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Brookhaven National Laboratory l Upton, Long Island, New York 11790 l~k&)rry I was not at home when you visited my island. instead,+ have spent the past few months traveling to Japan and Fiji learn~”g ~bout treatment of atomic bomb victims and about Since l~aving}ongelap on the peace ship F&, I have learned a / great deal and am;~ting to you to clarify some of my feelings regarding your con~g~e$ use of us as research subjects. I realize now that $Tur entire career is based on our illness. We are far more valuab) J to you than you are to ,US. You have never really cared about us as..people -- only as a group of guinea pigs for your government’s b-binb-re~arch effort. For me and for the other people on Rongelap, it is Ii ‘which matters most., For you it is facts and figures. There i~n&\~question about your technical competence, but we often wonder aJb%-u~your humanity. We don’t need you . and your technological machinery. .-We,want our life and our health. Ue want to be free. ~<:. In all the years you’ve come to’~our island, you’ve never treated us as people. You’ve never sat down amongus and really helped us honestly with our problems. You have to”ld-people that the l%orst is—_ over”, then died. I don’t,,,,know yet how many new cases yousll find during your-current trip, but I amVefy worried that we will suffer again and again. I’ll never fqet how you told a newspaper-reporter that it was our fault that died because we wouldntt Iet;.y.ou examine us in =ly 1972. You seem to forget that it is yourz country and the people As a result of my trip, I’ve made some decisions that I want you to knw about. The main decision is that we do not want to see you again. We want medical care from doctors who care abput us, not about collecting information for the U.S. government’s war makers. We want a doctor to live on our island permanently. We””donlt need medical care only when it is convenient for you to visit”.We want to be able to see a doctor when we want to. America has been trying to Americanize us by flying flags and using cast-off textbooks. It’s about time America gave us the kind of medical care it provides its’..own citizens. We’ve neVier really trusted you. So welre going to invite doctors from hospitals in Hiroshima to examine us in a caring way.
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rn~l longer want to be under American control. As a r~presen ~ti&e of the United States, you ‘ve convinced us that Americans are! ‘u~ to dominate others, not to help them. .$ ~ From now on, we will mal t~;~ our neutrality and independence from American power. There ~~~,.l~be some changes made. Next time you try to visit be prepared. ~ \F’er since 1972 when we first stood UP to YOU, we’ve b-n \aware of ~bur ot,j_v%es. Now that we know that there are other people in this world who~~e willing to help us, we no longer want you to come General, United Nations Hon. Ataji Bales, Congress of ~“;’--’,