Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day

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Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day ('Bikini' Day), 1 March, marks the anniversary of the US 'Bravo' nuclear bomb detonation at Bikini Atoll [*] in 1954. The explosion gouged out a crater more than 200 feet deep and a mile across, melting huge quantities of coral which were sucked up into the atmosphere together with vast volumes of seawater. The resulting fallout caused widespread contamination in the Pacific.

Powdery particles of radioactive fallout landed on the island of Rongelap (100 miles away) to a depth of one and a half inches in places, and radioactive mist appeared on Utirik (300 miles away). Radiation levels in the inhabited atolls of Rongerik, Ujelang and Likiep also rose dramatically. The US navy did not send ships to evacuate the people of Rongelap and Utirik until three days after the explosion. The people in the Marshall Islands, and elsewhere in the Pacific, were used as human guinea pigs in an obscene racist experiment to 'progress' the insane pursuit of nuclear weapons supremacy.

Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day is a day to remember that the arrogant colonialist mindset which allowed, indeed encouraged, the horror mentioned above continues today - the Pacific remains neither nuclear free nor independent.

It is a day to think about the many faces of colonisation - physical, cultural, spiritual, economic, political, nuclear, military - past and present; the issues of independence, self-determination and sovereignty here in Aotearoa New Zealand and the other colonised countries of the Pacific; and the ability of Pacific peoples to stop further nuclearisation, militarisation and economic globalisation of our region.

It is a day to acknowledge and remember those who have suffered and died in the struggle for independence around the Pacific; those who have opposed colonisation in its many forms and paid for their opposition with their health and life; and those who have suffered and died as a result of the nuclear weapons states' use of the Pacific for nuclear experimentation, uranium mining, nuclear weapons testing and nuclear waste dumping.

It is a day to celebrate the strength and endurance of indigenous Pacific peoples who have maintained 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.

It is the day to pledge your support to continue the struggle for a nuclear free and independent Pacific, as the theme of the 8th Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Conference said: No te parau tia, no te parau mau, no te tiamaraa, e tu, e tu - For justice, for truth and for independence, wake up, stand up !

- Peace Movement Aotearoa

[*] In 1946, a military officer representing the US government asked the people of Bikini if they would be willing to leave their atoll temporarily so that the United States could begin testing atomic bombs for "the good of mankind and to end all world wars". They have been prevented from returning to their home ever since because of the level of radioactive contamination remaining there.

In April 2006, together with the people of Enewetak, they filed a lawsuit against the US government in the US Court of Federal Claims. The lawsuit sought compensation for the taking of their property, and damage claims resulting from the US government’s failure and refusal to adequately fund the orders of the Nuclear Claims Tribunal. In 2000 and 2001 the Tribunal awarded compensation totaling around $948 million for loss of the islands, clean-up and resettlement costs, and personal injury and hardship. So far the Tribunal has only paid out about $3.8 million.

On 29 January 2009, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled against the people of Bikini and Enewetak, saying an agreement between the governments of the United States and Marshall Islands in 1986 is a settlement that is beyond judicial review - affirming the US Court of Federal Claims ruling on 2 August 2007. The decision of the Court of Appeals is available here, and the people of Bikini's response to the 2007 Court of Federal Claims ruling is here. A history of Bikini Atoll and the people's struggle for justice is on this web page.

See Also:

http://uriohau.blogspot.com/2008/10/testimony-harmful-effects-of-guams.html

http://uriohau.blogspot.com/2007/09/nuclear-history-of-micronesia-and.html

Guam, military bases and the struggle for an independent Pacific

	Join us for an afternoon workshop with panels, presentations and action planning on US bases and militarisation in Australia, Japan and the Pacific. Saturday 14 June 2008, 12.30 to 5pm Venue: Green Building, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton 3053 Speakers include: Lisa Natividad and Julian Aguon - Chamoru activists from Guam Maki Yonaha - Japanese for Peace Nic Maclellan - Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Richard Tanter - Nautilus Institute Our two special guests are Lisa Natividad and Julian Aguon, two Chamoru activists from Guahan (Guam) who are campaigning against US military bases on their land. As the Pentagon prepares to move thousands of Marines from Okinawa to Guam, find out about the struggle for indigenous self-determination in the Pacific and Australia’s links to regional militarisation. Supported by Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW), the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Japanese for Peace, CICD, Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Campaign, the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and other groups. Julian and Lisa's visit is supported by the Donald Groom fellowship. Further information: Nic Maclellan (NFIP), 0421 840 100 or Dale Hess (Religious Society of Friends), 9592 5247

Tahi

Tahi, One Pacific One Struggle (against colonialism and exploitation), is a video about the various sovereignty, pro-democracy and independence movements around the Pacific Rim including Hawai'i, Aoteoroa, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Kanaky (New Caledonia), Australian Aboriginals, Samoa, Tonga, East Timor, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Making a buck out of the amerikkkan death industry

We have to stop doing this to each other in the Pacific. Making a buck of another's oppression whilst entrenching our own is not smart and as the experience of amerikkkan genocide committed on our brothers and sisters in Great Turtle Island & Hawaii will attest to, not forgetting, amerikkkan Imperialism & human rights atrocities in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Korea, Chile, Dominican Republic, Granada, Iraq, Haiti, Panama & Afghanistan.

Don’t expect the amerikkka to protect your culture or lands or oceans, they will be used, raped; your culture will be reduced to an artifact & tourist attraction, nothing more. When you start to defend your ancestral rights they will label you "terrorists” whilst they commit genocide & theft, they will smile cause they are 'bringing y'all amerikkkan democracy”.Bullshit 515 years ago and bullshit now

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Business in the Islands Opportunities Conference will cover several topics and growing sectors in the insular areas, from shipping to transportation, agriculture, and infrastructure. But more importantly it will give businesses the chance to learn how they might benefit from the proposed military buildup for Guam.

The conference, the fourth ever, will bring together the heads of the insular areas under one roof. Among those who will be speaking include president of Palau Tommy Remengesau, president of the FSM Manny Mori, American Samoa governor Togiola Tulafono, Guam governor Felix Camacho, and CNMI lieutenant governor Tim Villagomez, to name a few. It's an opportunity for island leaders to showcase what their individual locales offer to investors. For Guam, it's a no-brainer: the proposed buildup of military forces locally.

And who better to speak on that topic that joint Guam Program Office's Captain Robert Lee? He says while it's a DOI conference, JGPO, through a partnership with the DOI, decided to take a more active role. He said, "Due to the fact that the military buildup is proposed to happen, it's again a good time to partner with them and when we had our industry forum [David] Bice said, 'Why don't we go ahead and play a bigger part in this role? Since the business conference is about bringing business to Guam, getting folks to make an impact on their businesses, why don't you go ahead, JGPO, brief what you did at the Guam Industry Forum, kind of update it to where we are today?' So that' really what's going to happen.

"The purpose of the conference is to facilitate business and economic growth in the seven U.S.-affiliated insular areas: American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonweath of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau. Some of those opportunities include large scale public infrastructure work of all types like improved water, power, and telecommunications are needed in all the insular areas including efforts to improve energy efficiency.

The Joint Guam Program Office and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command will use the conference as the venue for the second in their promised series of industry sessions on the military buildup. Said Lee, "In this meeting, more on the local regional level, we want to make sure that they had the same input that we gave the national audience international audience at the industry forum. Again, how we going to do business? What are the opportunities? Give us your ideas what your thinking down the road. We just want to bring everyone in and put them on the same level playing field. And of course the more people we talk to the easier its going to be to play a big part in it. That's really the goal - to get out there share what we're doing and for us as JGPO this will be a new adventure, so we're gong to see how Interior does it on their side and give us another avenue to work with some other people.

In addition to speaking in a plenary session, Department of Defense representatives will also conduct a breakout session, discussing recommendations and outcomes from their first session, which was held on Guam in August.

PACIFIC BUSINESSES HEAD TO GUAM TO CHECK OUT U.S. DOLLARS

This is disgusting Winne Laban, and shows what nz foreign policy in the Pacific is all about, supporting US hegemony in our region. The indigenous peoples of Guam have protested vigorously against the US army base thats being moved from Okinawa to Guam. Shame of the settler gubbament to send another brown puppet of the slave labour party wanting to make a buck of the oppression of of brothers and sisters in Guam. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME !!!!

http://decolonizeguam.blogspot.com/

Date: 4 October 2007

Auckland 6am: US dollars are luring Kiwi Pacific businesses to a big
conference in Guam ....

Next week's fono in the North Pacific will allow the businesses to get
a first hand look at what the opportunities are. At an earlier business conference in Auckland this year, they heard that billions are up for grab, thanks to the US moving its military base from Japan to Guam.

Melino Maka, the deputy chair of the New Zealand Pacific Business Council, says the chance to cash in on that particular deal, and perhaps others, is too good to pass up.

David Cohen, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Insular Affairs, which is organising the conference, is confident it's worth the Kiwi delegation taking the long haul up to Guam.

Cohen also sees the Guam conference as helping Australia and New Zealand get a better radar on the Pacific.

Meanwhile a business trade analyst is warning that New Zealand could damage its trade relations with the Pacific if it's not careful.

Mike Flanagan, a board member for the New Zealand Pacific Business Council, says trade to the Pacific, especially to Fiji, could suffer in the current political climate.

Flannagan says even though there's no direct sanctions on trade to Fiji, the other sanctions are having an impact on trade, like investment and tourist developments.

He says China is already showing an interest in the Pacific and could end up selling directly to them instead of using New Zealand as a middleman.

The New Zealand Pacific Business noted recently that venues for the youth Pacific Games in Samoa were all built by Chinese and Kiwi businesses missed out completely.

Associate Economic Development and Pacific Island Affairs Minister Luamanuvao Winnie Laban is leading the 27-strong trade mission and says it's the perfect opportunity for New Zealand and Pacific businesses to explore opportunities in the construction, building materials, machinery supplies and consultancy sectors in the Pacific.

"New opportunities are expected to be created when around 50,000 United States military forces move from Okinawa to Guam, " says Laban.

"I look forward to supporting our business leaders to identify commercial opportunities for Kiwi firms and fostering stronger bilateral relations with the US Pacific territories. "The New Zealand Pacific Business Council and I also look forward to exploring two-way trade possibilities with Guam."

Note: The trade mission has been organised by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and the New Zealand Pacific Business Council (NZPBC)

http://www.niufm.com/?t=3&View=FullStory&newsID=2458

EA Sudden Rush

Free Hawaii Now!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_sovereignty_movement

http://freehawaii.blogspot.com/

http://www.hawaiiankingdom.info/

http://www.higean.org/

Keliipuleole Eviction Protest parts 5-8

Palolo Valley, Oahu Sept. 28, 2006

Rima

Ono

Whitu

Waru

Message to S Pacific Forum

To the Honourable Members States of the South Pacific Forum,

We representatives of the Pacific Nations of Australia, Aotearoa, Bougainville, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Te Ao Maohi (French Polynesia) and West Papua, gathered in Sydney, April 1998, reaffirm, on behalf of all Indigenous peoples of our vast region, that the Pacific lands and waters are our ancestral home.

We reassert our inalienable right to our sovereignty and reject the last remaining tentacles of colonisation which maintain their grip upon our region. As we enter the 21st Century we demand an end to colonisation in all its forms and declare our right to live in peace and prosperity with the lands and waters which gave us birth. We do this in honour and respect of our ancestors and of the unborn yet to come.

We note with concern that the 1997 South Pacific Forum Communique did not address the following:

1) The right to self-determination and independence for colonised peoples of the Pacific;

2) The proposed decommissioning of the United Nations’ Decolonisation Committee;

3) The exploitation of resources and continued environmental destruction;

4) The continued militarisation and nuclearisation of the Pacific region.

We therefore call on all South Pacific Forum Member States to include the following issues on the agenda at the 1998 South Pacific Forum to be held in the Federated States of Micronesia:

DECOLONISATION COMMITTEE:

We call for the extension of the mandate of the United Nations’ Decolonisation Committee beyond 2000; the reinscription of all colonised peoples with the Committee’s List of Non-Self-Governing Territories; and in particular for the inclusion of Te Ao Maohi (French Polynesia); West Papua, and Ka Pae’aina (Hawai’i) in that List.

We reaffirm our support for the right to all Indigenous peoples, including those of Aboriginal Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand), to self-determination and independence but recognise that this year (1998) is a crucial year for the French colony of Te Ao Maohi (French Polynesia), following recent events in Kanaky (New Caledonia), and for the Indonesian colonies of West Papua and East Timor, following the overthrow of the Soeharto regime in Indonesia.

We remind the Honourable Members of the South Pacific Forum of the United Nations General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), Declaration on the granting to independence to colonial countries and peoples, 14 December 1960, which states: "The subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations, and is an impediment to the promotion of world peace and co-operation. All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development."

This sentiment is repeated in numerous resolutions of the UN General Assembly, including the International Covenants on Human Rights. It is reflected in the UN International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, which promises to end colonialism by the year 2000.

We remind Members that for the issue of the decolonisation of Te Ao Maohi (French Polynesia), West Papua and Ka Pae’aina (Hawai’i) to be placed on the UN Agenda they must first be placed on the Agenda of the South Pacific Forum. We call upon all nations of the Pacific, but particularly those which were once themselves colonised, to take the lead in this initiative.

PEACE INITIATIVES:

We call for South Pacific Forum Member-States to support the Bougainville Peace Plan and to ensure that the terms of any and all agreements are adhered to.

NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES AND MILITARISATION:

We call on South Pacific Member-States to take initiatives towards: the abolition of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons; an end to transshipment, storage and dumping of nuclear and toxic chemical waste in and through the Pacific; adequate compensation for all communities and peoples affected by nuclear testing especially in Te Ao Maohi (French Polynesia), Marshall Islands and Kiribati; and the cleanup and ongoing monitoring of sites left contaminated by nuclear testing.

RESOURCES EXPLOITATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION:

We note with grave concern the increasing environmental destruction caused by the exploitation of resources of indigenous lands and waters. We call for the rights of Indigenous peoples to determine priorities and strategies for the development and use of their lands. We also call for compensation for Indigenous peoples for the loss and damage of their lands and waters, and of their livelihoods, caused by resource exploitation. We remain concerned with the threat posed to our nations by climate change brought about by the activities of the more industrialised nations.

MULTI-LATERAL AGREEMENT ON INVESTMENT (MAI):

Concerned by the impact of globalisation, we call on South Pacific Member-States to completely reject the MAI. We are concerned that the present MAI treaty will give transnational companies unrestricted access to exploit our lands and waters. We assert our right to control of our lands, our waters and our labours. We call for adequate and appropriate equitable development which can lead our peoples out of the social and economic disadvantages propagated by colonisation in all its forms.

CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, we proclaim our determination to actively pursue an independent and nuclear free Pacific and to actively challenge issues affecting: our sovereignty, decolonisation and indigenous rights; our environment and resources; nuclearisation and militarisation; and, our economic, social and cultural development.

Signed: Representatives of Aotearoa, Australia, Bougainville, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Te Ao Maohi and West Papua, April 1998. .............

This open letter to the Member States of the South Pacific Forum is for general distribution. It was created as a campaign tool leading up to the South Pacific Forum August 1998. We encourage all supporters of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement to lobby their own and other governments which are members of the SPF with these demands.

Also: could you please distribute this petition as widely as possible to networks around the world and return to: Zohl de Ishtar - or Pacific Concerns Resource Centre - 83 Amy St, Toorak, Private Mail Bag, Suva, Fiji. By 31st July 1998.

INDEPENDENCE AND SOVEREIGNTY FOR TE AO MAOHI (French Polynesia)

"We seek our dignity as a people to live freely in our own land."

We, the undersigned, give our support to the Maohi people of Te Ao Maohi (French Polynesia). We call on our governments to support the Maohi people’s right to self-determination and independence, to discuss this issue at the South Pacific Forum, and call for the re-inscription of French Polynesia on the list of non-self governing territories, with the United Nations Decolonisation Committee.

Name Address Signature

In solidarity,

Zohl de Ishtar Women for a Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific, Australia. International Peace Bureau, Oceania Representative (Female) for the representatives of the following countries:

Australia: Jenny Munro, Kathy Malera-Bandjalan, Zohl de Ishtar Aotearoa: Hone Harawira Bougainville: Moses Havini, Marilyn Havini, Vikki John East Timor: Ceu Brites PNG: Powes Parkop Te Ao Maohi: Tamara Bopp Du Pont, Marie Bopp, Auxilia Boobsie-Haereraaroa, Ahuura Paia. West Papua: Rex Rumakiek, John Ondawame, Dolly, Nell, Anne Noonan, Joe Collins, Kel Dummett, Linda Gale.