Marshall Islands sues nine nuclear powers

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Guardian

The Marshall Islands is suing the nine countries with nuclear weapons at the international court of justice at The Hague, arguing they have violated their legal obligation to disarm.

In the unprecedented legal action, comprising nine separate cases brought before the ICJ on Thursday, the Republic of the Marshall Islands accuses the nuclear weapons states of a "flagrant denial of human justice". It argues it is justified in taking the action because of the harm it suffered as a result of the nuclear arms race.

The Pacific chain of islands, including Bikini Atoll and Enewetak, was the site of 67 nuclear tests from 1946 to 1958, including the "Bravo shot", a 15-megaton device equivalent to a thousand Hiroshima blasts, detonated in 1954. The Marshallese islanders say they have been suffering serious health and environmental effects ever since.

The island republic is suing the five "established" nuclear weapons states recognised in the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) – the US, Russia (which inherited the Soviet arsenal), China, France and the UK – as well as the three countries outside the NPT who have declared nuclear arsenals – India, Pakistan and North Korea, and the one undeclared nuclear weapons state, Israel.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/24/marshall-islands-sues-nine-nuclear-powers-failure-disarm

[stonecutter357]

1. K&R

[bossy22]

2. lets go back to the good old times

When there were no nuclear weapons....a time when humanity could not kill each other in the millions.....oh wait.....

[jakeXT]

3. oops, we made a mistake

[tclambert]

4. Yeah, but haven't we all, at one time or another, miscalculated the yield of a thermonuclear weapon?

They didn't even have electronic calculators back then. It was all slide-rule stuff. That makes it really easy to lose track of the decimal point.

[Sunlei]

5. Good for the "Island Republic" they should be made whole again,(somehow). Same for Cuba & the land

Guantanamo squats on. Close the place and give the land back to Cuba. It's not a slave island anymore! Cuba can USE their bay and land back!

[Judi Lynn]

6. The Marshall Islands Versus the Nuclear Nations

Weekend Edition April 25-27, 2014
The Mouse That Roared

The Marshall Islands Versus the Nuclear Nations

by BARBARA ROSE JOHNSTON


April 24, 2014. The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) filed landmark lawsuits against all nine countries that possess nuclear weapons. “Nuclear Zero” Lawsuits were filed in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against all nine nuclear-armed nations, and filed against the United States in U.S. Federal District Court.

The primary claim of these suits? Nuclear weapons states, including nations who have tested nuclear weapons — United States, Russian Federation, France, United Kingdom, China, and India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel — are in violation of Article VI of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Article VI states: “Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.” The RMI claim argues that Nuclear Weapons States have failed to disarm, have been modernizing their nuclear arsenals instead of taking steps towards disarmament, and have failed to negotiate in good faith to achieve full enforcement of the NPT Treaty.

In filing suit, this sovereign nation of some 54,000 people, puts the leaders of the Nuclear Weapons States on notice. Some 44 years have passed and nuclear arsenals continue to be modernized, and national security strategies continue to place nuclear weapons at the top of the list. Now, the nuclear powers must explain, on the record, why they have failed to negotiate in good faith. The primary goal of these actions? To fully enforce the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty by making the development, storage, and use of all nuclear weapons illegal.

This is not the first time this mouse has roared.

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/25/the-marshall-islands-versus-the-nuclear-nations/

[JackRiddler]

7. Bravo!

Some sane people still left!