matter when trying to convince some of the UK main stream press last week, when the UK press claimed a ‘2000% increase in incursions last year’ which the MOD thought was under control and felt they were on top of things, when a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The Royal Navy has assets based in Gibraltar able to challenge unlawful incursions into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters by Spanish state vessels and we remain committed to doing so”.

When asked by Panorama about the Spanish development built in BGTW an FCO spokesman said “We have protested in the past over construction in this area. This does not affect the determining of the Median Line between British Gibraltar and Spanish territorial waters”… An answer from London that made the waters issue even murkier than what they are already!

GBC Fluke Say MOD

Panorama requested from the MOD in Gibraltar a copy or authorisation to take our own photo of the map displayed on the Gibraltar Squadrons vessel tactical navigation system caught on the video footage of the GBC report, headlined as an investigation.

The MOD refused our request saying, “GBC were doing something else and obtained the pictures by fluke.”

I am convinced the concept of “Territorial Sovereignty” and “Jurisdiction” has over the years confused many a mandarin at the FCO. Looking up this subject for myself I discovered that these two concepts have been used interchangeably. However, there is an important distinction between the two concepts. ‘Territorial Sovereignty’ signifies ownership and possession of a territory, which entitles a nation to exercise its authority and jurisdiction over the territory. Whilst on the other-hand ‘Jurisdiction’ justifies competence to affect peoples, properties and events within a territory.

Important Legal Concepts!

However, the most important point in my findings was that “territorial sovereignty” and “jurisdiction” are also two ‘important legal concepts connected to territory’.

As I said previously international law dictates that a country exercises its territorial sovereignty within its boundary. A boundary in this case is an imaginary line that delineates the territorial limit of a nation. However, if these two important international legal concepts {territorial sovereignty and jurisdiction} are not effectively defended it will surely weaken positions!

Serial Diplomatic Threat to Gibraltar’

So if anyone at the FCO thinks that exercising territorial sovereignty, jurisdiction and control is essentially allowing in a period of 12 months 500 incursions by Spanish state vessels, and the sending of hundreds of hopeless radio messages to uninterested listeners and then posting countless useless diplomatic letters before going on to watch construction of a large business concern in BGTW. THEY ARE MISTAKEN!

Because in my opinion, whoever is ultimately taking these decisions at the FCO is without doubt a ‘SERIAL DIPLOMATIC THREAT TO GIBRALTAR’ and as the title of this article suggests clearly allowing or aiding Spain to undermine international law.

This FCO servant may even have to go back to ‘Diplomatic Pre-School in Whitehall’ to effectively learn his trade’!

13-01-14 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR