Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal

Last updated

Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal is an international arbitral tribunal established pursuant to the Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the Government of the Marshall Islands for the Implementation of Section 177 of the Compact of Free Association (also known as 177 Agreement). The Claims Tribunal has the "jurisdiction to render final determination upon all claims past, present and future, of the Government, citizens and nationals of the Marshall Islands which are based on, arise out of, or are in any way related to the [American] Nuclear Testing Program." [1]

Contents

It was established in 1988. [note 1] It has effectively ceased functioning around 2011, having run out of funds a few years earlier, with the United States government, which originally funded it, declining to provide it with additional resources. [4] [5]

Background

The Wilson cloud from test Baker, situated just offshore from Bikini Island at top of the picture. Crossroads baker explosion.jpg
The Wilson cloud from test Baker, situated just offshore from Bikini Island at top of the picture.

From June 30, 1946, to August 18, 1958, the United States detonated sixty-seven nuclear bombs with a total yield of 109 megatons of TNT (460  PJ ) on the Bikini and Enewet atolls of the Marshall Islands, resulting in significant damage to the atolls and nearby areas. From 1981, several cases were brought by Marshall Island inhabitants in front of the United States Court of Claims. Following the signing of the Compact of Free Association between the US and MI governments, the Republic of the Marshall Island (RMI) agreed to "espouse and dismiss" the private damages claims of its citizens that were in front of the US Court of Claims in exchange for the US government establishment of $150 million trust fund for settlement of all claims which was to be used to compensate the affected Marshallese citizens over time. In addition, the agreement indemnified the parties and the government shall use the fund such that "The amount of such indemnification shall not, in the aggregate, exceed $150 million". [2]

Composition

The Tribunal consisted of three members, a chairman and two other members, all appointed by the RMI government. The Tribunal had several officers, including a public advocate, a defender of the fund, a financial officer, and a clerk, nominated by the chairman and appointed by the Tribunal. [2]

Activities

Aerial view of the Runit Dome in the Enewetak Atoll. The dome is placed in the crater created by the "Cactus" nuclear weapons test in 1958. Runit Dome 001.jpg
Aerial view of the Runit Dome in the Enewetak Atoll. The dome is placed in the crater created by the "Cactus" nuclear weapons test in 1958.

History

To process those claims, an independent Nuclear Claims Tribunal was established in the Marshalls Islands following the passage of the Nuclear Claims Tribunal Act in 1987 by the Marshall Islands legislature; the tribunal became active in 1988, with the appointment of its first chairman, Bruce Piggott of Australia. [2] The first years of the tribunal were "marked by controversy, tension and periodic inactivity as members of the Nitijela quarreled with the first Members of the Tribunal about how the Tribunal should conduct its business". [2]

Major cases the tribunal heard include five class-action claims: the Enewetak Class Action (1990–2000, over $300 million awarded); Utirik and Rongelap (both started in 1991, awarded over $300 million in 2006 and over $1 billion 2006 respectively); [6] [7] and Bikini (1993–2001, over $563 million awarded). [2] The fifth class-action claim filed on behalf of the Ailuk Atoll was opened in the mid-2000s as well. [7] The tribunal also awarded personal injury awards of over $90m as of 2006. [8]

The $150 million fund was designed to generate interest to allow for payouts exceeding its initial value. [2] It was, however, subject to normal market economics, and its growth was not steady; it incurred a significant loss in the Black Monday stock market crash of 1987–1988, for example. [4] The fund was able to generate and distribute at least $270 million worth of compensation. [9]

Nonetheless, in 1997 the tribunal noted that the funds received from US in the 1980s were inadequate, [10] and by 2000 the RMI Government concurred that the trust fund had become "manifestly inadequate" to provide the compensation the Section 177 of the Compact of Free Association promised. On September 11, 2000, it filed a petition with the US Congress seeking further compensation from the United States under the "Changed Circumstances" provision of the Section 177. [2] By that time, the US had already approved compensation claims of more than $562 million under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act by persons injured as a result of nuclear tests in Nevada that the Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP report of 2003 noted "were much smaller in number and magnitude than the tests conducted in the Marshall Islands". [2] The 2000 RMI request to the US Congress was rejected with the statement that the submission was not the ‘changed circumstances” contemplated by the agreement. Some have described this as "ignored", [4] and the tribunal has exhausted its funds, unable to pay remaining claimants by 2009, at which time it had awarded more than $2 billion for personal injury, property loss, and class-action claims, with much of that amount not paid to the claimants because of the lack of funds. [4] [11] [12] The United States Court of Federal Claims has rejected a claim from some Marshall Islands inhabitants, noting that the respective governments had already reached an agreement over claims, though also noting that the claimants can seek additional compensation from the US Congress. [4] Facing the reduction of its available funds, the Tribunal has been forced to limit its payments; noting that "For the first nine months of 2006, an initial payment was made in the amount of 15% of each new or amended award. Effective October 1, 2006, the initial payment level was reduced to 5% of the amount of the compensation awarded." [8] By the mid-2010s, about half of the valid claimants had died waiting for their compensation. [11]

The issue was discussed by the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific regarding the commitments of the United States to address the impacts of U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. Speakers noted that while section 177 of the Compact of Free Association recognized the United States' responsibility "to address past, present and future consequences of the nuclear testing claims", they described less than $4 million was awarded [the actual number was higher] and the other $2.2 billion judgments rendered by a Nuclear Claims Tribunal created under the RMI Compact were not supported. The United States Court of Claims had dismissed two lawsuits to enforce the judgement. [13] With respect to these unaddressed claims, medical practitioners also noted the potential widespread impacts of nuclear testing within the Pacific Proving Grounds, indicated by the prevalence of radiogenic diseases as well as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity associated with "[a] forced changed in dietary patterns and lifestyle" resulting from U.S. administration after the testing. [14] [15]

Present day

The tribunal effectively ceased functioning around 2011 with a 2012 media report noting that "there have been no judges employed by the Tribunal for more than a year, and although the Tribunal remains open, it is now staffed only on a part-time basis". [5] The official webpage of the NCT went offline in mid-2014. [16] A 2015 news report noted that the office of the Tribunal was still semi-functional around that time, "the rent being paid by the Marshallese government in order to keep it open as a record of unpaid claims. Stacks of uncompensated claims could be seen in boxes piled high around the office." [4]

The only avenue for further action according to the agreement, is to make requests of the U.S. Congress for further funds. It is now a political question based on the moral question of responsibility.

Notes

  1. ↑ The creation date varies in some sources. The NCT was first described by the Compact of Free Association that was signed by negotiators in 1982, approved by MI plebiscite in 1983 and signed into law in US in 1986. The NCT was finally established by RMI legislation in 1987 and became operational in 1988. [2] Its own webpage stated that "Nuclear Claims Tribunal was established in 1988". [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Islands</span> Country near the equator in the Pacific Ocean

The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 coral atolls and five islands, divided across two island chains: Ratak in the east and Ralik in the west. 97.87% of its territory is water, the largest proportion of water to land of any sovereign state. The country shares maritime boundaries with Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the southeast, Nauru to the south, and the Federated States of Micronesia to the west. The capital and largest city is Majuro, home to approximately half of the country's population.

The demographics of the Marshall Islands include data such as population density, ethnicity, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwajalein Atoll</span> Atoll in the Marshall Islands

Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents often use the shortened name, Kwaj. The total land area of the atoll amounts to just over 6 square miles (16 km2). It lies in the Ralik Chain, 2,100 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bikini Atoll</span> Coral atoll in the Marshall Islands

Bikini Atoll, known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 1800s and 1946, is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a 229.4-square-mile (594.1 km2) central lagoon. The Atoll is at the northern end of the Ralik Chain, approximately 530 miles (850 km) northwest of the capital Majuro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enewetak Atoll</span> Coral atoll in the Marshall Islands; site of U.S. nuclear testing during the Cold War

Enewetak Atoll is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 296 people forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. With a land area total less than 5.85 square kilometers (2.26 sq mi), it is no higher than 5 meters (16.4 ft) and surrounds a deep central lagoon, 80 kilometers (50 mi) in circumference. It is the second-westernmost atoll of the Ralik Chain and is 305 kilometers (190 mi) west from Bikini Atoll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebeye Island</span>

Ebeye is the most populous island of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, as well as the center for Marshallese culture in the Ralik Chain of the archipelago. Settled on 80 acres of land, it has a population of more than 15,000. Over 50% of the population is estimated to be under the age of 18.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compact of Free Association</span> US-Micronesia-Marshall Islands-Palau agreements

The Compacts of Free Association (COFA) are international agreements establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau. As a result, these countries are sometimes known as the Freely Associated States (FAS's). All three agreements next expire in 2043.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rongelap Atoll</span> Coral atoll in the Marshall Islands

Rongelap AtollRONG-gə-lap is an uninhabited coral atoll of 61 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is 8 square miles (21 km2). It encloses a lagoon with an area of 1,000 square miles (2,600 km2). It is historically notable for its close proximity to US hydrogen bomb tests in 1954, and was particularly devastated by fallout from the Castle Bravo test. The population asked the US to move them from Rongelap following the test due to high radiation levels with no success so they asked global environmental group Greenpeace to help. The Rainbow Warrior made four trips moving the islanders, their possessions and their homes to the island of Mejato in the Kwajalein Atoll, 180 kilometers away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rongerik Atoll</span>

Rongerik Atoll or Rongdrik Atoll is an unpopulated coral atoll of 17 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and is located in the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands, approximately 200 kilometers (120 mi) east of Bikini Atoll. Its total land area is only 1.68 square kilometers (0.65 sq mi), but it encloses a lagoon of 144 square kilometers (56 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kili Island</span>

Kili Island or Kili Atoll is a small, 81 hectares island located in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, 415 people lived on the island, many of whom were descended from islanders who originally lived on Bikini Atoll. They were relocated when they agreed to let the U.S. government temporarily use their home for nuclear testing in 1945. Kili Island became their home after two prior relocations failed. The island does not have a natural lagoon and cannot produce enough food to enable the islanders to be self-sufficient. It is part of the legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. The island is approximately 48 kilometers (30 mi) southwest of Jaluit. It is one of the smallest islands in the Marshall Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Proving Grounds</span> Name of several sites in the Marshall Islands used for American nuclear testing from 1946-62

The Pacific Proving Grounds was the name given by the United States government to a number of sites in the Marshall Islands and a few other sites in the Pacific Ocean at which it conducted nuclear testing between 1946 and 1962. The U.S. tested a nuclear weapon on Bikini Atoll on June 30, 1946. This was followed by Baker on July 24, 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Bikini Atoll</span> Flag of a member of the Marshall Islands

The flag of Bikini Atoll, a member of the Marshall Islands, closely resembles the flag of the United States and was adopted in 1987. The flag is symbolic of the islanders' position that a great debt is still owed by the U.S. government to the people of Bikini because in 1954 the United States detonated the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb on the island, poisoning islanders and others with nuclear fallout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Islands–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

Marshall Islands–United States relations are bilateral relations between Marshall Islands and the United States.

James Matayoshi is the mayor of Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. He was appointed as Rongelap's mayor in 1995 and has served as chairman of the Marshall Islands Ports Authority since 2008. As the mayor of Rongelap, Matayoshi was noted for his activism on calling for the United States government to render assistance to Marshall Islanders suffering from radiation sickness as a result of a series of nuclear tests carried out under Operation Castle in the 1950s.

Anjua Loeak was one of the Iroijlaplap of Ailinglaplap, and one of four paramount chiefs in the Ralik Chain. Loeak shared his domain with the Iroijlaplap of Kwajalein, formerly Imata Kabua.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll</span> US nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands

Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll consisted of the detonation of 24 nuclear weapons by the United States between 1946 and 1958 on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Tests occurred at 7 test sites on the reef itself, on the sea, in the air, and underwater. The test weapons produced a combined yield of 42.2 Mt of TNT in explosive power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India–Marshall Islands relations</span> Bilateral relations

India–Marshall Islands relations are the bilateral relations between India and the Marshall Islands. The respective embassies of the two countries in Tokyo, Japan are concurrently accredited to each other. Marshall Islands maintains an Honorary Consulate in New Delhi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tina Stege</span> Marshall Islands climate envoy

Tina Stege is the Climate Envoy for the Marshall Islands (RMI). The RMI is one of the countries in the world most vulnerable to climate change, mainly as a result of rising sea levels. Among other meetings, Stege has represented her country at the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) held in Madrid, Spain, the 2021 Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow, Scotland and the 2022 Conference (COP27) held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. She has also been a spokesperson for the RMI on the impacts of nuclear testing.

There is a population of Marshallese people in Northwest Arkansas, concentrated in Springdale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Base Marshall Islands</span> Major World War II Naval Bases in Marshall Islands

Naval Base Marshall Islands were United States Navy advance bases built on the Marshall Islands during World War II to support the Pacific War efforts. The bases were built by US Navy after the Marshall Islands campaign that captured the islands from the Empire of Japan. By February 1944 the United States Armed Forces had captured the islands. Most of the airfields and other facilities Japan had built were destroyed in allied bombing raids and naval bombardment. US Navy Seabee Construction Battalions arrived as soon as the area was secured and remove the debris. The Seabees quickly repaired, built and improved the airfield/runways and seaport. Seabees often worked around the clock to get airfields operational so that fighter aircraft and bombers could start operating. The bases were used for staging upcoming campaigns and for repair.

References

  1. ↑ "Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal". American Society of International Law. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP (January 2003). "The Nuclear Claims Tribunal Of The Republic Of The Marshall Islands: An Independent Examination And Assessment Of Its Decision-Making Processes" (PDF). Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  3. ↑ "History and Activities (accessed through the Wayback Machine)". May 17, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Bikinians evacuated 'for good of mankind' endure lengthy nuclear fallout" . Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Gabriel, Christopher San. "Bikinians' request for $5M trust fund withdrawal hits US opposition". www.mvariety.com. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Full text of Utrik Decision and Full text of Rongelap Decision (accessed through the Wayback Machine)". May 17, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. 1 2 Elli Louka (January 1, 2011). Nuclear Weapons, Justice and the Law. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 162–. ISBN   978-0-85793-109-2.
  8. 1 2 "Personal Injury Awards (accessed through the Wayback Machine)". May 17, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ↑ Carl Bruch; Carroll Muffett; Sandra S. Nichols (April 7, 2016). Governance, Natural Resources and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding. Taylor & Francis. pp. 405–. ISBN   978-1-136-27206-6.
  10. ↑ Europa Publications (September 2, 2003). A Political Chronology of South East Asia and Oceania. Routledge. p. 110. ISBN   978-1-135-35659-0.
  11. 1 2 Jorgensen, Timothy J. "Bikini islanders still deal with fallout of US nuclear tests, 70 years later". The Conversation. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Marshall Islands nuclear fund running out of cash". www.radioaustralia.net.au. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  13. ↑ Oversight on the Compact of Free Association with the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI): Medical Treatment of the Marshallese People, U.S. Nuclear Tests, Nuclear Claims Tribunal, Forced Resettlement, Use of Kwajalein Atoll for Missile Programs and Land Use Development Archived April 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ Id. (testimony of Neal H. Palafox, M.D.); see also Yamada, Seiji (2004). "Cancer, Reproductive Adnormalities, and Diabetes in Micronesia: The Effect of Nuclear Testing" (PDF). Pacific Health Dialog. 11 (2): 216–21. PMID   16281703. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  15. ↑ Yamada, Seiji; Akiyama, Matthew (January 27, 2013). ""For the good of mankind": The legacy of nuclear testing in Micronesia". Social Medicine. 8 (2): 83–92. ISSN   1557-7112.
  16. ↑ nuclearclaimstribunal.com (the official page of the NCT went offline in mid-2014; this is the latest copy available from Internet Archive)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.