Marshall Islands sues India and more 8 countries

[IBSA]

Marshall Islands sues India, 8 others for possessing nuclear arms

In a "David vs Goliath" battle, a tiny Pacific island nation on Thursday filed a lawsuit against nine nuclear-armed nations, including India, at the International Court of Justice for violating their legal obligation to disarm.

In the unprecedented legal action, comprising nine separate cases brought before the ICJ at The Hague, the Republic of the Marshall Islands accused the nuclear weapons states of a "flagrant denial of human justice."

The Marshall Islands, an island country located in the northern Pacific Ocean, argued that it is justified in taking the action because of the harm it has suffered as a result of the nuclear arms race.

An additional complaint has also been filed against the US in the Federal District Court by the Marshall Islands which was a nuclear testing site for America in 1940s and 50s, the Washington-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation said.

In the lawsuit, Marshall Island said that the five original nuclear weapon states — US, Russia, UK, France and China — are continuously breaching their legal obligations under the treaty.

The lawsuits contend that all nine nuclear-armed nations are violating customary international law.

Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) requires states to pursue negotiations "in good faith" on cessation of the nuclear arms race "at an early date" and nuclear disarmament.

The five original nuclear weapon states are parties to the treaty but continue to ignore their obligations.

The four newer nuclear-armed states — Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea — are not party to the treaty but are bound by these nuclear disarmament provisions under customary international law.

"Our people have suffered the catastrophic and irreparable damage of these weapons and we vow to fight so that no one else on earth will ever again experience these atrocities," Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony de Brum said.

"The continued existence of nuclear weapons and the terrible risk they pose to the world threaten us all," he said.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/marshall-islands-sues-india-8-others-for-possessing-nuclear-arms/article5944121.ece

 

[Blackwater]

in asia , they should sue pakistan as they got the largest nuke stockpile

 

[angeldude13]

Get them before they get you.....

 

[IBSA]

in asia , they should sue pakistan as they got the largest nuke stockpile

All nuke powered countries are being sued. Pakistan also is in the list of Marshall Islands.

 

[Blackwater]

All nuke powered countries are being sued. Pakistan also is in the list of Marshall Islands.

pak should be fined more than india,first they got more nukes and second they are thakedars of islami duniya

 

[Glint]

How can Pakistan defend itself in the International court? They can't even win a "Dam" case. (Pun intended)

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

N-disarmament: Tiny island of 70,000 people takes India to court

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...takes-India-to-court/articleshow/47807841.cms

Dhananjay Mahapatra,The Times of India, Jun 25, 2015

NEW DELHI: A year ago, a tiny island republic in the Pacific Ocean - Marshall Islands - with a population of 70,000 made an impassioned plea to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) seeking initiation of proceedings against India for not pursuing nuclear disarmament but India is yet to file response to it.

The tiny island nation, near the equator and close to the International Date Line, had suffered miserably during World War II and, later, the US used some of its islands as the testing site for its nuclear weaponry, which it nick-named Pacific Proving Grounds.

The nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) came into force 45 years ago and the ICJ in its advisory opinion on July 8, 1996 had said, "There exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control."

Marshall Islands, which received over $700 million in compensation from the US in the last century for the adverse effects of nuclear weapons testing, strongly feels that the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan could pose a huge danger to world peace, both being non-signatories to NPT.

Last month, the ICJ accepted India's request and gave it time till September 16 to file its reply to Marshall Islands' application. The court had on June 16 last year given India time till December 16, 2014. The time was again extended till June 16 and now to September 16.

The island republic's grievance is that "India continues to breach its obligations under customary international law, including specifically its obligation to pursue in good faith negotiations to cease the nuclear arms race at an early date, as well as to pursue in good faith negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control".

What convinced Marshall Islands to move the ICJ in April last year was the Indian government's 2003 statement that "nuclear weapons will only be used in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian territory or on Indian forces anywhere", and such "retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage".

The 2003 statement further said, "However, in the event of a major attack against India, or Indian forces anywhere, by biological or chemical weapons, India will retain the option of retaliating with nuclear weapons."

The island republic said, "India uses plutonium for the explosive core of nuclear warheads and continues to add to its stockpile of weapon-grade plutonium. India currently has one operating plutonium production reactor and is building another. India is also building a fast-breeder reactor that, once operational, will significantly increase its capacity to produce weapons-grade plutonium. India also has a large stockpile of reactor-grade plutonium that could be used for weapons if India so chooses."

 

[blueblood]

Good, charge $100 million from each. Pak will go broke.

 

[aliyah]

where is Marshall islands..... i cant find it on map

 

[Illusive]

So they want more money out of this as compensation?

 

[SafedSagar]

Good, charge $100 million from each. Pak will go broke.

Bade bhaijaan mard-e-chowmein hain na..... Wo pay kar dengey...

 

[SafedSagar]

...........................................

 

[blueblood]

Bade bhaijaan mard-e-chowmein hain na..... Wo pay kar dengey...

Nahi karenge bhai. Chacha chowmein free mein toh apne baap ke liye bhi kuch nahi karte.

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

Marshalls Island to open nuclear arms battle at top UN court against India, Pakistan and UK

http://www.business-standard.com/ar...ms-battle-at-top-un-court-116030500488_1.html

Marshall Islands had originally accused nine countries including China, France, North Korea, Russia, and the US

The tiny Marshall Islands will Monday seek to convince the UN's highest court to take up a lawsuit against India, Pakistan and Britain which they accuse of failing to halt the nuclear arms race.

Lawyers representing the small Pacific island nation will launch the opening salvos in a David-versus-Goliath battle in which the International Court of Justice is to examine whether it is competent to hear lawsuits against India and Pakistan.

A third hearing against Britain, scheduled for Wednesday, will be devoted to "preliminary objections" raised by London.

In 2014, the Marshall Islands - a Pacific Ocean territory with 72,000 people - accused nine countries of "not fulfilling their obligations with respect to the cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament."

They included China, Britain, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States.

The Marshall Islands maintained that by not stopping the nuclear arms race, the nine countries continued to breach their obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) - even if the treaty has not been by signed by countries such as India and Pakistan.

But the court only admitted three cases brought against Britain, India and Pakistan because they already recognised the ICJ's authority.

The Marshall Islands decided to sue the world's nuclear heavyweights as "it has a particular awareness of the dire consequences of nuclear weapons," it said.

Between 1946 and 1958 the US conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, Majuro's representatives said in papers filed in court.

While also focusing on the threat of global warming causing the world's oceans to rise, the Marshall Islands "have come to realise that it cannot ignore the other major threat to its survival: the ongoing threat posed by the existence of large arsenals of nuclear weapons."

In March 2014, the Marshall Islands marked 60 years since the devastating hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll, that vapourised an island and exposed thousands in the surrounding area to radioactive fallout.

"The Marshall Islands wants a moral and judicial pronouncement that can strengthen their political campaign against nuclear weapons," said Lyal S Sunga, who heads The Hague Institute for Global Justice think-tank's Rule of Law program.

"It's very interesting because international law, as part of a range of diplomatic and political tools, can be used to lend weight to the argument that nuclear testing is very dangerous and harmful not only for the Marshall Islands, but for the whole world," he said.

 

[cobra commando]

Marshall Islands sues India and more 8 countries



UN highest court throws out Marshall Islands’ nuclear case against India, others