Marshall Islands, 1995

Please permit me to

offer you, Mr. President, our congratulations on your

election to your high office and to assure you of our

support and cooperation.

To the Secretary-General we wish to express our

highest regards and admiration for his leadership; and to the

President of the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session,

our deep appreciation for his contribution.

This is also a most fitting occasion for me personally

to congratulate our brother and neighbour in the Pacific the

Republic of Palau on becoming a full Member of the

United Nations. My delegation eagerly looks forward to

working closely with that country.

Today, as we celebrate the passing of 50 years since

the creation of the United Nations, we must also reflect on

the events associated with the purpose for which this body

was created. The havoc wreaked upon humanity by the

Second World War prompted the founding fathers to devise

an instrument to ensure a stable world and a better future.

My purpose today is, first, to recognize those areas

in which this body has undertaken some major initiatives

in various sectors that are of great and direct significance

to us in the Marshall Islands. I also will state briefly

some of our concerns with respect to our membership in

the United Nations, and then I intend to raise those issues

whose implications have critical consequences for our

survival in our country. As members will note, some of

these have been raised a number of times in this forum

during the past sessions of this body.

This year, the completion of the United Nations

Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly

Migratory Fish Stocks is of particular importance to my

country, and my Government intends to sign and ratify

the agreement, which was finalized this summer. We are

indebted to the very able leadership of the Chairman,

Ambassador Nandan, from Fiji. The Marshall Islands has

given its full support to the Ambassador in his

candidature to the post of Secretary General of the

International Seabed Authority.

I wish to acknowledge the support we have received

from the Intergovernmental Panel of Experts of the

Climate Change Convention. The scientific evidence we

received from them in order adequately to address the

Convention confirmed our belief in the existence of such

phenomena as sea-level rise in many of our low-lying

islands and in our region.

We are particularly concerned by the strong

possibility that the Alliance of Small Island States

(AOSIS) Protocol, now known as the Berlin Mandate,

might be derailed because of intransigent short-term

economic interests. Such a possibility, arising solely from

the desire to facilitate the selling of more oil, if real,

imperils our very survival. We will not accept such a

condition and we urge that interference and delaying tactics

that hamper the work of AOSIS and other concerned

countries should cease. The increasing level of destruction

caused by hurricanes and storms is a clear signal that the

matter is urgent. We have deep sympathy with our friends

in the Caribbean countries and in the United States who

were recently struck by this devastation.

The follow-up of the Global Conference on the

Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

that was held in Barbados last year will be looked at during

this General Assembly session. The comprehensive and

ambitious programme involved has received the

wholehearted endorsement and support of the Marshall

Islands Government. In this regard, may I extend our warm

thanks to the Chairman of AOSIS, Her Excellency

Ambassador Annette des Iles of Trinidad and Tobago, for

all her efforts.

My Government also looks forward to receiving the

recommendations of the Fourth World Conference on

Women held in Beijing last month. We will work closely

with the United Nations to ensure that the recommendations

articulated in the Conference are appropriately addressed.

Mr. President, we endorse without hesitation the

concern expressed in your statement in September of this

year, in which you stated: “Efforts must be made to ensure

that all States that are not yet Members should seek to be

admitted in the near future” (Official Records of the

General Assembly, Fiftieth Session, Plenary Meetings,

1st meeting, p. 7)

In the light of this view, the reasons underlying the

inability of many of these nations to become Members of

the United Nations should be examined. My delegation

feels that the unfair burden that is borne by many of the

less developed countries with respect to the current system

of assessing the scale of contributions to the regular budget

and for peace-keeping operations deters others from seeking

their rightful place in this community of nations.

The Marshall Islands participated actively in the High-

level Open-ended Working Group on the Financial Situation

of the United Nations, and we concur fully with the

recommendation that the current floor rate should either be

abolished, reduced substantially, or be designed according

to a formula by which a country is assessed on the basis

of its capacity to pay. A decision to that effect by the

General Assembly at this session will undoubtedly help

expedite the realization of the goal that you,

Mr. President, envisioned.

The current inequities with respect to the existing

floor rate have also been noted in a number of reports,

including that of the Committee on Contributions. My

delegation strongly urges the United Nations to take

action on the recommendations made by that Committee

as soon as possible.

The need to undertake certain structural reforms

within the United Nations in order to make it more

efficient and responsive to the changing needs of present-

day society is critical. One such area which should be

closely looked at is the Security Council, where the

concept of permanent membership does not, in our view,

constitute fair democratic representation. We are,

however, aware of the differences in capabilities which

exist among nations. We are aware, too, of the need for

this issue to be carefully weighed and believe that

possible solutions, including Italy’s proposal for a more

formal set of subgroups or constituencies, should be

seriously studied. This would be particularly helpful

within our own regional group. We are hopeful that the

High-level Working Group on the Security Council will

act with wise expediency to devise viable and acceptable

solutions to this important issue.

We are also carefully studying the various reports

and proposals developed by different groups on the work

of other agencies of the United Nations. One aspect which

we consider to be of great importance is the need to

determine whether the existence of some of the agencies

realistically justifies the resources provided for their

support. We must arrive at a frank assessment of whether

the tasks entrusted to an agency are actually carried out

in a meaningful way, and what that work produces in

terms of results. As long as this issue remains

inadequately addressed, the climate of resentment and

suspicion will persist and may give rise to adverse effects

on the level of contributions needed to support the work

of the United Nations. We must make urgent progress to

complete this task of reform.

The Convention on Biological Diversity and its

fundamental tenet regarding the conservation and

sustainable use of our resources is under serious threat

from human activities. Evidence derived from data

gathered in our country suggests in no uncertain terms

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that nuclear contaminants resulting directly from nuclear-

weapons tests conducted in our country have entered our

basic food chain, upon which our very livelihood depends

causing, among other things, extensive health risks.

We must also pause and reflect on the plight of those

groups of victims who, while the rest of the world was

enjoying the benefits and freedom of the post-war period,

were themselves caught between the crossfire of super-

Power rivalries. One such unfortunate group was the people

of the Marshall Islands.

We are steadily unravelling the large amount of

information now available to us on the nature and

consequences of nuclear testing activities carried out in the

Marshall Islands. We are deeply disturbed and alarmed at

what we are uncovering. For in addition to the unfortunate

nuclear tests, we unearthed something just as horrifying as

the nuclear tests themselves, if not more so. It grieves me

immeasurably to report today that in one of the Trusteeship

documents we discovered it was confirmed that in a

meeting held in New York on 10 May 1954, the Secretary-

General of the United Nations agreed at the urging of the

then United States Ambassador, Mr. Lodge, to withhold

from circulation to Member States a petition from the

Marshall Islands. The Marshallese petition, which pleaded

with the United Nations to put an immediate halt to the

tests was to be withheld by the Secretary-General pending

the completion of the test series. In this petition, the people

of the Marshall Islands, through their leaders, had expressed

their genuine fears and concerns to the only world

institution they believed could help them. In return,

however, the high executives in this institution not only

failed to consider this a matter of any significant

importance, but actually engaged in an act most unbefitting

the integrity of this august body.

The ethical implications of this act, unimaginable as

they may be, are obvious. Nevertheless, I am raising the

issue, and I can assure the Assembly that we shall continue

to do so in various United Nations and other international

forums. We shall do so until the international community

takes action to address our concerns and until this

Organization acknowledges the support lent by high

officials to nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands.

We want to bring to the attention of the international

community the reality and the magnitude of the effect of

these tests on our health, our environment and our future

development as a nation. We also want it to become aware

of our daily struggle to cope with a situation whose

radiation-induced nature continues to haunt us, whose

complexity in terms of solutions is far beyond our

capacity to handle and whose conception was solely for

the purpose of countering hostilities and tensions that bore

no relationship whatsoever to the Marshall Islands.

And so I ask Member States, when they hear us

speaking out about the perils of radiation, to think about

these in terms of human suffering and to try to visualize

Marshallese children being born faceless, with no bones,

or with missing or extra limbs — the jellyfish babies, as

some have come to call them — and the irreparable

damage wreaked upon the reproductive health of their

mothers.

It would be remiss of me, however, not to

acknowledge some of the efforts made by the former

Trustee in addressing our health and environmental

problems caused by radioactive contaminants. We also

feel that the international community has an obligation to

take serious note of our concerns, as well as to undertake

a leading and active role in ensuring that an acceptable

process, designed to restore the Marshall Islands to

habitable conditions, is effectively and expeditiously set

in motion. We were, after all, entrusted by the United

Nations itself, and so this body had the moral obligation

and the irrefutable responsibility at the time of testing to

oversee these activities and to make our safety its primary

concern. The same moral obligation, in our view, remains

binding even today.

Perhaps one of the most gratifying things

occurring — which, I might add, is giving us a ray of

hope — is that there is now a growing consciousness of

the fact that nothing short of a collective effort is needed

in order to focus on this issue. That some nations are

beginning, although slowly, to understand and sympathize

with our plight is most encouraging. This consciousness

is clearly reflected in their willingness to incorporate our

concerns into pertinent and relevant international texts. I

should like to cite some examples.

The Review and Extension Conference of the States

Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear

Weapons, for example, took special note of the

international community’s responsibility to assist the

inhabitants and restore the environment of the former

United Nations Trust Territories that were adversely

affected by nuclear-weapons-testing programmes.

The Fourth World Conference on Women, held this

year in Beijing, recognized that the concept and practice

of environmental degradation are incongruent with

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development and that the use and testing of nuclear

weapons are undeniably one factor in the destruction of the

environment, the displacement of people and the creation of

high health risks.

The South Pacific Forum, held last month in Papua

New Guinea, called upon all Governments and international

organizations with expertise in the field of clean-up and the

disposal of radioactive contaminants to give appropriate

assistance for remedial purposes when so requested by

affected countries. The Forum also noted the existence of

a special responsibility towards those peoples of the former

United Nations Trust Territory administered by the United

States that had been adversely affected by nuclear-weapon

tests conducted during the period of the Trusteeship. This

responsibility includes the safe resettlement of displaced

human populations and the restoration to economic

productivity of affected areas, the provision of adequate

health care and compensation for the loss of life, land and

health.

During the post-Forum dialogue in Papua New Guinea

our former Trustee — the United States — took the

position that it would not stand in the way of the Marshall

Islands’ exploring the question of or soliciting assistance

from other countries or organizations for the purposes of

the disposal of radioactive contaminants, the resettlement of

affected populations and the economic restoration of the

environment. Our sincere hope, however, is that the United

States will not take its advocating of such a position as an

opportunity to bow out of its obligations. It is our hope that

it will, instead, redouble its efforts and, with the assistance

of other nations and international bodies, lend its full

support for the goal of making our country free of

radioactive contaminants.

I should also like to take this opportunity to thank the

current Administration for its willingness to acknowledge

the United States Government’s role in using human beings

for radiation experiments, including at least two confirmed

instances of medical research, which did not provide any

direct benefit to Marshallese subjects.

The unearthing of these horrendous activities is an act

of political courage on President Clinton’s part. For the

Marshall Islands, the White House Advisory Committee on

Human Radiation Experiments uncovered vital information

about the effect of radiation on people and the environment.

The Marshall Islands appreciates the United States

Government’s recognition that the now infamous Bravo

blast was not the only weapon that exposed the Marshallese

people and environment to radiation. It is worth bearing in

mind that, while Bravo was the equivalent of 1,000

Hiroshima bombs, the total megaton equivalent of

weapons tested in the Marshall Islands exceeded 7,000

Hiroshima bombs.

It is an important step in our countries’ bilateral

relations that we can now begin to broaden our discussion

of exposure. Exposure will never again be defined in

terms of fallout from Bravo alone, but will now

incorporate the cumulative effects of all the tests and the

effects of residual contamination in the environment. The

Marshall Islands looks forward to continuing to work with

the United States Congress and the Clinton

Administration to ensure that the recommendations of the

Advisory Committee are fully implemented — including

the recommendation concerning whether it would be

appropriate to add the populations of other atolls to the

south and east of the blasts that have shown excessive

thyroid abnormalities. We hope that the international

community will give these efforts its full support.

As if our own four decades of painful experience

with the dreadful business of nuclear testing were not

enough, there appeared once again this year in our

beautiful Pacific the trauma of yet a further series of

nuclear tests, intended to continue until May next year. I

refer of course to the French resumption this year of

nuclear testing at Mururoa. It is probably because we are

far removed from metropolitan centres that there is a

tendency for certain people to look at the Pacific as the

“ideal desert” for nuclear testing, as one French official

recently put it. Often overlooked too is the fact that all

island nations spread out across the length and breadth of

the Pacific are connected by this mighty ocean. Nuclear

damage to one island nation poses immense long-term

implications and dangers to others in the region.

As people who are living the nightmarish experience

of nuclear testing, we cannot and will not accept the weak

argument that the current tests are safe for any of our

Pacific neighbours and friends. Nor can we accept the

continuation of this irresponsible practice in the region.

We have denounced its resumption from the beginning

and will continue to do so.

We joined in support of New Zealand’s case against

France in the International Court of Justice. We took this

action with great regret since France has always been a

constructive partner in our relationship with the developed

world. It is simply incomprehensible to us that this great

nation of culture, science and fine arts could visit this

abomination upon us in the Pacific region. We protested

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to the French authorities, but the first tests went ahead

anyway. Although the International Court of Justice

declined to hear the case, the decision was entirely based

on technicalities. France should not think that this is a

victory for it, as many of the judges pointed out that there

was a strong moral and legal background for halting the

tests. I strongly disagree with the claim made by the French

Foreign Minister here a few weeks ago — that the tests

were environmentally safe. Look at the situation I have just

described in the Marshall Islands. We have also received

documentation from a number of eminent scientists which

would, at the very least, warrant exercising caution.

Furthermore, France is a State party to the Noumea

Convention for the Protection and Development of Natural

Resources and Environment of the South Pacific Region as

well as the Convention on Biological Diversity. The

principle of environmental-impact assessment and the

precautionary approach are not compatible with the

activities that it is carrying out today. The offer to carry out

an impact assessment after the tests are finished is a

ridiculous offer, since by then it might be much too late.

The tests are violating treaties and they are violating our

environment, and I also think that they are a violation of

our human rights. The tests must stop. They must stop now.

The collective voice of the leaders of the countries of

the South Pacific Forum was heard when a statement was

issued during its meeting in Papua New Guinea expressing

extreme outrage at the resumption of French nuclear testing

in the Pacific. They demanded that France desist from any

further tests. The outrage was especially compounded by

the intransigence of France, and the People’s Republic of

China, in persisting with their nuclear tests in the face of

the strong views of the Pacific region. My Government

stands by the decision announced last week by the

Chairman of the Forum, Sir Julius Chan, that France is no

longer invited to the post-Forum dialogue.

We are in full support of the extension of the Non-

Proliferation Treaty. We will also work actively to achieve

a breakthrough in the negotiations for a comprehensive test-

ban treaty. We also acknowledge the support of just, fair-

minded and world-conscious leaders and peoples, who have

condemned and continue to condemn this anachronistic

series of tests in the Pacific. We join our voice to theirs in

support.

This session provides the community of nations with

a unique opportunity to examine our past performance

record. As a world-governing institution, the United Nations

must look closely at its strengths and build upon them.

Likewise, it must pay particular attention to its

shortcomings and weaknesses so that it can continue to

provide much-needed hope, strength and direction to the

nations of the world.