Marshall Islands

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has not yet joined the TPNW

Status

The Marshall Islands has not yet signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

National position

When the TPNW opened for signature in September 2017, the Marshall Islands said that it was committed to “a close and inclusive examination” of its participation in the TPNW, “listening closely to our stakeholders and affected communities, and also taking into account any possible implications on our mutual security relationships”.

The cabinet of the Marshall Islands approved the signing and ratification of the TPNW on 5 October 2017, and the then-minister of foreign affairs, John Silk, submitted a resolution to the parliament, or Nitijela, the following week to approve such action. However, the resolution was never adopted.

As part of the universal periodic review conducted by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, the Marshall Islands noted “the importance of ratifying” the TPNW but said that it is not currently prepared to become a state party, as it is still reviewing the provisions.

The Marshall Islands has consistently abstained from voting on an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that welcomes the adoption of the TPNW and calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to it “at the earliest possible date”.

Under its “compact of free association” with the United States, the Marshall Islands allows the US military to test nuclear-capable inter-continental ballistic missiles in its territory, at Kwajalein atoll. This practice is widely considered incompatible with the TPNW’s prohibition on assisting with the development of nuclear weapons.

The draft resolution submitted to the parliament in 2017 noted that joining the TPNW “may have legal implications” with respect to the compact of free association, “particularly on defence and security aspects” and on provisions relating to the clean-up of former nuclear test sites.

Nuclear testing

From 1946 to 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear test explosions in the Marshall Islands, leaving a legacy of devastating environmental and health problems.

In 2022, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to address this legacy. According to the Marshallese government, it “will receive UN assistance in upholding the rights of the Marshallese people that still bear the scars of this dark chapter of our past”. Nuclear-armed states, including the United States, criticised the move.

“Our own experience, history, and current challenges to nuclear exposure are key drivers for urging progress in reducing – and ultimately eliminating – nuclear risk,” the Marshall Islands said.

The United States detonates a nuclear weapon at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1952. Photo: US government

Meetings of states parties

The Marshall Islands attended as an observer the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW, held in Vienna in June 2022. In announcing its decision to attend, it said that it wanted “to see what concrete victim assistance provisions actually come forward by states parties and if they are at scale”.

TPNW negotiations

The Marshall Islands participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.

In its first statement to the negotiating conference, it said that it is “imperative to properly address the rights of survivors of nuclear detonation, and the role and responsibility of the international community towards them”.

In its closing statement, it said: “In light of our experience, it is our fervent hope that such weapons of mass destruction shall never again be tested or unleashed, and all nuclear-armed nations will have the necessary political will and empathy to disarm.”

In 2016, the Marshall Islands co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

Amatlain E. Kabua, the permanent representative of the Marshall Islands to the United Nations, speaks at a side event during the TPNW negotiations in 2017. Photo: ICAN

ICAN campaigner Abacca Anjain-Maddison of the Marshall Islands speaks in New York on 7 July 2017, the day of the TPNW’s adoption. Photo: ICAN

Before the negotiations

The Marshall Islands was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.

In 2014, the Marshall Islands filed lawsuits against all nine nuclear-armed states in the International Court of Justice, asserting that they had violated their legal obligation to pursue negotiations for nuclear disarmament. The court ultimately dismissed the cases on technical grounds.

The late Tony deBrum, then-minister of foreign affairs of the Marshall Islands, speaks at an ICAN forum in Vienna in 2014. Photo: ICAN

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor