UNGA81: Fascinating debate on US nuclear legacy in Marshall Islands with a Resolution on technical assistance adopted by the UN Human Rights Council without a vote.
(43rd Meeting/63rd Session of Human Rights Council, 7 October, 2026)
Video shows debate on Resolution A/HRC/63/L.16 – "Technical assistance and capacity-building to address the human rights implications of the nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands" - Submitted by Marshall Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia (Federated States of), Naoero, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Vanuatu.
Government of Samoa rep introduces the draft resolution in support of Marshall Islands pursuing its five objectives: truth, justice, reparation, guarantees of non-recurrence and memorialisation.
And makes the point: “The Marshall Islands did not ask to be placed under the UN trusteeship... They did not ask for their islands to be used as a nuclear weapon test site.”
And 80 years on that the issue is still before the Council is a reminder of the UN’s “continuing duty” to the Marshallese people.
Republic of the Marshall Islands rep makes the point: “Those responsible for this legacy consider this matter settled. We, the people of the Marshall Islands are still suffering, and we continue to contest this view.”
“Without truth, there can be no justice … there can be no closure without full disclosure.”
Cuba explicitly calls for US declassification and reparations. South Africa backs in RMI, and Indonesia highlights, “the tragedy endured by the Marshallese people must never be repeated.”
But France and the UK, while supporting the resolution, say the issue should be resolved through bilateral negotiations between the US and Marshall Islands.
Pakistan goes further saying the HRC is “not the appropriate forum” and lacks the technical capacity concerning radiation, environment and health issues.
Video via UN Web TV: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k12/k12sm25eal
Transcript (Ai generated): https://www.kaltura.com/api_v3/service/attachment_attachmentasset/action/serve?attachmentAssetId=1_xi14ia9n&serveOptions%5Bdownload%5D=false
Meeting/Event: 43rd Meeting - 63rd Session of Human Rights Council
Date: 7 October 2026
Categories: Meetings & Events > Human Rights Council > Regular Sessions > 63rd Session
[Auto-generated transcript: may contain errors]
The Council will now consider draft resolution L 16 entitled Technical Assistance and Capacity Building to Adré the Human Rights implications of the nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands.
I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Sama to introduce the draft text.
Mr. President, and good morning, everybody.
I have the honor to present the draft resolution L 16, Technical Assistance and Capacity Building to address the human rights implications of the nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands, on behalf of the core group of Pacific Island states, namely the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guibas, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Papua Na Guinea, Vanuatu, and my own country, Samoa.
The Marshall Islands is an island country near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, just west of the international dateline.
It is rich in culture with its own language known as the Cajin majo with a population of over 40,000 people spread over 29 coral atos with 1,156 islands and islets and a diaspora of over 30,000 people.
Although small in size, it occupies around 2 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean.
Indeed, the Pacific Island countries are geographically similar with the Marshall Islands and we stand in solidarity with them in prioritizing the addressing of the nuclear legacy issues in the Pacific.
Mr. President, the past cannot change.
However, a better future for the Marshall Islands and its people must be guaranteed.
The Marshall Islands did not ask to be placed under the UN trusteeship.
They did not ask for their islands to be used as a nuclear weapon test site, and they certainly did not agree to the devastating human rights consequences that they have been forced to endure for the last 80 years.
Yes, Mr. President, 80 years.
That is how long this legacy has affected the Marshall Islands and the fact that we are here today should remind the United Nations of its continuing duty to the people of the Marshall Islands.
Technical assistance sought from this council aims to assist the Marshall Islands in its pursuit of truth, justice, reparation, guarantees of non recurrence, and memorialization.
The draft resolution further urges the one UN approach, and it does not do so lightly.
After 80 years, the Human Rights Council is a beacon of hope for the Marshall Islands to finally move the UN to acknowledge its share of responsibility and to take meaningful coordinated action to address the human rights implications of this legacy.
Mr. President, the core group held three informal consultations.
The text before us is a result of our efforts to find common ground.
On behalf of the core group of Pacific Island States, I would like to thank all states, our co sponsors, civil society organizations, and all stakeholders for their time, attention, and constructive engagement throughout the consultations.
We call upon the council to adopt draft resolution L 16 by consensus supporting the request for technical assistance and capacity building to address the human rights implications of the nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands.
I thank you very much, Mr. President.
Thank you.
I've been informed by the Secretariat that there are 12 additional co sponsors.
I now give the floor to members of the council who wish to make general comments.
India.
I give the floor to distinguished representative of Indonesia.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Indonesia is pleased to co sponsor the draft resolution L 16 presented by the Marshall Islands and the Core Group.
Our support reflects our genuine solidarity with the Marshallese people in their enduring pursuit of justice for the intergenerational human rights consequences of nuclear testing.
This tragic legacy continues to threaten their lives, health, and livelihoods today and tomorrow.
The Marshallese people deserve fruit, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non recurrence.
These rights must be fulfilled without further delay.
Indonesia therefore supports the continuation of the OHCHRs technical assistance and capacity building to the Marshall Islands in pursuing transitional justice.
Mr. President, as a state party to the Trey on the prohibition of nuclear weapons, Indonesia reaffirms its unwavering commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons.
The suffering of the matalse people highlights the grave dangers nuclear weapons pose to humanity.
No strategic interests can justify the suffering inflicted on innocent people across generations.
The tragedy endured by the marshalse people must never be repeated.
To this end, Indonesia calls on the council to adopt this important draft resolution by consensus.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you.
I give the floor to distinguished representative of Cuba, followed by South Africa.
President.
Cuba.
Thanks to the Marsland and the other authors for presenting draft resolution L 16.
These many nuclear tests by the USA and Marlands leave a devastating environmental burden.
The text takes up the conclusions of the Council's Special Procedures and the report of the Office of the High Commissioner pointing to the consequences of the nuclear test which persist in health, the environment, in subsistence, and in the cultural heritage of the nation.
As the test points out, much of these people face obstacles in accessing justice which perpetrates and aggravates the damage.
This year, it is eight decades since the nuclear tests and the victims are still awaiting justice.
The council must continue to follow up this situation.
Justice begins with truth.
The US government must declassify the information on the nuclear tests and assume the responsibilities, including reparations, full and effective reparations to victims.
Cuba will continue to support the legitimate claims for justice by the Marshall Islands people.
The Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commission should provide the necessary technical assistance to the Marshall Islands in order to address the repercussions of the nuclear tests on the human rights of the population.
Cuba supports draft resolution L 16 and calls on members of the Council to support its adoption by consensus.
I thank you.
Thank you.
I give the floor to a distinguished representative of South Africa.
Mr. President, South Africa takes the floor to provide general comments in support of resolution Al 16.
In so doing, my delegation pays tribute to Tony De Brum.
As a young boy, he was a witness to the nuclear tests carried out at Bkini Al and their devastating aftermath, which 80 years later remains ever present in the lives of the people of the Marshall Islands.
Given this experience, Tony led the Marshall Islands fight for nuclear justice and Ambassador De Brum, his daughter, has continued to champion this cause here in Geneva.
This is embedded in the resolution before us, which South Africa has co sponsored.
Indeed, not only have the people of the Marshall Islands been robbed of their loved ones, together with their ancestral lands which remain contaminated, but their bodies still carry the enduring scars.
As Africans, we know too well the suffering caused by the nuclear tests conducted on our continent in Algeria and the spectra of the apartheid government's nuclear weapons program.
The ongoing tragedy of this nuclear legacy should therefore serve as a salutary reminder to urgently establish a nuclear weapons free world, especially today when the words of the UN Secretary-General, nuclear saber rattling has reached a fever pitch.
As the only country in the world to have voluntarily destroyed its nuclear arsenal, South Africa has always viewed the catastrophic human rights and humanitarian consequences of a nuclear weapons detonation, whether by accident, miscalculation, or design to be at the very center of our disarmament efforts.
These consequences transcend national borders, cannot be adequately addressed and beyond the impact on current and future generations pose grave repercussions for human survival more broadly.
Accordingly, South Africa, together with like minded states and civil society, has been at the forefront of ensuring that nuclear weapons are never tested, manufactured, or used again under any circumstances as this is the only way that we can mitigate against these horrific effects.
These efforts have culminated, among others, in the entry into force of the Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons, which the majority of UN member states have signed and whose first ever review conference South Africa will chair in December.
South Africa therefore calls on the council to adopt L 16 by consensus.
We owe it to all victims and their families, some of whom are here with us today to ensure that we save future generations from the unacceptable suffering that they still confront.
Komal Tata, I thank you.
I see no further requests for general comments.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the concerned country, Marshall Islands.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Draft resolution L 16 speaks to the lived experiences of the people of the Marshall Islands.
When we share our stories on the nuclear legacy, it is often a difficult and painful conversation.
There are some that would prefer silence and that we forget.
However, justice does not work this way in our culture.
We are forgiving people, yet that forgiveness requires correctness, Tim.
It requires the nuclear legacy to be cleansed.
Creo.
This is where we see the important link between transitional justice and our pursuit of nuclear justice.
What we have endured disrespects our rights and dignity.
To deal with this painful past, to address our human rights challenges, and to have a better future for our people, we need truth, justice, reparation, guarantees of non recurrence and memoization.
We also need help.
We cannot do this alone.
1946-1958, while under a UN trusteeship, the United States of America conducted 67 known nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands.
To this day, we have displaced communities longing to return to their ancestral lands and people living in toxic environments, including beside a nuclear waste dump.
We have lost so many loved ones to cancer and sickness.
Our people have suffered enough.
We have endured these struggles for far too long.
It has been 80 years we need a better future for our people.
Those responsible for this legacy consider this matter settled.
We, the people of the Marshall Islands are still suffering, and we continue to contest this view.
A settlement that we had to accept for our freedom cannot be considered final and without truth, there can be no justice.
A wise man by the sea once said, There can be no closure without full disclosure.
Mr. President, the nuclear legacy has taken too much from us.
In the last ten years, I've lost too many close family members to cancer or severe unknown illnesses.
I am one of many a drop in the sea of struggle.
This legacy will continue unless we find a way to set matters right.
We therefore ask the council to continue to stand with the people of the Marshall Islands in our efforts to overcome the human rights implications of the nuclear legacy and to adopt draft resolution L 16 by consensus.
Cool Data, and I thank you.
Thank you.
I've been informed by the Secretariat that there are PBIs for this draft resolution, and the corresponding PBO statement has been made available on the HRC portal.
And I now give the floor to members of the council who wish to make explanation or vote before the vote on draft resolution L 16.
I give the floor to distinguished representative of France.
Thank you, President.
I'm making this statement on behalf of the United Kingdom of Northern Ireland and Great Britain and my own country, France.
I would like to start out by thanking the permanent mission of the Republic of the Marshall Islands for the constructive contribution throughout this session.
France and the UK fully recognize the seriousness and the sensitivity of the challenges that the inhabitants of the Marshall Islands faced following the nuclear tests, which occurred 1946-1958.
For that reason and in homage to the spirit prevailing in the Marshall Islands, both countries joined the consensus on draft resolution L 16 in addition to previous resolutions of the Human Rights Council.
I would also like to recall that both countries have been the first amongst the nuclear weapon states to sign and ratify the a full prohibition Treaty of nuclear testing.
With great regret, both countries would like to respectfully point out that various elements in the resolution L 16 and the documents cited therein, including the report of the OHCHR do not provide any new contributions to knowledge on this topic or necessarily reflect consensus based positions.
We believe that other bodies, such as the Scientific Committee on the effects of atomic radiation of the UN and the IAEA, which has already conducted in depth tests on the ground have the appropriate expertise to provide advice.
We welcome the efforts undertaken by the USA and the Marshall Islands to tackle this historical legacy.
We hope that this issue will be resolved through bilateral negotiations and that the OHCHR will fully duly take into account these bilateral negotiations.
Once again, we would like to thank the Marshall Islands for their ongoing commitment to us on this resolution.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Pakistan.
Mr. President, Pakistan expresses its solidarity with the Marshall Islands and recognizes the gravity of the challenges in the enjoyment of human rights faced by its people as a result of environmental contamination and health hazards emanating from several nuclear tests.
At the same time, we believe that the Human Rights Council is not the appropriate forum that could meaningfully contribute to addressing the suffering of the people of the Marshall Islands.
Moreover, the Office of the UN Hig Commissioner for Human Rights does not possess the requisite capacity to provide technical guidance on matters related to nuclear radiation and resulting environmental or health challenges.
We remain of the view that these issues should be brought to the relevant technical agencies to explore options for technical assistance.
Mr. President, we must also be clear about a matter of principle.
Item ten exists for technical assistance in capacity building extended only upon request and with the consent of the state concerned.
It is not a vehicle for bilateral political grievances or the pursuit of claims against third states.
As resolution L dot 16 has been tabled by a core group, including the Marshall Islands itself, and the constructive approach of the pen holders to accommodate the range of views expressed during consultations, Pakistan remains willing to join consensus.
We do so in line with our principal position that technical assistance and country specific engagement proceed only with the consent of the country concerned.
Our decision is without prejudice to our position regarding the irrelevance of the subject matter and the appropriateness of this forum for such discussions.
We request that our position be duly reflected in the report of this session, and I thank you.
Thank you.
I see no further request for explanation or vote before the vote on L 16.
Is there a request for a vote?
I see none.
May I therefore take it that draft resolution L 16 may be adopted without a vote.
It is so decided.
