Yokwe Bartowe named as Official Selection for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia

The Marshallese full-length feature film YOKWE BARTOWE has been named as an Official Selection for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards which takes place in December on the Gold Coast of Australia.  Along with other Marshall Islanders, the film stars over a dozen Bikinian people in roles that involve acting, singing and dancing.  Yokwe Bartowe is only the third feature film ever made in the Marshall Islands.

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) acclaims, at a global level, the cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the vast Asia-Pacific region. The region’s highest accolade in film, APSA is the only awards program in the world to link to a globally broadcast documentary series.

Established in 2007, APSA is an international cultural initiative of the Queensland State Government, Australia, through Queensland Events Corporation Pty Ltd. It brings together, in a unique collaboration, Atlanta-based CNN International, and Paris-based UNESCO and FIAPF-International Federation of Film Producers Associations.

The initiative honours the works of filmmakers across a vast region stretching from Egypt in the west to the Cook Islands in the east, and from Russia in the north to New Zealand in the south. In total, an area representing four billion people; 60 percent of the global population; 70 countries and areas; one third of the earth; and half the world’s film output.

YOKWE BARTOWE will be having its U.S. debut next week at the Big Island Film Festival in Hawaii on Friday, May 14, at 7:30 at The Shops at Mauna Lani Resort.  Admission is free.

For more information about the film YOKWE BARTOWE:
http://www.microwavefilms.org/YokweBartowe.html

ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS
http://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/

BIG ISLAND FILM FESTIVAL:
http://www.bigislandfilmfestival.com/

Bikinian Delegation meets with U.S. Assistant Sec. of Interior, Tony Babauta, in Majuro

Bikinian Mayor Alson Kelen and his delegation with U.S. Asst. Sec. of Interior Tony Babauta, Ambassador Martha Campbell, and her delegation.

Mayor Alson Kelen and a delegation of Bikini Atoll Local Government Councilmen met with Assistant Secretary of Interior for Insular Affairs Tony Babauta today, May 6, 2010.

Accompanying Mr. Babauta on his trip to the Marshall Islands were senior policy advisers Kristen Oleyte and Rebecca Zepeda.  Also present at the meeting for the U.S. government was U.S. Ambassador Martha Campbell.  Present at the meeting for the Bikinians were, along with the Mayor, Councilmen Banjo Joel, Wilson Note, Fred Johnson, Biten Leer, Roger Joel, Mathew Joash, Preacher Balos , Typhoon Jamore, Hinton Johnson, and Uraki Jibas.  Also present was Asst. Treasurer Marsh Note, Asst. Clerk Simon Jamore , and Bikini Trust Liaison Jack Niedenthal.  RMI Ambassador to the US, Banny Debrum, also attended the early morning meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Bikinian Senator Tomaki Juda was off-island.

Numerous issues of concern for the people of Bikini were discussed, including:

*Inadequate USDA food allocations for the Bikinian community.  The Bikinian delegation was concerned because the current USDA food allotment is being based on numbers that are many years old and that the community has grown to 4,400 people.  The amount of food the community receives is based on a little over 1000 people.  The delegation expressed the concern that because of the recent budget cuts they were no longer able to supplement this allocation of USDA food from their fiscal year budget, and that this has caused extraordinary hardship on Kili Island.

*Inadequate fiscal year funding from the Resettlement Trust Fund because of the world wide economic downturn.  The drastic reduction in the Bikinian’s fiscal year budgets over the last 2 years has caused the elimination of the Bikinians’s scholarship program, a reduction of hours of electricity on Kili, the loss of power subsidies for the Bikinian people living on Ejit Island and Majuro, and numerous other problems.  The Council urged Mr. Babauta to be mindful of these hardships when approving the FY 2011 budget for the people of Bikini that will probably be submitted by the end of the summer.

*Also discussed was the long-range concern of the people of Bikini regarding the rising sea levels that may one day consume the Marshall Islands.

Mr. Babauta expressed sympathy for all of these issues and said that it was his hope that for the upcoming fiscal year some compromises might be able to be worked out for the Council’s budget.  He cautioned that there has to be both long and short-term goals for the trust fund because Congress may not be forthcoming with funds if the trust fund gets depleted.   He also pledged to look into the USDA food situation so that he can know more about the issue.

Bikinian Mayor Alson Kelen and Former Councilman Korent Joel revive Ancient navigation skills

Alson Kelen (C) and crew readying the outrigger canoe Jitdam Kabeel, as it is moored along a beach in Majuro. A Marshall Islands outrigger canoe has arrived in an outlying atoll after finishing the first long-distance voyage in the country using ancient navigation skills for 60 years. The 30-foot (9.1 metre) outrigger canoe "Jitdam Kapeel" left on April 29, 2010 from Majuro for Aur Atoll.-- PHOTO: AFP

MAJURO – A MARSHALL Islands outrigger canoe has arrived in an outlying atoll after finishing the first long-distance voyage in the country using ancient navigation skills for 60 years. The 9.1-metre outrigger canoe ‘Jitdam Kapeel’ left 145 kilometres and arrived 21 hours later on Friday after an overnight journey. The voyage is the first since World War II in which a voyaging canoe has attempted to sail between atolls in the Marshall Islands without modern navigational aids. The canoe with a crew of eight was captained by Alson Kelen, who runs a canoe building and training programme for young people in the Marshall Islands. ‘Our main guide is the northeasterly waves,’ said Mr Kelen, who has studied under Korent Joel, one of the last master navigators still alive in an island group traditionally known for navigational and canoe building prowess. Mr Kelen said they also used the moon and stars to guide them on the journey, which aimed to demonstrate the skills that Marshall Islanders have used since they first settled the western Pacific islands 2,000 years ago. Master navigator Joel was on board a motorised vessel that followed the canoe, to help if necessary. ‘We want to learn from the master navigators and pass it down to younger generations to come,’ he said. Mr Kelen’s programme trains about 50 young Marshallese men and women each year in building and sailing outrigger canoes. ‘To become a master navigator you must spend a long period of time studying how currents work within your atoll by looking at how they react with the land,’ Mr Joel said. ‘Afterwards, you put yourself in the lagoon to feel and understand it.’ As a child, Mr Joel used to be hit on the head with a paddle by his teacher every time he made a mistake in judging the flow of the current, he said. Mr Kelen and a group of younger Marshall Islanders have been studying with Mr Joel for more than two years. — AFP

Note:  Not mentioned in the article above was that Bikini Councilman Biten Leer was also onboard for the entire journey.

This event got world-wide press coverage.

Bikinian Joseann Leer 5th Grade RMI National Spelling Bee Champion

Joseann Leer (left), 5th grade Spelling Bee champion, with Maile Sam, runner up.

Joseann Leer (upper left) on the cover of the Marshall Islands Journal, this is the second week in a row that a Bikinian girl is on the cover of the national newspaper.

Joseann Leer, a Bikinian 5th grader at the Majuro Baptist School, won the 5th grade National Spelling Bee championship over hundreds of other competitors today, April 28, 2010, in Majuro.  The Spelling Bee was broadcast on national radio.  After many rounds without a single misspelled word, which were from a level 7 spelling book, Joseann spelled the word “magnificent” to defeat Maile Sam from Assumption School.  Joseann is the daughter of Jibon and Sylvia Leer.

Despite High Court Denial, Battle Over Bikini Atoll Bombing Endures

Despite High Court Denial, Battle Over Bikini Atoll Bombing Endures
Congress may be the next venue for attorney Jonathan Weisgall’s 35-year fight on behalf of displaced Bikini Atoll residents

Jonathan Weisgall was a new associate at Covington & Burling in 1975 when a partner asked him to take a call about a possible new pro bono client. “Something about atomic bombs,” he was told.

Ever since, Weisgall has been representing, part time or full time, the displaced residents of the Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific, site of dozens of U.S. nuclear bomb tests from 1946 to 1958. Their land was not just taken; some of it was vaporized, and high radioactive levels to this day have kept residents from returning.

The long court battle to secure compensation for their losses ended on April 5 when the U.S. Supreme Court denied review of the Bikinians’ appeal and a related appeal by residents of a nearby atoll. But Weisgall is ready for the next phase — going to Congress to seek justice. “We exhausted the judicial branch option, but I am not exhausted at all,” said Weisgall, now 61. “The story is not over until these people are safely back on their island.”

Late Mayor Kataejar Jibas, Councilman WIlson Note, Johnny Johnson, Senator Tomaki Juda with Jon Weigall in 2008 at the US Federal Claims Court (photo Jack Niedenthal)

It’s rare for a single client or piece of litigation to span decades for a lawyer, but that has been Weisgall’s fate — and his chosen path. In photos from his early days on the case, you see drawings by his children on the walls of his Washington, D.C., office. Those children are grown, and now instead of the drawings, he displays artifacts from his Bikinian clients.

“When I first took that call,” he said, “I thought it would take a long time to resolve, but not quite this long.”

FROM WASHINGTON TO BIKINI

At first, the Bikinians hired Weisgall pro bono to seek funds for an environmental study of the lingering effects of the nuclear testing. But it evolved into a larger effort to seek compensation under the Fifth Amendment takings clause. The 23-island atoll is part of the Marshall Islands, which became a U.S. trust territory in 1947, thereby extending U.S. constitutional rights, if not U.S. citizenship, to its residents. Many of the displaced residents have since become U.S. citizens.

Weisgall took his first trip to see his clients early in his representation in 1975 — a laborious journey involving several planes and boats after landing in Honolulu. Most of the Bikinians were relocated to Kili Island, which Weisgall described as a tiny “New Yorker-cartoon island” with no harbor. For the final part of the journey, he boarded a Boston Whaler and was advised to protect his briefcases with plastic bags. Sure enough, a big wave knocked him over, and “I dog paddled to shore holding my litigation bags above my head.”

What was planned as a brief trip turned into a weeklong visit in a part of the world that is immune from any Washington-style sense of urgency. When he returned home, Weisgall said, office mates had already claimed his furniture, thinking he would never return.

Since then, he has gone back to the area more than 50 times. Along the way he has written a book about their plight and helped produce “Radio Bikini,” an award-winning documentary. “I love the people I represent dearly,” he said in his office this month. But he quickly added, “When you get attached to your clients, you have to pull back professionally.”

Some of the young children he met on his early visits have now become leaders of the displaced Bikinian community, which has grown from the 167 who were first moved in 1946 to several thousand now. “They have lots of kids,” he said.

After 10 years of representing the Bikinians pro bono, Weisgall worked out an hourly fee of $135 — it’s now $200 — drawn from a trust fund for the islanders. But he does not bill all of the time he spends and worked on the Supreme Court petition in People of Bikini v. U.S. for free.

The volume of work has waxed and waned over the years. He took a “day job” in 1995 as vice president and lobbyist for MidAmerican Energy Holdings, Warren Buffett’s energy company. “I’m paid to worry about climate change and natural gas,” Weisgall said. “When I joined the company, I told them I could not get rid of these clients. They mean a great deal to me.”

Other firms have taken up the cause of Marshall Islanders affected by the nuclear testing. Various lawyers at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have represented natives of the Enewetak atoll for years, and Weisgall recalls working side by side with the legendary Lloyd Cutler on the case years ago. But no one has been with it longer than Weisgall. “He is vastly familiar with the case, and if anybody can get it through Congress now, it’s him,” said Wilmer partner Paul Wolfson, who filed a companion petition before the Supreme Court that was also denied.

The litigation began in 1975, when Weisgall filed suit in Hawaii seeking the radiation study on the condition of the Bikini Atoll. He won, high levels of radiation were found and Bikinians who had gravitated back were evacuated again.

The atoll had been exposed, on average, to the equivalent of 1.5 Hiroshima bombs daily from 1946 to 1958, Weisgall said, so the residual damage was not surprising. (Yes, the bathing suit was named after the atoll, by a French designer hoping to capitalize on publicity about the nuclear tests in 1946.)

The publicity surrounding the litigation, including some press interviews he did, caused trouble for Weisgall at Covington at a time when law firms did not seek the spotlight. “I was brought in by the partners and told, ‘we do our work quietly,’ ” Weisgall said. He moved to a smaller firm in 1980 and went solo in 1983.

In 1981, Weisgall filed the takings claim in what was then called the U.S. Court of Claims. The court found the claims timely and said they could be pursued.

COMPACT CHANGES CASE

But two years later, the entire landscape of the case changed when the United States signed a compact with the government of the Marshall Islands. The Marshall Islands was established as an independent republic, though still under U.S. protection for security and defense matters. The agreement included some initial compensation for Bikinians and created a claims tribunal for more, but also removed jurisdiction from the federal courts.

“We were set for trial when the treaty was signed,” Weisgall said. Because of the new pact, the claims court litigation was dismissed, and the U.S. government began to treat the compensation of Bikinians more as a diplomatic matter between nations than as an obligation to people with U.S. constitutional rights.

The Bikinians dutifully turned to the tribunal and after a lengthy process won a significant award in 2001: $563 million, including $278 million for “past and future loss” of their land and $251 million to restore the land to safety. The tribunal said, “nothing can compensate for … all of the attendant intangible damage, loss, and hardship suffered by the Bikini community over the years.” But the tribunal has paid out only about $2.2 million so far. In 2006, the tribunal said it had no more money to give out. “It is the form of an administrative remedy, but not the reality of one,” said Wilmer’s Wolfson.

That is when Weisgall went back to court with a renewed claim for compensation, asserting that, under the Tucker Act and Supreme Court precedent, court jurisdiction had not totally been foreclosed. The suit also argued that, by failing to fund the tribunal, Congress had again deprived the Bikinians of property without just compensation. But the claims court dismissed the case, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed. The high court then denied review.

“It’s very sad. The Bikinians have done everything they were told to do, and the door has been slammed shut,” said Patricia Millett, co-chairwoman of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s appellate practice. Weisgall brought her on, pro bono, for the appellate briefing. Of Weisgall, Millett said, “He’s absolutely dogged on this — he has devoted so much to this litigation.”

Alson Kelen, leader of the Bikini community, wrote in an e-mail. “Everyone here in the Marshall Islands has a tremendous amount of respect for Mr. Weisgall and what he has done for the people of Bikini.” The Supreme Court’s action, Kelen said, has been hard to explain. “Our elders feel that they were cheated because the U.S. promised that they would look after them forever, that we would be like the children of the US. Now after 64 years, we are still not back on Bikini.”

Weisgall said he had hoped the U.S. government would change its steadfast opposition to the Bikinians’ claims under the Obama administration. “There is a moral component to this case,” Weisgall said. “I had hope.” The government’s position, he said, amounts to viewing the just compensation clause as “just a suggestion” that can be eviscerated by failure to fund the compensation.

The U.S. brief is devoid of empathy, asserting that “this case involves a foreign country that has espoused and settled its nationals’ claims in the context of an international compact.” In a footnote, it points out that bills are pending in Congress that would fund more compensation for the Marshall Islanders. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., introduced a bill in January.

“The Bikinian people have given the U.S. everything they had — their land — on the premise that they would be able to return,” he said. “The U.S. has an obligation to take care of them.”

Tony Mauro

The National Law Journal

Bikinian Lulani Ritok Awarded Stanford University Summer Program Scholarship

Interior Department Scholarships Awarded To Four Outstanding High School Students to Study This Summer in the States

The U.S. Department of the Interior and The Junior Statesmen Foundation proudly announce the winners of four full scholarships to the 2010 Junior Statesmen Summer School. The scholarships, funded by the Interior Department, cover all tuition costs and round trip transportation to the Summer School.

Julie Ann “Lulani” Ritok, a Bikinian and a freshman at Majuro Cooperative High School,Tony Dujmovic, a junior at Marshall Islands High School, Ida Najera, a sophomore at Ebeye Seventh Day Adventist School, and Marvin Selvenious, a junior at Marshall Islands High School are the 2010 winners of these prestigious scholarship awards.

Ida, Julie Ann and Marvin will be attending the Junior Statesmen Summer School at Stanford University.  Tony will be attending the Summer School session at Princeton University.

Sessions of the Junior Statesmen Summer School are conducted on the prestigious university campuses of Stanford (near San Francisco, CA), Princeton University in New Jersey, and Georgetown (in Washington, D.C.).

Summer School students take college level courses in Government, as they develop and polish their leadership skills.

Highlighting each Summer School session is a high level speakers program which gives students a chance to meet and question elected officials, judges, reporters, political campaign consultants, and others in the political arena.

Each night, Summer School students debate controversial political issues in a simulation of the United States Congress.

Admission to the Summer School is competitive.  Admission decisions are based on an applicant’s academic achievement, leadership, and interest in politics or government.  To apply, students submit a copy of their high school grades, two essays, and a letter of recommendation from a counselor or an academic teacher.

Tuition, which covers all academic expenses, housing and meals for the month, is $4,500.  Transportation to the school is not included in the tuition.  Hawaiian Airlines has offered substantially reduced airfares to Junior Statesmen Summer School participants in the past, and we are hoping to continue this great benefit this year.

This is the first year that the U.S. Department of the Interior has offered full tuition and transportation scholarships to the Junior Statesmen Summer School to outstanding high school students in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.  Other Insular areas involved in the scholarship program include American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Twenty three (23) students in the Republic of the Marshall Islands have been accepted to attend a session of the 2010 Junior Statesmen Summer School.

Darlene Korok, Protocol/Cultural PD at the U. S. Embassy in Majuro, and Karen Prosser, Territorial Recruiter, The Junior Statesmen Foundation are coordinating the participation of the RMI students.

KBE Local Government Meets with Congressional Staffers in Majuro

Mayor Alson Kelen, Senator Tomaki Juda and the KBE local government Council met with Congressional staffers from both the US Senate and the US House of Representatives Energy and Natural Resources committees yesterday, April 8, 2010, in Majuro at the KBE Town Hall.

The U.S. representatives were:

Allen P. Stayman (Senate professional staff, Democrat)
Isaac Edwards (Senate counsel, Republican)
Brian Modeste (House counsel Insular Affairs, Democrat)
Bonnie Bruce (House legislative staff, Republican)

Issues raised by the Bikinian leaders were as follows:

1) The US Supreme Court decision to deny an appeal by the Bikinians, thus ending their ability to get legal relief from the US court system. The Bikinian leaders emphasized that the US Congress would now be the only avenue for aid from the US government because of the recent US Supreme Court action.  The representatives from Congress said that there was some pending legislation for the nuclear victims of the RMI being discussed, mostly to do with health care.

2) USDA food.  The problem we are facing now is that the US allotment for USDA food for the people of Bikini living in the Marshall Islands is based on a population of a little over 1,000 people when in actuality there are over 4,000 Bikinians.  We are hoping this can be addressed in Congressional legislation later this year.  It is a but complicated because it will involve coordination with the other 4 atolls receiving this food and with the RMI government.

3) Bikinians and other Marshallese living in the US, especially Arkansas, are in need of health care and other US aid.  There is some indication that there may be an attempt to allow Marshallese citizens (also FSM and Palau citizens) to go back on the US Medicaid program.  This may also be taken up later this year in COngress, but it is not certain.

Note: there is currently a census that the US is conducting to count how many Marshallese there are in the various communities.  If you are a Bikinian living in Arkansas, please make sure you fill out a census form as this may help Arkansas get more US federal aid.

4) Power.  The issue of power generation and the cost for the power plants on Kili and how that has impacted the budget for the KBE local government.  Various forms of alternative energy–and ideas for funding these projects–were discussed.  The Bikinian leaders also raised many of the problems associated with the high cost of energy on Kili Island.

5) The issue of Bikinian emigration to the US should sea levels rise to the point where the RMI is no longer livable. This was just a short preliminary discussion regarding rising sea levels to see if anyone in the US Congress had given any thought to this issue.

Bikinians in the US Military

Bikinian Bendict Joel is serving in Iraq in the US military for the 2nd time.

We would like to acknowledge the following Bikinians that serve with honor in the US Military.

Benedict Joel (parents, Albon & Connie Joel)
Ringo Baso (parents, Season & Rila Baso
Leonard Tibon  (parents, Homless and Telina Tibon)

If you know of anyone that we have missed, please let us know so we can add them to this list.  Send us a photo also.  Keep them in your prayers.

U.S Supreme Court won’t hear appeal from Bikinians

Supreme Court: No review of award for US nuclear weapons tests

US settled a claim more than 25 years ago over damage from its 67 nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific. But Marshall Islands residents claim compensation was not ‘just’ under the Constitution and sued. The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear their case.

By Warren Richey, Staff writer 
posted April 5, 2010 at 1:13 pm EDT

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a challenge by residents of a string of South Pacific islands seeking “just compensation” for losing their homes and their land to US nuclear weapons testing conducted in the islands from 1946 to 1958.

Portions of the coral-fringed atolls were vaporized in 67 nuclear explosions ranging from 0.19 kilotons to a 15-megaton blast equivalent to 1,000 Hiroshima bombs. Nuclear fallout rained down on what remained of the islands.

The justices dismissed the petition without comment.

The action upholds a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dismissing two lawsuits seeking fair payment from the US government for the people of Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll.

The appeals court ruled in January 2009 that the government of the Marshall Islands had settled the same claims more than 25 years earlier in a comprehensive agreement with the US government. Under that agreement, the US paid $150 million into an investment fund administered by officials of the Marshall Islands, with $45.75 million set aside to pay claims.

Island residents voted to approve the agreement in 1983. Congress and the president followed suit in 1986, and the agreement was finalized.

The agreement acknowledged that island officials were authorized to petition Congress for additional funds in the event of “changed circumstances.” But it also said the settlement would provide the final and unreviewable resolution of any claims made by the people of the Marshall Islands against the US for its nuclear testing.

In 2000 and 2001, a Marshall Islands nuclear claims tribunal awarded $563 million in compensation and cleanup costs to residents of Bikini Atoll, and $385 million to residents of Enewetak Atoll. But the tribunal lacked the funds to pay the awards. In 2002 and 2003, the tribunal paid residents of Enewetak $1.6 million of the $385 million award. Residents of Bikini received $2.3 million of the $563 million award.

Marshall Islands officials cited “changed circumstances” and asked Congress to provide more money. Congress refused.

Island residents sued, claiming the US government owed them just compensation under the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment for taking their land and the surrounding sea for the public purpose of nuclear weapons testing.

The Obama administration urged the high court to reject the appeal.

“The United States and the Marshall Islands settled all claims including the takings claims, and as part of that settlement agreed to preclude further review of those claims in any federal court,” wrote US Solicitor General Elena Kagan in the government’s brief.

Ms. Kagan quoted a portion of the 1986 agreement, that the compact between the two countries “constitutes the full settlement of all claims, past, present and future, of the government, citizens, and nationals of the Marshall Islands.”

In addition, she said, the agreement notes: “No court of the United States shall have jurisdiction to entertain such claims, and any such claims pending in the courts of the United States shall be dismissed.”

That can’t be right, countered Washington lawyer Paul Wolfson in his brief on behalf of island residents seeking compensation.

The Fifth Amendment mandates that private property shall not be taken by the government for public use “without just compensation.” Mr. Wolfson said that Congress is free to craft alternative methods to address the payment issue, but that neither the government nor the courts can avoid the constitutional command that fair compensation be paid.

“This case presents an issue essential to the security of all property owners: whether the government may evade the constitutional guarantee of just compensation … by stripping the courts of jurisdiction over any claim that it has not provided just compensation for the taking,” Wolfson wrote.

“Without this court’s review,” he added, “the government will have effectively insulated itself from the fundamental constitutional requirement that it pay just compensation for the taking of property.”

Download .pdf file from Supreme Court announcing decision:

SupremeCourtDenial

Yacht Club Visits Ejit Island

Ejit Teacher Connie Joel, Ejit Teacher Kiersten Hallquist, and Linda Keigher

The importance of cleaning your teeth and eating the right food were the big topics of the day last Tuesday at Ejit Elementary as a group of Mieco Beach Yacht Club members visited the school and gave the students lots of healthy tips and new toothbrushes.

Rhonda Mancini from the yacht Swan, Coco Quinn (aged 10) from Cocokai, and Linda Keigher from Hawkeye were invited to visit the Ejit School by Dartmouth teacher Kiersten Hallquist.

Rhonda spoke on the correct methods of brushing and flossing, using a set of teeth borrowed from the newest dentist in town Dr. Ricardo Ramos of General Dentistry.

Next up, Coco spoke about what it’s like to be a “cruising kid” living on a boat and being home schooled by her mom.  She showed the children on a globe her family’s path from California to Mexico, Central America, South America and then across the Pacific Ocean to the Marshall Islands. The children had lots of questions and Coco had all the answers.

After a recess break, Linda showed the children the ancient form of card weaving and each student was given the opportunity to make a friendship bracelet.

Far too quickly the time was up and the visitors had to head for the boat back to Rita.  There were lots of komol tatas, hugs and promises to return maybe with a boat so that the students can get a better idea as to what it is like

Last Chance: The Bikinian’s Supreme Court Case

Last chance for N-case

GIFF JOHNSON

Marshall Islands nuclear test victims are making their last stand, holding on by the fingernails of one hand to the slimmest of hopes that the United States Supreme Court will accept their cases for review. It is a one in 100 chance that the Supreme Court will agree to consider the Bikini and Enewetak appeals of lower court rejections, and as any Las Vegas bookie will tell you, these are seriously unfavorable odds.

What is more, in a 25-page brief, the US government attempts to nail shut every possible avenue for appeal that the legal teams assembled to represent Bikini and Enewetak islanders have put forth.

To be sure, the nuclear test atolls have good arguments. But are they enough to sway the nine Supreme Court justices to accept the cases?

“We should have a decision by mid-April,” said Bikini attorney Jonathan Weisgall.

The US legal brief, block by block, puts up an apparently insurmountable wall around the appeals.

“In Section 177 of the Compact … the government of the Marshall Islands espoused the claims of its citizens and agreed to settle them,” the US Justice Department said. “To effectuate the settlement, the Compact itself, the Compact Act, and the Section 177 Agreement all provided that the settlement would serve as the final and unreviewable resolution of any claim that the people of the Marshall Islands might have against the United States.”

Attorneys for Enewetak say, however, that the RMI government was under the control of the US at the time the Compact’s Section 177 was negotiated.

“Although the Marshall Islands had a popularly elected government at that time that was competent to enter into agreements with the United States it remained under the control of the US as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, for which ‘all executive, legislative and judicial authority’ was ‘vested in such person or persons and…exercised…through such agency or agencies as the President of the United States may direct or authorize.”

The issue, said Enewetak, “is whether the courts must accept the (US) government’s assertion that the constitutional claims of private individuals can be validly ‘settled’ not by the claimants themselves but by an entity that is not sovereign, but is under US government control.”

“Unreviewable,” “full and final,” “claims terminated,” and “claims barred” are phrases that are repeated throughout the US brief to the Supreme Court.

But Bikini and Enewetak say that the US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment requires that just compensation be paid for the taking of property.

“The central problem with all of the (US) government’s arguments is that nowhere in its brief in opposition or in any other brief filed in this case has it explained how, if the Fifth Amendment reserves rights in individuals and thereby withholds that very power from the federal government, the federal government has the power to legislate or contract those rights away without those individuals’ consent,” the Bikinians said.

But the US told the Supreme Court the compensation matter was completely resolved on a government-to-government basis.

“The United States and the Marshall Islands settled all claims including the takings claims, and as part of that settlement agreed to preclude further review of those claims in any federal court,” the US said, adding that the lower court’s ruling “does not warrant further review.”

The Bikinians challenge this in their response: “If the (US’s) foreign or domestic political ends are served by taking individual property, the Constitution says the price for that public use is just compensation. If Congress can escape that command simply by passing a law or contracting with another governmental entity, as the Federal Circuit (court) held, then the Fifth Amendment has become an empty promise not just for petitioners, but for any and all property owners.” The US counters this, saying the US Congressional command that “no court of the US shall have jurisdiction to entertain such claims” is completely clear, leaving no room for court review of these nuclear test claims.

Although the Compact’s Section 177 established the Nuclear Claims Tribunal, the US brief to the Supreme Court says that the “Congress did not create the Claims Tribunal or agree to pay its awards in full,” and the US did not participate in the Tribunal’s proceedings.

“The RMI’s Claims Tribunal therefore cannot plausibly be regarded as a forum for exhausting claims against the United States, as simply one step before a return to the Court of Federal Claims for a suit under the Tucker Act,” the US said.

Attorneys for Enewetak said the US position is that it “may deprive persons of their property for decades and then get away without paying compensation by foisting the problem onto another government that has no money to pay and that supposedly waived the property owners’ right to sue the United States in court.”

In relation to the Nuclear Claims Tribunal, Enewetak said “now that the Tribunal has ruled that petitioners are entitled to compensation, the (US) government says that actually paying is someone else’s problem, and that, when it created the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the government of the United States effectively washed its hands of the whole affair.”

But the US Justice Department maintains that the US government satisfied its nuclear test compensation obligation by providing $150 million to the Marshall Islands in the Section 177 agreement.

Enewetak said the issue is not whether the Congress, in approving legislation establishing the Tribunal, may establish an “alternate forum” to adjudicate compensation. “Such alternate forums are permissible, if they ensure reasonable, certain and adequate provision for obtaining compensation,” Enewetak said.

“Here, that alternate forum has been tried and found utterly wanting, yet still the government refuses to pay.”

Bikini and Enewetak say that the Marshall Islands lacked capacity to “espouse” (adopt) their claims because it was not a sovereign government but was under US control.

“That contention is at odds with the Compact itself, which explains that the Marshall Islands negotiated and entered into the Compact to establish a ‘government-to-government relationship’ with the United States,” the US said, adding that Marshall Islanders voted approval of the Compact.

“Enewetak, citing a US legal ruling, pointed out to the Supreme Court that “constitutional rights can hardly be infringed simply because a majority of the people choose that it be.”

The US brief to the Supreme Court concludes: “The Compact withdraws federal jurisdiction in clear terms and, instead, authorizes the independent government of the RMI to petition Congress for additional relief on behalf of its citizens. The RMI has done so, and its request is pending before Congress.”

Bikinians Participate in Education Week in the RMI

L to R (1st guy not fr Bikini, Apta Banki, Jeladrik Rujke, Lucus Niedenthal, Bill Joel, Bobori Jakeo

6 Bikinians completed the ABC Toolbox training certification program this week at CMI (not pictured Kenny Bejiko).

Crystal Bill (3rd fr left) and Lulani Ritok (4th fr left) at the Debate

2 Bikinian high school students, Crystal Bill and Lulani Ritok, competed for the Majuro Cooperative School in the nationally broadcast Education Week debates.

If you know of any other Bikinians who have achievements that should be recognized, please send a photo (a small file please) and a caption to go along with the picture so that we can post it here.

Bikinians Celebrate Bikini Day in Arkansas

Read About how Bikinians celebrated Bikini Day on Rimajol.com:

Bikinians come from all over US to celebrate Bikini Day in Arkansas

The Importance of Travel to Washington, DC for the People of Bikini

Nathan Note, Lore Kessibuki and Moses Lewis, Wash DC, White House, 1972

There are times when questions get raised by our community about trips that our local government makes to Washington, DC.  These trips are enormously important to the welfare of the people of Bikini Atoll.  The first trip ever to Washington, DC by a delegation of Bikinians was in 1972 by then Mayor/Magistrate Lore Kessibuki, Moses Lewis and Nathan Note (see photo).  This initial trip, which was during the period of time when the US government was trying to get the Bikinians to resettle Bikini Atoll, eventually resulted in the people residing on Kili getting USDA food and on this trip they also began their search for a US based attorney.  You can read a really good story by Nathan Note from our website about this first trip: http://www.bikiniatoll.com/Nathan.html

These trips have occurred virtually every year since that time, sometimes more than once depending on if there are Congressional Hearings or other important business or issues that involve the people of Bikini Atoll.

Mayor Tomaki Juda, Vice President George , Senator Henchi Balos 1983

When our budget was bigger we sometimes took our entire Council to Washington, DC.  Senator Henchi Balos and then Mayor Tomaki Juda and a small delegation of Bikinians met with Vice President George Bush in 1983 to discuss Compact issues.  On most trips to Washington former Liaison Ralph Waltz was included, then after 1986 current Liaison Jack Niedenthal traveled with the delegations.

Former President Kessai Note, Senator Edward Kennedy, Senator Henchi Balos, Mayor Tomaki Juda, 1998

We have met with sitting Secretary’s of Interior and other important US government officials over the years.  It is very important that officials of the US government see the faces of those people asking for assistance.  This is something that our lawyer could not do effectively by himself.  This lobbying tool–that combines excellent legal representation with the skills of the Bikinian leadership–has resulted in over $200 million in trust funds and aid to the people of Bikini.

Liaison Jack Niedenthal, Senator Tomaki Juda, Mayor Eldon Note, U.S. Offices, 2006

Anyone who questions the wisdom of these trips clearly does not understand the history of the people of Bikini.  All of these trips are first discussed and approved by the local government Council, who are elected every 4 years to represent the people of Bikini.  In recent years the delegations to Washington, DC have gotten much smaller because of budget issues.

Mayor Katajer Jibas, Councilman Wilson Note, Johnny Johnson, Senator Tomaki Juda, at the White House, 2008

Pictured below is our delegation from our most recent visit to Washington, DC, just after the worst snowstorm in 110 years,  in front of the US Supreme Court where the people of Bikini currently have a case pending (February 2010).

Bikini Liaison Jack Niedenthal, Councilman Wilson Note, Councilman Banjo Joel, Senator Tomaki Juda, Mayor Alson Kelen and Bikini attorney Jonathan Weisgall in front of the US Supreme Court, 2010

As a direct result from Mayor Kelen’s May 2009 visit to Washington, DC, combined with the current delegation visit of February 2010 to the offices of Arkansas Congressman John Boozman, there has now been a request by 8 members of Congress to look into more funding for those US states and possessions that are impacted the most by the influx of Micronesian citizens (see attached .pdf letter).  A copy of this letter was sent directly to us from the Congressman’s office as a response to our visit. GAO-Compact_impact_assistance_request_letter-02-26-2010

The impact of this letter could be huge for those Bikinians and other Marshallese living in Arkansas.  We sincerely thank the office of Congressman Boozman and his staff for allowing us to visit and for taking the time to discuss the problems of those Marshallese living in Arkansas.

If anyone has any further questions regarding the purpose or the results from these trips, I am sure the Mayor will respond.

Bikinians in the Arts, “To Be or Not to Be?”

Garrick Kelen led 3 other Bikinians in the MIHS production of Hamlet

Last week Bikinian Garrick Kelen starred in the difficult and challenging role of “Hamlet” at MIHS. Hundreds of people watched the play over the course of 5 days. Also in the play were Bikinians Ronald Laiso, Neilson Aneo, and Maria John.  The entire Shakespearean play of Hamlet was translated by Bikinian Mayor Alson Kelen.

Bikini Liaison Jack Niedenthal (with camera) and Bikinian Billma Melson (lower right) on the cover of the 4-2-10 Marshall Islands Journal.

Also, the movie Yokwe Bartowe, produced, directed, and written by Bikini Liaison Jack Niedenthal, starred 13 Bikinians: Billma Melson, Lucus Niedenthal, Jamore Melson, Magdalene Johnson, Sweeton Laiso, Hesa Note, Max Niedenthal, Jobi Lewis, Krista Kramer, and Jack himself.  Lulani Ritok, Mattu Lejenna, and Regina Niedenthal also sang songs for the film.  The Movie was recently named as an “Official Selection” to the highly respected Big Island Film Festival. The movie will be the second feature on Friday, May 14, 7:30 PM at the Shops at Mauna Lani Resort.  The showing is free to the public.

Council meets regarding FY 2010 Budget. Mayor, Senator meet with DOE in Majuro

Mayor Kelen addresses the delegation from DOE regarding Bikini Atoll.

Mayor Kelen, Senator Juda and Councilman Preacher Balos meet with DOE delegation.

This week the KBE Council met to discuss the $5.1 million budget demanded by the US Interior Department for the KBE local government for fiscal year 2010 due to the worldwide economic decline and the resulting decrease in the Bikinians’ trust fund. This new budget will mean some very drastic changes for the people of Bikini.

Mayor Kelen, Senator Juda, some of the KBE Council, Johnny Johnson, and Trust Liaison Jack Niedenthal met in Majuro with representatives from the US Department of Energy to discuss the status of Bikini Atoll and the ongoing US monitoring of the radiological situation on the islands.

Hon. Mayor Alson Kelen and Jack Niedenthal completed meetings in Washington, DC, May 27-28, 2009

KBE Mayor Alson Kelen and Trust Liaison Jack Niedenthal completed the following meeting schedule in Washington, DC this week:
Wednesday, May 27, 2009:
9 AM – 10 AM: Met with Bikini attorney Jonathan Weisgall regarding a number of trust fund, budget, legal/lawsuit, and Bikini islander issues.
10:30 AM – 12 noon:  Met with Committee of Energy and Natural Resources Committee Counsels Allen Stayman (Democrat) and Isaac Edwards (Republican) on Capitol Hill.  Discussed trust fund issues and Bikini resettlement issues (with Bikini Attorney Jonathan Weisgall).
12:30 PM – 2 PM: Met with Ron Basu and Barbara Reinhard regarding Morgan-Stanley potentially managing Bikini’s investments for their 2 trust funds and their thoughts on future  investment strategy (with Bikini Attorney Jonathan Weisgall).
2:15 PM – 4:30 PM: Attended a Library of Congress Symposium/Panel Discussion on “Building the Bomb” (with Bikini Attorney Jonathan Weisgall).  This included explanations about how the atomic and thermonuclear weapons came to be built nad deployed, and also the history of nuclear weapons testing around the world.  Because the testing at Bikini Atoll was part of the discussion, Mayor Kelen, Jack Niedenthal and Jonathan Weisgall were introduced to the audience.  Panelists included Pulitzer Prize winning author Martin Sherwin, author William Lanouette, author Mary Palevsky, and author Hugh Gusterson.
6:30 PM – 8 PM: Met with attorney Jonathan Weisgall and RMI Embassy Charge Charles Paul over dinner to discuss the huge money/trust fund issues that will be facing the Bikini Council and the people of Bikini for the upcoming 2010 fiscal year budget beginning on October 1, 2009, and also possible solutions for issues and problems faced by Marshallese people living in Arkansas.
Thursday, May 28, 2009:
9 AM – 10 AM: Met with Bikini Attorney Jonathan Weisgall.
10: 15 AM – 11:15 AM:  On Capitol Hill, met with Kathee Facchiano, Legislative Director for Arkansas Congressman John Boozman of the Northwest Arkansas Congressional district.  This meeting was requested as a direct result of the community meetings held with the people of Bikini in Springdale, Arkansas, headed by President of the Bikini Arkansas community, Nixon Jibas.   Mayor Kelen, Jack Niedenthal and Jonathan Weisgall met with Ms. Facchiano to discuss the possibility of improving the lives of the Marshallese people who live Arkansas.  Issues discussed included the mutual beneficial goal of trying to get US federal Compact II funds funneled to Arkansas to help pay for needed social services such as health care and welfare.  Ms. Facchiano mentioned that she really needed some help in conducting a population survey to get an accurate count of the number of Marshall Islanders living in Arkansas so that they might get some Compact implementation funds by amending the Compact agreement.  This meeting marked the first contact that her office has had with people from the Marshall Islands.  Many suggestions were put forth as to how the Marshallese people might be able to help her get some funds for essential services for those islanders living in Arkansas.  It was suggested that she get in contact with the RMI Embassy here in Washington, DC, to discuss these issues further.  The Bikini delegation made their resources available to her office should she need help with Marshall Islands issues in Arkansas.
11:30 AM – 1 PM:  Met with UBS PaineWebber representatives Ed Wile and Van Price to discuss the status of the current Bikini trust funds (with Bikini Attorney Jonathan Weisgall).  Because of the current poor market conditions the Resettlement Trust Fund to date is worth $70 million and the Bikini Claims Trust is worth $44 million.
2 PM – 3:15 PM: Met with House Committee on Natural Resources Counsel Brian Modeste and clerk Rebecca Zepeda on Capitol Hill to discuss resettlement funding issues, trust fund issues and general Bikini issues that will be confronted by the people of Bikini as a result of the downturn in the stock market and the downturn of the world’s economy.
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM: Met with Bikini Attorney Jonathan Weisgall regarding our lawsuit appeal that today got thrown out of the US Federal Court of Appeals.  Now we must make a decision about taking our case to the US Supreme Court.
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM: Met with Joseph McDermott of the US Interior Department regarding resettlement issues, trust fund issues, and Fiscal Year 2010 budget issues.  Mr. McDermott mentioned that the upcoming fiscal year budget for the people of Bikini will only be $4.5 million, down from $7.2 million last year (with Attorney Jonathan Weisgall).

Hon. Mayor Alson Kelen Sworn in on May 11, 2009

Hon. Mayor Alson Kelen being sworn in by Hon. RMI Judge Botlang Loeak on May 11, 2009