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VERBATIM RECORD OF THE FOURTEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SIXTH MEETING Held at Headquarters, New York, on Tuesday, 22 May 1979, at 10.30 a.m. Examination of the annual report of the W’ inistering Authority for the year ended 30 September 1978: Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (continued) Examination of petitions listed in the annex to the a~enda Organization of work This record is subject to correction. Corrections should be submitted in one of the working lanpuages, preferably in the same langua~e as the text to which they refer. They should be set forth in a memorandum and also, if possible, incorporated in a copy of the record. They should be sent within one week of the date of this doc~ent to the Thief, Official Records Editing Section, Department of conference Services, room A-3550. Any corrections to the records of the meetings of this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of
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Mr. ALCALAY: I am honoured to be able to appear todny before the United Nations Trusteeship Council in order to convey some thoughts and sentiments concernin~ hman rights from the people of Utirik Atoll in the Marshall Islands. I am a former Peace Corps volunteer who spent two years (1975-19?7) mrking as a co-operative Ad~= and elementary school teacher on Utirik Atoll, and at present I am a graduate student in anthropology at Rutgers University doing research concerning the radiological effects on Marshallese society and culture. I am here today to discuss the violation of the hman rights of the Marshall Islanders who were exposed to radio-active fallout during the United States’atomic testing programme in the Pacific. It seems quite paradoxical to consider their situation, which has resulted in a number of radiation-related diseases in the exposed Marshallese populations when contrasted with the protections of article 6 of the Trusteeship Agreement, which requires the United States to: “Promote the social advancement of the inhabitants, and to this end ... protect the rights and fundamental freedoms of all elements of the population without discrimination; protect the health of the inhabitants ...” In order for the international community effectively to respond to this problem, there is need for an international survey to be conducted in the I am also here to reiterate a request made by Representative Ataji Bales, a member of the Congress of Micronesia from the Marshall Islands. On 26 Janumy 1972, during the second regular session of the Fourth Congress of Micronesia, in Palau District, Congressman Bales requested that the Vorld Health Organization be called upon to conduct a survey of the irradiated Marshall Islanders. To my knowledge, no such survey has yet been conducted, and it would be appropriate for the Trusteeship Council to initiate such a survey under the auspices of the World Health Organization, with the possible collaboration of Japanese doctors and scientists from Hiroshima University School of Medicine and the National Institute of Radiological Sciences of
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As you know, Utirik Atoll was one of the inhabited atolls which received radio-activefall-outfrom the 1 March 1954 detonation of “Bravo”, the second hydrogen test, at Bikini Island. Following the incident, the inhabitants of RonCelap and Utirik were evacuated from their home islands and were . taken to Kwajalein Atoll, a United States missile t~stin~ site. There the irradiated Marshallese experienced the primary symptoms of radiation sickness: itchinc and burning of the skin, eyes and mouth; nausea, vomitin~ and diarrhoea. After two weeks, the IIarshallesemanifested the secondary effects of radiation sickness: the appearance of “beta” skin burns, epilation - the hair of the head falling out; and decreased blood cell counts. After the third month on Kwajalein, the people from Utirik were returned to their home atoll, and a team of scientists from Ihookhaven I!ational Laboratory initiated a medicdyrogramme to monitor the effects of the radiation in the exposed Marshallese population.
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In 1963, nine years after the fall-out,the first long-tern effect from itself in the form of a tumour in the thyroid gland been exposed to fall-out. In the years followinp, several more thyroid tumours app~ared and at pr~sent the proflnosis,in the words Of ?)1”. Pobert A Conard: vho formerly supervised the E!xoo!:havensurveys, seers rather uncertain.: ‘;~ecently,about 50 per cent of the exposed Ronuelap people showed biochemical hypothyroidism without clinical evidence of thyroid disease, Iil1~6~ the Atonic Energy Commission declared Bikini Island safe for since their forced mi~ration in 1?46, vere alloved to resettle on their home island of Bikini. Then, in 1978 the people of Bikini vere once a~ain forced to evzcuete their home atoll when it was discovereflth~.trafl.iationlevels exceed.e!the Preliminary allowable levels considered safe for humans. In retrospect~ it nov appears that the ‘Imusicalchairs” life-style of the Bikini Islanders is the result of ~olicies which have been fori,’.ulatedfrom !-i-hliqh,ts the nee?. for an alternative point of view. Such an alternative >oint of viev will be provided if the Trusteeship Council acts in reauestin~ an ind.enende:ltradiological survey to be underta]:enby the Vorld Health ?T.ileI was a Peace Corps volunteer on Utirik $.toll,the villa~e Council tre<n.tmcntof t,roublps Stpming from their irradiation. One such request was in form.of a Council letter written on 9 July 1976 to the Nevada Operations Office the %!ergy Research and Development Adflinistration(ERDA) . nov the Department of ?herfly. This letter, a copy of which vas sent to the Cecretary of the Trusteeship Council, articulated sone of the major co~lplaintsof the Utirik .4 sense of frustration anclconfusion nay berp~.dily inferred from the contents of the letter, and the Peonle could not understand.why the lJnitedlJationsdid not resnond to their request for assistance.
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Another question persistently asked by the Utirik peonle related ta the fact that several Japanese doctors who were invited.to the f!arshall Islands by Representative Ata~i Ealos were never allo~ledentry visas into . Japanese nedical team to study the exposed !!arshallesebecause “the people o~~[Jtiri]~,‘iwerethe Japanese not allowed to come out to our isknd~?~! It has now been 25 years since the “Bravo” hydro~en explosion caused the human riglts of the irradiated ~larshalleseto be violsted for an indeterminate to the Trusteeship Council in the hope thnt the Council will continue to ful.fil its obli~ation to oversee the administration of the Trust Territory of the ?%cific Islands by the United States: Tirst, the Trustee~hip Council should request an indepen~7entepidemioloCical/ possible collaboration of Jape.nesedoctors and scientists havin~ expertise in radiation science and uedicine, ?econdl;,r,a survey should be conducted of the local environments and ecolories of the affected atolls, includ.inca study of the floraz fauna and created ant’.publishe~7.containin~ the results fron the epid.ev.iolo~icaland ?“amx.1would contribute Creatly towards the exposed Marshall Islanders’ understanding of the radiation and its .’.san addendum, I should like to relevc.ntto ny statement. It appeared, lg.iay 1979. The title of the article Data on Hazards in Nuclear Ener~y’;and re~?!out part of an article which is quite in The New YorR Times of Saturday,
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“An environmental ‘watchdog’ organization has accused the United lJationsEnvironment Programme of suprressin.~its own report on possible health hazards in nuclear ener~y and.the danCers of accident ‘:TheEnvironment Liaison Centre, which has headquarters here and represents the interests of a wide ran~e of non.-RovernmentalRrouns. concerned about the environment, said that the report was not released in April as scheduled because of pressures from a nuclear-po~rerlobby led by the International Atomic Energy A~ency, a United lJationsentity.’: I would certainly hope that the proposed survey to conduct epidemioloqical studies in the !4arshallswould not be nade this ACency. The FRESIDT!?!T:I should like to mention for the record that the copy or ;@. Alcalayts statement that is beinC distributed has documents appended. The next speaker is Father ?IilliamIrood,on whom I nov call. Father IIOOD: A coalition of American reli~ious and academic organizations and individuals appears today to submit this conu:lunicationto the lJnited?Tations The coalition examines the relationships between the United States and o-ili;ation. “Our initial assessment of the United.States record leads us to the The coalition was f’ormed. in response to issues of justice and human ri~hts to ~rhichour attention directed ‘~Ythe pacific Conference of Churches, an or~anization of Catholic anclProtestant Churches in the Pacific. This Pacific Conference convinced that the United States has,by promoting its ovn s~ecial interests, irnne~edthe ?rocesses through which the peoples of the Trust Territory mi~ht.. fully realize their right to self-determination and human fulfillment.
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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON THE TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC lSLAhIDS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT No
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654. The Council is also pleased to learn that a new school has been completed and a new dispensary provided and that the church built for the original inhabitants of Kili Island has been expanded. It further notes with satisfaction that 10 houses have been built on IJit Island in Ma~uro atoll for a small group of Bikinians who chose not to return to K.iliafter the second evacuation from Bikini 655. The Council notes with satisfaction that a clean-up of Enewetak is proceeding according to schedule and should be completed in 1980. It further notes that some tests aye currently being undertaken to assess the contamination present in the northern islands of the atoll and that, should the levels of radiation prove Satisfactory for habitation, the resettlement programme will be modified to allow for the resettlement of fmilies on Enjebi, but in either case the resettlement will be corripletedon schedule. .. 656. The Council urges the Administering Authority to take all necessary precautions to ens~e that the inhabitants of the Marshall Islands are not further exposed to radiation hazards. It notes that during the current session the special Ad~iser I from the Marshall Islands, the petitioners representing the International League for Human Rights and the people of Bikini expressed their desire to have independent experts survey the health hazards resulting from weapons-testing in the Marshall Islands. In view of the fears aroused in the Trust Territory as a result of the recent discovery that Bikini is not after all safe for resettlement the co~cil~ suggests to the Administering Authority that it might consider the association of such an expert in any future survey, in order to reassure the population. The Council notes with satisfaction the statement by the Administering Authcrity that , it considers the health of the displaced population to be a matter of primary ( concern. The Council also notes with satisfaction that compensation and continuing ‘ medical care are being provided for the inhabitants of Bikini, Rongelap and Utirik atolls who were exposed to radiation. 657. The Counril notes with concern the continuing influx ofpq .,..m into the island of E&ye, where over 8,OOO inhabitants now live in shanty-town conditions on a surface area of 30 hectares. Since this situation poses acute social problems, the Council hopes that the Atiinistering Authority ~d the new Government of the Marshall Xslands will urgently consider solutions on both a short-term and longterznbasis. The Council notes with interest that, according to the Special Adviser from the Marshall Islands, plans are under discussion: (a) to encourage those who have emigrated to Ebeye to return to their atolls of origin where efforts would be made to improve their living conditions; and (b) to develop other islands of Kwajalein atoll where another section sf the population of Ebeye would be established while continuing to be employed at the Kwajalein base. The Council commends these projects which seem promising and hopes that the resources required for their implementation can be found. 658. The Trusteeship Council reiterates its concern that war damage claims have not Yet been settled as determined by the Micronesia Claims Commission. The Council notes tith satisfaction, however, that the United States Congress has authorized full payment of claims under Title II and that payment of all outstanding claims . under Title II, ~ount.ing to $US 12.6 ~uion, is now virtually completed.