On Friday, October 10, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Embassy in Washington, D.C. briefed Congress about the RMI Government’s Changed Circumstances Petition. The Petition requests additional assistance from the U.S. Government for damages and injuries caused by the United States’ Nuclear Testing Program on the Marshall Islands.
Dr. Holly Barker of the RMI Embassy hopes for a Congressional hearing on the Changed Circumstances Petition in February, 2004. Barker says that a negative response from Congress could result in the Marshallese taking their case to a U.S. court.
From June 30, 1946 to August 18, 1958 the United States conducted 67 atmospheric nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands – 23 at Bikini Atoll, 43 at Enewetak Atoll, and one 85 miles from Enewetak. On March 1, 1954 the U.S. detonated on Bikini the largest test, Bravo, a 15 megaton device equivalent to 1,000 Hiroshima bombs. [1]
The Bikini and Enewetak people were evacuated prior to the nuclear testing, however, both islands were resettled prematurely at the conclusion of the testing. The Bikini people became very sick from the radiation and often relocated to other islands. The Enewetak people resettled after a “clean-up” by the U.S. that was not subsequently monitored.
Utirik and Rongelap islands, located downwind from Bikini and Enewetak, were evacuated after the Bravo weapon detonated. According to Dr. Barker, the RMI Government claims these islanders were purposely not relocated before the Bravo detonation so the U.S. could test the weapon’s effects.
Currently only the “four atolls” – Bikini, Enewetak, Utirik, and Rongelap – receive medical and environmental monitoring programs funded by the U.S.
These programs are part of the Compact of Free Association between the Marshall Islands and the U.S. The 177 Agreement of the Compact (implemented in 1983) states, “the U.S. recognized the contributions and sacrifices made by the people of the Marshall Islands regarding the Nuclear Testing Program, and accepted the responsibility for compensation owing to citizens of the Marshall Islands for loss or damage to property and person resulting from that testing.” [2]
The 177 Agreement provides a $150 million settlement for the affected “four atolls,” and for the establishment of a Nuclear Claims Tribunal to oversee personal injury and land claims.
But perhaps the most important element of the 177 Agreement is Article IX, the “Changed Circumstances” clause. [3] It grants the RMI the right to petition Congress for funds exceeding the original settlement if loss or damage to people or property is discovered after the 1983 Agreement.
Invoking this right to request aid, the RMI Government submitted the “Changed Circumstances Petition” to Congress in September 2000. Dr. Barker says the two basic elements of the Petition are “money to beef up the healthcare system, and money for the Nuclear Claims Tribunal to reward personal injury and land claims.” “The Marshall Islands,” she continues, “has no basic healthcare system, no medical infrastructure. There is not even an oncologist. They need adequate funding to operate a medical program and the Nuclear Claims Tribunal. The Tribunal doesn’t have any money to pay out the claims it has awarded.”
Dr. Barker also points out that the people and land of Ailuk, Likiep, and other atolls (in addition to the “four atolls”) were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation from the weapons testing. The U.S. Government has not acknowledged that these areas of the RMI were affected.
The Nuclear Claims Tribunal has outlined two other “changed circumstances.” First, medical and scientific understanding of the biological effects of radiation has increased tremendously since the 1983 Agreement. Second, a report by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission written in January, 1955 surfaced in 1995 and detailed radiation fallout measures for 27 Marshall Island Atolls. The Nuclear Claims Tribunal says, “The exposure levels sustained by people living on nearly every atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1954 exceeded U.S. and international maximum permissible levels.” [4]
Dr. Barker hopes that with continued RMI Embassy support, the Changed Circumstances Petition will soon get the Congressional attention it deserves.
Postscript : The Marshall Islands and the United States are currently renegotiating economic aspects of the Compact of Free Association, which has put the Changed Circumstances Petition on the Congressional back-burner. On October 28 the House of Representatives passed the amendments to the Compact, paving the way for Senatorial action. When the Compact renegotiations are complete, Congress will address the Changed Circumstances Petition. [5]
Thanks to Dr. Holly Barker at the RMI Embassy.
Kate O’Mara is a Regional Editor for Oceania at Cultural Survival.
1. RMI Nuclear Claims Tribunal. 28 Oct. 2003. www.nuclearclaimstribunal.com
2. Ibid.
3. “Changed Circumstances” clause: “If loss or damage to property and person of the citizens of the Marshall Islands, resulting from the Nuclear Testing Program, arises or is discovered after the effective date of this Agreement, and such injuries were not and could not reasonably have been identified as of the effective date of this Agreement, and if such injuries render the provisions of this Agreement manifestly inadequate, the Government of the Marshall Islands may request that the Government of the United States provide for such injuries by submitting such a request to the Congress of the United States for its consideration. It is understood that this Article does not commit the Congress of the United States to authorize and appropriate funds.”
4. RMI Nuclear Claims Tribunal. 28 Oct. 2003. www.nuclearclaimstribunal.com
5. Embassy of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. “Republic of the Marshall Islands Embassy: Compact Passes U.S. House of Representatives.” 29 Oct. 2003. 30 Oct. 2003. www.yokwe.net
