UN report says US should take further remedial measures over Marshall Islands nuclear test

On September 7, 2026, Dabo, the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, attended the meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council. (AFP)

According to a report sent to the UN Human Rights Council, Washington needs to take further steps to remedy the legacy of U.S. nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, including providing health care for those affected and disclosing related confidential files.

The United States conducted 67 nuclear weapons tests on the Marshall Islands under its jurisdiction after World War II between 1946 and 1958, including the most powerful Castle Bravo test in the history of the United States on Bikini Atoll in 1954.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated in the report that these nuclear tests have caused "severe and lasting" human costs, and that there has been no fair agreement on related claims. "The damage must be remedied," U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Awa Dabo told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The United Nations also cites the Marshall Islands as continuing to suffer from the effects of U.S. nuclear testing, such as high cancer rates, forced migration due to environmental contamination, and ongoing social stigmatization of those exposed to radiation as "toxic people." The report calls on the United States to provide health care as a remedy and to declassify all information related to the aftermath of nuclear testing.

The U.S. State Department said it reached a comprehensive and final agreement with the Marshall Islands in 1986 on all claims, and the U.S. continues to provide medical and cancer assistance to those affected, as well as environmental monitoring programs. The United States withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council for the second time early last year, and the meeting on the 1st was held without the U.S. representative.