War & Conflict
Remembering the victims of nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands
Protests marked the 70th anniversary of nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll
Originally published on Global Voices
Bikini Atoll nuclear test site. Marshall Islands. Photo by Ron Van Oers / UNESCO. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO
Pacific communities marked the 70th year of nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll in Marshall Islands by highlighting the demand for justice and accountability.
March 1 is Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day, but in Marshall Islands it is commemorated as Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day in honor of the victims of Castle Bravo, the codename for the thermonuclear bomb test made by the United States military.
The 15-megaton bomb dropped on Bikini Atoll was the equivalent of a thousand Hiroshima bombs. It created a mushroom cloud that reached 40 kilometers into the atmosphere and its radioactive fallout affected nearby inhabited atolls. The US military conducted 67 nuclear weapon tests in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958.
The tests vaporized at least two islands and forced the permanent displacement of communities contaminated by radioactivity. Cancer cases and other serious diseases linked to nuclear testing went up over the next several decades.
Reparations were made but the toxic consequences of the testing continue to inflict damage up to this day. Civil society group ICAN emphasized that the Castle Bravo testing “is a story of how life on the Marshall Islands was uprooted, lands contaminated, and people left to struggle with the consequences for generations.”
Public assemblies in Fiji and the Marshall Islands marked the 70th anniversary of the Castle Bravo testing with calls for justice.
FWRM led the chants at the Nuclear Victims Solidarity March at USP Laucala Campus in Suva today.
It has been 70 years since the Castle Bravo explosion on 1st March 1954.#NuclearFreePacific #PeoplePower pic.twitter.com/etKO1i9pgJ
— Fiji Women's Rights Movement (@FWRM1) March 1, 2024
Some veterans and descendants of those who were evacuated from their homes also joined the event.
We also acknowledge Pacific nuclear test veterans and their descendants who joined @misa4thepacific Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day solidarity march at @UniSouthPacific today.
Lest We Forget.#NuclearJustice #NewClearWays #NukeFreeFridays #NukeFreePacific pic.twitter.com/nvSqkhlz7o
— PANG (@pangmedia) March 1, 2024
Kathy Joel was six years old in 1954 when her family was uprooted from their community.
I remember when I saw planes flying over my island, I was really frightened. We were evacuated by the US. Until now I long for my homeland. I always think about my homeland and I wish one day, with the help of our President, that I may set foot again on my homeland.
Kathy Joel was six years old when the #Bravo nuclear test spread radioactive fallout over the northern atolls of the #MarshallIslands, including Rongelap and Ailinginae. pic.twitter.com/jt7wTHyyLK
— Nic Maclellan (@MaclellanNic) March 1, 2024
Henry Puna, secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, noted that resolving the issues related to nuclear testing has remained inadequate.
Our history is littered with overwhelming foreign disrespect for our Blue Pacific. Clearly, we were used as a testing ground – more like a testing laboratory. And we must ask the question, why was the most beautiful corner of the world, with the most beautiful and peaceful people, chosen for these horrific acts without our informed consent?
While we have come a long way in mending past grievances, regrettably, the terms of resolving nuclear legacy issues in the Marshall Islands have been inadequate, and therefore remain unfinished.
Peace Movement Aotearoa pointed out the political significance of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day.
Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day is a day to remember that the arrogant colonial mindset which allowed, indeed encouraged, this horror continues today – the Pacific is still neither nuclear free nor independent.
It is a day to celebrate the courage, strength and endurance of indigenous Pacific peoples who have persevered and taken back control of their lives, languages and lands to ensure the ways of living and being which were handed down from their ancestors are passed on to future generations.
Shaun Burnie, the international climate and nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace International, also expressed solidarity with the people of the Marshall Islands.
The proud people of the Marshall Islands have retained their profound and deep connection to their Pacific home, despite all efforts to destroy that connection through displacement and contamination. That same determination is now evident in their response to the devastating impacts of climate change.
Deadly tribal clashes destabilize Papua New Guinea
Unresolved land disputes fueled the tribal conflict
Originally published on Global Voices
Tribal violence has escalated last week in Papua New Guinea. Screenshot from YouTube video of ABC News In-depth. Fair use.
Clashes between several tribes in the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea led to at least 50 deaths and displaced numerous highland communities. The government said that the February 18 massacre was the country’s worst tribal violence on record.
The police said they retrieved 50 bodies on February 19 in Enga province, but the death toll could be higher based on the reports and testimonies of local leaders.
The long-running feud between the Sikin and Kaikin tribes and the Ambulin tribe triggered the violence stemming from unresolved land disputes. Police said the warring clans hired mercenaries from nearby villages.
Authorities noted that the fighters used military-grade weapons, which indicated the culpability of arms suppliers and the existence of a black market for illegal firearms and explosives.
Police Commissioner David Manning urged community leaders to cooperate:
These ethnic fights stem from wicked people who in the end cause the deaths of their own people when they stir up a fight.
While I recognise it is hard because there are threats and intimidation involved, but community leaders have to step up, work with police to identify the ringleaders.
But former opposition leader Belden Namah accused security forces of being indecisive in protecting citizens:
We are sending the same old people, the soldiers and the police and they are fraternising with the tribal fighters, with the lot of people on the ground and not effecting any arrests.
In fact, they are standing around with the warriors carrying their guns, soldiers and police carrying their guns, where are we heading?
In an editorial, Post-Courier wrote about the collapse of the traditional leadership provided by tribal leaders:
Sadly, the traditional or community leadership's grip on authority has crumbled in recent years, because governments, past and present have, failed to empower those in this role with resources, skills, knolwedge, and legislations for them to effectively perform in partnerhsip with competent state institutions in the rapidly changing world PNG lives in today.
Penniless, illiterate and isolated from the formal contemporary governance system, the community leaders fight an uphill battle everyday to administrate justice and deal with crime in their rural communities.
In another editorial, Post-Courier asked the government to deliver justice for the victims:
We suggest that the right thing to do now, in the face of the terrorism presented by tribal fighters in Wapenamanda, is to deal with the situation head on. Send the full force of the law, police, army, and warders, declare a full-on state of emergency in Engam and seek out and bring those tribal lawless warriors to justice.
Go in head on and deal with the troublemakers. Let the gunmen know there are laws in this country that protect the citizens of our nation.
#Wapenamanda #massacre: #PNG leaders #angry over #tribal #war ‘barbarity’ #AsiaPacificReport #pngpostcourier @kenneth_gorethy #tribalwarfare #highlands #Enga @newsroom_the @PACNEWS2 @PngPles @PNGReport https://t.co/E0pydydQSr pic.twitter.com/CM1j8OHPMC
— David Robie (@DavidRobie) February 20, 2024
Dorothy Tekwie, founder of Papua New Guinea Women in Politics, told the media about the impact of the clashes on highland families:
Any woman would be emotional…and I am also calling on women throughout Papua New Guinea to stand up. Enough is enough of violence of all forms.
We are asking for accountability from our members of Parliament. It doesn't matter whether they are in government or in opposition. This is a national crisis.
Pacific countries and institutions like the Pacific Islands Forum have expressed concern about the latest incident of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea. Richard Howard, the UN Resident Coordinator in the country, pointed out that “the increasing use of modern weapons exacerbates the tribal fightings and their impact on human lives.”
It has been a tumultuous two months for Papua New Guinea. Riot and looting hit the capital Port Moresby in January, which killed at least 20 people. An aviation fuel crisis is plaguing the transport sector. The recent tribal clashes have severely undermined the stability of the government and peace and order in the country.