Key facts
- A UN report calls for the US to provide healthcare and release secret archives regarding its nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands.
- The US conducted 67 nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958.
- The human cost of the tests has been severe and lasting, with ongoing impacts including elevated cancer levels and social stigmas.
- The US has previously stated it settled all claims and provided over $600 million to affected communities.
- The report urges the US to provide remedy in the form of healthcare and declassify all information pertaining to the nuclear legacy.
A United Nations report presented to the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday stated that the United States needs to take additional steps to remedy the nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands. The report, authored by the UN human rights office, called for the US to provide healthcare and release secret archives related to the nuclear weapons tests conducted in the central Pacific Ocean between 1946 and 1958.
The US conducted 67 nuclear weapons tests during this period, including the "Castle Bravo" test at Bikini Atoll in 1954. The report highlighted the "severe and lasting" human cost of these tests, noting that claims have not yet been justly settled. Examples of ongoing impacts cited include elevated cancer levels, displacement from contaminated areas, and social stigmas against exposed individuals, who are referred to as "poison people".
The US mission in Geneva and the US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Previously, the US, which administered the Pacific islands after World War Two, stated that it had fully settled all claims and provided over $600 million to the affected communities. Awa Dabo, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the council, "The damage needs to be repaired."
Marshallese residents, such as Alson Kelen who was displaced from Bikini and lost both parents to cancer, addressed the council, seeking a meaningful resolution. The Marshall Islands' representative, Senator David Anitok, stated, "The continued denial of an effective remedy has forced us to come before this Council to ask for help." The US disengaged from the UN Human Rights Council last year, citing an anti-Israel bias, and its seat was empty during the presentation.